Here’s How To Get A Solid Ab Workout At Your Desk

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How many times has your hectic work schedule cut into your gym time (or cut it out entirely)? We know, the struggle is all too real. But there is a surprising number of things you can do on a daily basis to boost your fitness that don’t require stepping into a room full of free weights and treadmills.

In fact, there’s a handful of super-effective ab workouts specifically that can be done from the very desk chair you spend 8+ hours in five days a week. So take advantage of your workday and tone that core in no time.

1. Sit up tall.

This one sounds like a cop-out, but it’s an incredibly important place to start since so many of us already miss out on the benefits of good posture. Sit at the edge of your chair rather than all the way back so you aren’t tempted to rest on the back support. Engage your core, reach the crown of your head toward the ceiling, and place your feet flat on the floor. If you naturally slouch, you’ll feel this one in your lower back relatively quickly.

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2. Try some alternating V-sits.

While you’re sitting at the edge of your chair, lean back so that your upper back is resting slightly on the back support. Engage your abs as you lift your right knee up toward your chest and then place your foot back on the floor. Repeat with your left leg, and continue alternating legs until you’ve racked up 15 repetitions per side. Keep your abs tight to feel this one by the end of the set.

3. Rep out some seated leg pull-ins.

Maintaining the same starting position you used with the alternating V-sits, grab the edges of your chair with your hands for additional support and engage your abs. Lift both of your feet off the ground and, keeping your legs together, bring your knees up and into your chest in a crunching motion. Extend them out straight in front of you and then bring them back into your chest to complete one rep. Do 15 seated leg pull-ins before resting your feet back on the floor.

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4. Pedal it out.

Start this one by sitting at the edge of your seat as well. With your back lightly touching the back support and your hands gripping the edges of the chair, bring your knees up to the first position of the seated leg pull-ins. Engage your core as you extend your right leg out straight in front of you, keeping your left knee bent. Now bend your right knee back in toward your torso as you extend your left leg straight out in front of you. Continue this pedaling motion with tight abs until you’ve extended each leg 15 times, and then bring your feet back down to the floor slowly.

5. Give ab lifts a go.

Slide back a little further in your seat and place your hands by your sides on the edges of the chair in such a way that your arms can bear your weight. Engage your core as you lift your entire body weight into your arms so that your glutes and hamstrings no longer touch the seat of your chair. Lower back down slowly to complete one repetition. Try to finish 15 slow ab lifts as the finale for this desk-bound ab workout.