How to Do Chair Squats

A chair squat is a bodyweight squat with a chair behind you. You sit back until you touch the seat, then stand up again. The chair shows you how low to go and catches you if you lose balance, so it’s a good way to learn the squat or rebuild leg strength.

1. Stand in front of a chair so that the seat barely touches the backs of your knees

2. Place your feet about shoulder-width apart with your toes very slightly pointing outwards

3. Brace your core and inhale as you lower your body, bending at the knees. Be sure to keep your chest upright and your eyes forward

4. Once your glutes barely touch the chair, briefly pause before exhaling and driving back upwards at a controlled speed using your quadriceps and glutes while bringing your hips forward

Benefits

Chair squats train the same muscles as any squat. The quads on the front of your thighs and your glutes do most of the work, with your hamstrings helping. Getting up from a seat is something you do all day, so the strength you build carries straight into everyday life.

You control the depth, so they suit beginners and anyone coming back after a break.

Form tips

• Touch the seat lightly, then stand. Keeping your legs working at the bottom makes every rep count.
• Push your knees out in line with your toes as you lower. Knees that cave inward are the most common fault.
• Keep your heels down and your weight through your whole foot. If your heels lift, set your feet a little wider.
• Put the chair against a wall so it can’t slide away from you.

Variations

• Easier: use a higher seat, or hold on to a table or the back of a second chair.
• Harder: hold a dumbbell at your chest for a goblet squat, or take one foot off the floor for single-leg chair squats.