Skip to content

Top Navigation

Shape Shape
  • Fitness
  • Healthy Eating
  • Beauty
  • Sex and Love
  • Celebrities
  • Mind & Body
  • Lifestyle
  • Video
  • Shop
  • Sweeps

Profile Menu

Your Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • Your Profile
  • Newsletters
  • Email Preferences
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Log Out
Login
Subscribe
Pin FB

Explore Shape

Shape Shape
  • Explore

    Explore

    • The Keto Meal Plan for Beginners

      Everything you need to know to get started with this high-fat, low-carb diet. Read More Next
    • 10 Things I Learned During My Body Transformation

      Twenty months and 17 pounds later, I came away with 10 big lessons. Read More Next
    • The 30-Day Squat Challenge

      The ultimate 30-day squat challenge, featuring 12 squats that tighten and tone. Read More Next
  • Fitness

    Fitness

    See All Fitness
    • Workouts
    • Cardio
    • Strength Training
    • Bodyweight Training
    • Yoga
    • Exercise Recovery
    • Exercise Tips
    • Race Training
    • Workout Trends
    • Playlists
    • Workout Clothes
    • Workout Gear
  • Healthy Eating

    Healthy Eating

    See All Healthy Eating
    • Healthy Recipes
    • Diets
    • Food & Nutrition
    • Healthy Cooking
    • Healthy Drinks
    • Weight Loss
  • Beauty
  • Sex and Love
  • Celebrities

    Celebrities

    See All Celebrities
    • Interviews
    • Celebrity News
    • Celebrity Workouts
  • Mind & Body

    Mind & Body

    See All Mind & Body
    • Coronavirus
    • Transformations
  • Lifestyle

    Lifestyle

    See All Lifestyle
    • Travel
    • Fashion
    • Healthy IRL
  • Video

    Video

    See All Video
    • Workout Videos
    • Cooking Videos
    • Weight Loss Videos
    • Celebrity Videos
  • Shop
  • Sweeps

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • Your Profile
  • Newsletters
  • Email Preferences
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Log Out
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Shape.com Chevron Right
  2. Fitness Chevron Right
  3. Workouts Chevron Right
  4. Abs Workout: Stand Up for a Flat Stomach!

Abs Workout: Stand Up for a Flat Stomach!

By Jessica Smith
November 29, 2012
Skip gallery slides
Save FB Tweet
6 super-effective tummy toners you can do with just a chair
Start Slideshow

1 of 7

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Belly-Blasting Workout

You've worked too hard to let your rock-solid stomach turn soft under your sweater this winter. If you're too busy to make it to the gym, you can still fit in a killer core workout using everyday objects around you—or under you. Try these toning moves that you can do with just a sturdy, high-back chair to maintain your taught tummy all year long!

Related: Abs Workout for a Flat Stomach and Strong Core

1 of 7

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 7

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Incline Hip Twist

Place hands shoulder-width apart on the seat of your chair and walk your feet back to a plank position, bracing your abs in tight. Use your core to lift your hips up slightly, and then rotate your left hip down to tap the edge of the seat lightly, pivoting on your toes. Lift hips and return to center. Repeat, alternating sides each time, for a total of 20 reps.

Form tip: Keep your abs braced in tight as you lower your hip to the chair’s edge to avoid sagging into your lower back.

2 of 7

3 of 7

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Crescent Knee Sweep

Sit on the edge of your chair, hands outside of hips on the edge of the seat. Press your knees together, bring your legs to the right corner of the chair, and lift your heels. Brace your abs in tight and lift your legs (keeping knees bent and together) and trace a half circle so that your legs land at the left corner of the chair. Repeat, alternating sides each time, for a total of 20 reps.

Form tip: Try not to let your back round as you lift your legs, and focus on pulling your belly button into your spine as you circle your legs back and forth.

3 of 7

Advertisement

4 of 7

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Standing Side Crunch

Stand behind the chair with your left hand on the back, right hand behind your head. Shift your weight into your left leg, tap your right leg out to the side, keeping heel lifted, and lean your torso towards the chair. Bend and lift your right knee up (knee faces forward as you lift) and do a side crunch by pressing your right shoulder down towards your right hip. Hold for 1 count and then return to start. Do 20 reps on the right, then switch sides and repeat.

Form tip: Keep your hand light on the back of the chair for balance only (don’t lean on it!) and keep your elbow open to the side on the crunch to avoid pulling on your neck.

