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These simple exercises can be done without leaving your desk, offering a convenient way to stay active while working from home.
With the shift towards remote work, it’s easy to become engrossed in deadlines, often neglecting breaks and sidelining fitness routines. However, maintaining physical activity is crucial, even if trips to the gym aren’t feasible. Fortunately, there are effective exercises you can perform right from your home office. We consulted Felicia Hernandez, a NASM-certified personal trainer and community engagement lead at Eden Health Club, who shared four seated exercises perfect for toning the belly, especially for those over 40. The great news? All you need is a sturdy desk chair!
Contrary to popular belief, achieving toned abs doesn’t require a yoga mat or a series of crunches. In fact, Hernandez highlights the benefits of seated exercise.
Why Seated Exercises Are Surprisingly Effective
“When seated, particularly in an active posture, you have the opportunity to enhance your posture, engage your core muscles, and control your pelvis effectively,” Hernandez elaborates. “Consider this: when you sit upright and steady, your core is engaged to move your legs or rotate, rather than relying on momentum. This means less cheating and more genuine engagement. By consistently activating your core throughout the day, you apply more tension to your abs than a single, brief gym session might offer. It’s about real-time activation while you’re already seated for work.”
“When you are seated, especially when you are actively seated, you can reinforce your posture, turn the core muscles on, and control the pelvis effectively,” Hernandez explains. “Think about it: when you’re seated upright and stable, you’re forced to use your core, not momentum, to move the legs or rotate. Less cheating. More engagement. And if you’re doing it consistently throughout the day, you’re applying way more total tension to the abs than one short gym floor core session ever could. That’s real-time activation, while you’re already sitting for work anyway.”
The Importance of Training the Deep Core
Working the deep core muscles is particularly important for those who sit for an extended period of time. If you can relate, focusing on posture control and muscle activation is key.
“When you sit at a desk all day, the transverse abdominis, the muscle that flattens the waist from the inside, stops working. The hip flexors take over. The back becomes stiff. The tension stays in the belly. Over time, the pooch appears, not from fat, but from weak internal support,” Hernandez says. “Activating the deep core while seated helps reactivate that muscle system. It reinforces the neutral spine, keeps your pelvis from tilting forward, and applies precisely the kind of work your core was designed to do: stabilize you under pressure all day.”
4 Seated Exercises That Flatten Belly Pooch
According to Hernandez, these exercises are controlled strength moves you can perform right at your desk chair. Do them on a daily basis, and you’ll quickly feel the difference.
Seated Leg Lifts (Both Legs)
“The seated leg lift hits your lower abs directly and activates your hip flexors as support. Keeping your spine tall makes your deep core fire harder to hold a position,” Hernandez explains.
- Begin seated at the edge of your chair with your legs straight out.
- Activate your abs as you lift both legs a few inches off the floor.
- Hold for 2 seconds at the top, making sure not to round your back.
- Slowly lower.
- Perform 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps.
Tummy Twists
“The tummy twist activates your obliques and lower transverse abdominis while training your spine to move independently of your hips—exactly what prevents that side bulge and builds waist control,” Hernandez tells us.
- Begin sitting tall with your feet flat on the ground.
- Cross your arms in front of your chest, or hold a lightweight dumbbell or medicine ball.
- Rotate your torso to the left, return to the center, then rotate toward the right—without moving your hips.
- Perform 3 sets of 15 reps on each side.
Seated Crunch + Reach
“The seated crunch with reach tracks like a traditional crunch but with better spinal control. Great for reinforcing upright posture and internal compression through your abs,” Hernandez says.
- Begin sitting slightly forward in your chair with your feet flat and arms reaching overhead.
- Crunch your torso forward while reaching toward your knees.
- Brace your core and avoid collapsing.
- Slowly return to an upright position.
- Perform 3 sets of 12 reps.
Chair Scissor Kicks
“The chair scissor kick promotes dynamic lower ab engagement. Keeps constant tension through your core and mimics the movement patterns that flatten out lower belly mass when done consistently,” Hernandez says.
- Begin sitting tall.
- Lean back slightly and hold onto each side of the chair.
- Lift both legs off the ground and alternate crossing one leg over the other, like scissors, without touching the floor.
- Perform 3 rounds of 20 seconds.