There are many different types of Yoga that are practiced today. You can practice Yoga without ever leaving your seat; you can take advantage of the many benefits of chair yoga. If age, illness, or an injury has made exercising challenging, it doesn’t mean you can’t practice Yoga. Chair yoga is a great way to practice and is safe and effective.

Who’s Chair Yoga For?

Individuals of all ages and activity levels can enjoy chair yoga classes. Chair yoga was initially introduced to the fitness arena to modify the hatha yoga style. Chair yoga had primarily catered to the special population with mobility and health issues, but soon it became popular among the young and the old alike. In the same way that a traditional yoga practice flows through motion and poses for increased flexibility, chair yoga flows through those sequences on the chair or with the support of the chair.

For many people working a desk job for 8 hours, just a gym membership doesn’t undo the effects of sitting long hours. If you are looking to introduce physical activity to your office or desk space, chair yoga is for you. Standing desks, stability balls, and walking breaks are all good practices. Why not add regular chair yoga practice? 

Debbie Kell, a ToneandStrengthen team member and certified yoga instructor, has been teaching chair yoga classes for several years. In her expert opinion, “those of us who are trapped all day in a desk job can find time to practice some yoga, right in our chairs, to help refresh the body and restore our energy. A few minutes here and there can make a difference.”

If your work involves frequent travel and you find yourself sitting at the airport or on the plane for hours, chair yoga is the perfect way to stretch and move. Chair yoga exercises during a long flight can lessen the potential risk of blood clots. According to the American Society of Hematology, for flights longer than eight hours, “Blood clots can sometimes form in your legs during air travel because you are immobile for long periods.” 

Benefits of Chair Yoga

Debbie shares many of the chair yoga benefits with us. They are listed below.

• Chair yoga helps us quiet the mind, calm our moods, steady our emotional fluctuations, and sharpen our mental focus.
• Chair Yoga brings us greater awareness about our bodies.
• It Steadies our breathing, expands our range of motion, increases our balance, and builds strength throughout our bodies.   
• Chair yoga gives us the ability to better cope with stress and stay balanced, both physically and mentally.  
• Chair yoga enhances our range of motion, and we build physical strength, especially in the core.
• When we use the chair as a prop, we can experiment with movements and postures that otherwise might be intimidating. Chair yoga practice lets us borrow the chair’s stability and build on it with our bodies.
• Practicing chair yoga can inspire us to transition to more traditional mat-based yoga classes (that’s what Debbie’s clients’ experience has been).

Debbie says that’s not all. She thinks, “there’s something that many don’t think about regarding Yoga. Yoga trains the body to find ease through functional and fluid movement. We’re not working with isolated movements when we practice Yoga. Our bodies are moving through space, balancing, finding leverage, becoming stronger in ways that enhance our ability to participate in our lives. Yoga treats the body as a whole system. ” 

You can do chair yoga nearly anywhere you can find a place to sit. Try a virtual Chair Yoga session with Debbie Kell on Thursdays at 10:30 a.m. ET. Click HERE for more information about the classes.

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Muscle worked

Major muscles worked are

• Latissimus Dorsi
• Rhomboids
• Spinal Erectors
• Trapezius muscles

Benefits

A few of the benefits of bent-over rows are below-

Prevent Injuries- Bent over row involves stabilization of the spine. It isolates the back, shoulders, and gluteus muscles. Rows strengthen the muscles of the back surrounding the shoulder joint, which makes this exercise highly beneficial for preventing training injuries and increasing shoulder stability.

Upper Body Strength- The bent-over row is a multi-jointed exercise that strengthens the entire back musculature.

Burn Fat- Increased muscle mass leads to better in metabolism, the rate at which your body burns calories. When the number of calories expended is greater than the number of calories consumed, you can lose fat.

Improves Posture- Bent over row helps increase back strength and spinal stability by avoiding lumbar flexion under load.

Functional Exercise- The dumbbell bent-over row is a compound, functional exercise in that you use this same motion throughout the day, such as when picking up heavier objects.

How to perform this exercise

• Stand with feet hip-width apart and knees slightly bent, hinge forward at the hips.
• Engage ab muscles and keep the neck neutral to maintain a flat back to start.
• Lift a weighted barbell or two dumbbells towards your torso.
• Exhale to row dumbbells up next to ribs, drawing elbows straight back and keeping arms close to the torso.
• Focus on squeezing shoulder blades together at the top of each rep.
• Inhale to slowly lower weights back to starting position.

Safety

Avoid this exercise if you have lower back pain. If pain occurs in the shoulder or back while executing this exercise, stop and consult a doctor.

Common Mistakes

It’s essential to avoid the mistakes below to get the most out of this exercise.

Choose the Right Weight- Choose dumbbells light enough to enable the proper form.

Rounded Back or Shoulders- Keep your back straight, and shoulders square throughout the exercise.

Bending Too Far- Toros should be bent forward about 45 degrees. More flexion than that can strain your back muscles.

Moving Lower Body- Your legs and hips should be still throughout this exercise.

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“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.” – Albert Camus

In September, kids are back in school, summer vacations are over, the foliage is changing, the sun sets earlier, and the weather is getting chillier. Fall is a time for so many significant transitions. According to Behavioral scientist Katy Milkman, “fresh starts are an ideal time to kick-start change.”
A fresh start! That’s all we need to commit to new behaviors and build new habits. Speaking for myself, fall is my early new year. There is magic in the crisp air and the change of color of leaves that helps me set fresh and new goals. As the season changes, it can be the season of change for YOU.

Here are five tips on setting health and fitness goals this fall.

Pick three goals- Last few months of the year are upon us. Pick three goals. Write them on a commitment contract and stick the contract on your mirror. Now is the time to start visualizing yourself in the new year. How do you want to welcome the new year? As a couch potato or as a runner? Cigarette in hand or a celery stick? Gaining muscle or extra inches on the waist? Talk with a Fitness Coach about those pending fitness goals.

Start a Healthy Routine- Now that the summers are behind us, let’s set a healthy routine for the day. We flourish when healthy essentials are set in a daily routine: sleep, wake, eat, exercise, and work; repeat.

Put an Event on Your Calendar- One of the biggest reasons I love fall is, its running race season. I have been racing every fall for the last five years. This is the time when my training peaks. There are plenty of competitive and community events to sign-up for. Try a 5K or bike race. Work with a fitness coach to increase your endurance and strength. Signing up for an event and training for it is one of the best ways to stick to your goals.

Add Variety to Your Fitness Routine- Just like the leaves change color in fall, your fitness routine should also change every three to four weeks. This is the time it takes your body to adapt to an existing stimulus. Join a new Virtual Fitness class. Hit the pavement, take your bike out, or go for a swim. Keep your body guessing just like the changing colors of the trees.

Let Go of the Past- Fall brings Halloween. Halloween symbolizes the past and honoring it. It also represents letting go. Fall is a time to learn from nature to let go of the past. Nature provides us with proof of how beautiful it is to let go. Let go of the things that don’t serve you and celebrate the beginning of new knacks, behaviors, and mindsets. Let fall be a fresh start—one of self-acceptance and gratification.

Get started on your fall goals today. You will be able to set the goals without any social pressure. Plus, you’ll get a head start on your goals, and you will have time to adjust your course as you begin working through them. You will have the momentum going. Come new year’s others will start working towards their goals, you’ll be enjoying the results.

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