4 of 7

5 of 7

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Core Swimmer

Stand behind the chair with both hands on the back. Step your feet back and together, bend knees slightly, and lean forward from your hips until your chest is parallel to the floor. Slowly raise your left arm outside of your ear as you rotate your torso to the left. Hold for 1 count and then return to start. Repeat, alternating sides each time, for a total of 20 reps.

Form tip: The key to success with this move is rotating both shoulders (not just lifting your arm and turning your head) as you raise your arm—it should resemble a swimming motion—to activate both your back and abdominal muscles.

5 of 7

6 of 7

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Supported Side Plank Crunch

Bend your left elbow and place it in the center of the chair seat, directly below your shoulder, hand in a fist. Walk your legs out, stacking your shoulders, hips, and feet, until you are in a side plank position with your right hand behind your head. Rotate your right shoulder down to the chair seat and try to tap your right elbow to your left fist (your hips should remain stationary as you twist). Slowly open back up to your plank. Repeat 10 times on both sides.

Form tip: Be sure to maintain a straight line from your heels to your head in your side plank position. If your chair has a very hard seat, you may want to place a towel or pillow under your forearm for more comfort.

6 of 7

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 7

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Seated Sprinkler

Start seated on the edge of your chair, knees bent, feet flat on the floor. Place your hands behind your head. Twist to the left and hold for 1 count, then turn even further to the left (go as far as you can) and hold for 1 count before slowly returning to start. That’s one rep. Repeat, alternating sides each time, for a total of 20 reps.

Form tip: Keep your spine as tall as you can during your rotation and exhale as you turn, pulling your abs in tighter and tighter during each twist. Inhale as you return to center.

Photos by: Vanessa Rogers Photography

7 of 7

Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook
Trending Videos
Advertisement
Skip slide summaries

Everything in This Slideshow

Advertisement

View All

1 of 7 Belly-Blasting Workout
2 of 7 Incline Hip Twist
3 of 7 Crescent Knee Sweep
4 of 7 Standing Side Crunch
5 of 7 Core Swimmer
6 of 7 Supported Side Plank Crunch
7 of 7 Seated Sprinkler

Share options

Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Login

Shop | Shape

  • Activewear
  • Training Shoes
  • Workout Videos
  • Skin Care
  • Running Shoes
  • Headphones
  • Vitamins & Supplements
  • Water Bottles
  • Resistance Bands
  • Workout Leggings
  • Shop More Next

Shape may receive compensation when you click through and purchase from links contained on this website.

Shape

Magazines & More

Learn More

  • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
  • Customer Service this link opens in a new tab
  • Advertise this link opens in a new tab
  • Content Licensing this link opens in a new tab
  • Affiliate Program this link opens in a new tab

Connect

Follow Us
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
Other Meredith Sites

Other Meredith Sites

  • 4 Your Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Allrecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • All People Quilt this link opens in a new tab
  • Better Homes & Gardens this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Insights this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Surveys this link opens in a new tab
  • Cooking Light this link opens in a new tab
  • Daily Paws this link opens in a new tab
  • EatingWell this link opens in a new tab
  • Eat This, Not That this link opens in a new tab
  • Entertainment Weekly this link opens in a new tab
  • Food & Wine this link opens in a new tab
  • Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Hello Giggles this link opens in a new tab
  • Instyle this link opens in a new tab
  • Martha Stewart this link opens in a new tab
  • Midwest Living this link opens in a new tab
  • More this link opens in a new tab
  • MyRecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • MyWedding this link opens in a new tab
  • My Food and Family this link opens in a new tab
  • MyLife this link opens in a new tab
  • Parenting this link opens in a new tab
  • Parents this link opens in a new tab
  • People this link opens in a new tab
  • People en EspaƱol this link opens in a new tab
  • Rachael Ray Magazine this link opens in a new tab
  • Real Simple this link opens in a new tab
  • Ser Padres this link opens in a new tab
  • Siempre Mujer this link opens in a new tab
  • Southern Living this link opens in a new tab
  • SwearBy this link opens in a new tab
  • Travel & Leisure this link opens in a new tab
Shape is part of the Instyle Beauty Group. © Copyright 2021 Meredith Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
© Copyright . All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.shape.com

View image

Abs Workout: Stand Up for a Flat Stomach!
this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.