Lower back, hips, knees and ankles

Chair Pose: Classic

Builds functional leg and core strength in a standing position, training the muscles you need for sitting down, standing up, and everyday weight-bearing activities.

How to do it

1. 1

   Stand with your feet about hip width apart

   Weight even through both feet, arms by your sides to begin.

2. 2

   Bend your knees and send your hips back

   As though a chair were behind you and you were starting to sit on it. Most of your weight travels back into your heels.

3. 3

   Keep your chest lifted and your back long

   Your lower back keeps its natural inward curve. This is a hip movement, not a rounding of the spine.

4. 4

   Take your arms up only if your shoulders are happy

   Forward at shoulder height, or alongside your ears. Arms down is a complete version of this movement, not a lesser one.

5. 5

   Hold for 30 to 60 seconds and breathe

   Come up when the hold stops being steady rather than pushing to a target time.

What to watch for

Your lower back rounding as your legs tire. That is the point to come out of it, or to use the shallow version, which asks less of the same muscles.

Ways to adjust it

• Shallow
• Arms down
• Sit-to-Stand
• Block between thighs
• Wall support
• Heel elevation

If this one is too much today

Try the gentler version instead. It asks less of you and does much the same work.

• Chair Pose: Shallow

Other ways to do this movement

Every version below is the same movement set up differently, so one of them usually suits.

• Chair Pose: Arms at 90°
• Chair Pose: Arms Down
• Chair Pose: Block Between Thighs
• Chair Pose: Dynamic Sit-to-Stand
• Chair Pose: Hands Pressing Raised Block
• Chair Pose: Shallow

Before you try it

Move within a range that stays comfortable. Stop if this brings on sharp pain, dizziness, or symptoms that travel down an arm or a leg, and speak to a clinician before repeating it.

From the clinically authored Vinys movement library.