Who said exercise had to be done standing up…

Who said exercise has to be done standing up?

When we think about exercise, we often picture trainers on, music playing, heart rate up and someone bouncing around enthusiastically in a gym or fitness class.

But what if that isn’t where you are right now?

Maybe you’ve got an injury you’re recovering from. Maybe you’ve recently had surgery and you’re nervous about getting moving again. Perhaps you’ve been dealing with pain, illness or a period of feeling unwell.

Maybe you’ve simply had a long time away from exercise, and the thought of jumping straight back into a workout feels completely overwhelming. Or perhaps you’re just not feeling very confident in your body at the moment.

And you know what? That’s OK.

Because movement doesn’t have to look a certain way to count. Sometimes we just need to start where we are.

I’ve spoken to so many women who know that exercise would probably make them feel better, but they feel stuck because they think they need to be fit enough to start. And they don’t.

You don’t need to be fit before you exercise. You don’t need to be strong before you strength train. And you certainly don’t need to be able to complete a full blown workout before you’re allowed to call yourself someone who exercises.

Sometimes the best place to start is simply with a chair.

And that’s exactly why I’ve put together my collection of chair based workouts.

I wanted to create something that takes away some of those barriers. Something that says “come as you are, we’ll start here”.

And before you think chair based means boring. It really doesn’t.

I’ve put together a selection of workouts so there is something for different fitness levels, abilities and moods. There’s cardio if you fancy getting your heart rate moving, strength if you want to start building or maintaining muscle, Pilates to work on your core control and mobility and stretching for those days when your body is telling you that it needs a little more kindness.

And here’s something else I really want you to know. You don’t actually need to stay seated.

You might be perfectly capable of exercising standing up, but simply fancy doing a workout from a chair.

Maybe you’re having a low energy day. Maybe you’re working at your desk and want to move your body without changing into your gym kit (although I can’t promise you won’t get hot and sweaty). Maybe you’re travelling? Or perhaps. You’re just not in the mood for jumping around.

There are no gold stars awarded for making exercise harder than it needs to be. Because movement at this time of our lives can look different.

As we get older, our bodies change. The things we used to do at 25 might not quite feel so fabulous at 50+ (although I really want to stress here that being in your 50’s or beyond means you have to do everything seated) . And that’s not failure. It’s simply about learning to work with your body rather than constantly fighting against it.

I don’t want women to think that exercise has to be all or nothing.

You don’t have to do an hour. You don’t have to sweat buckets. You don’t have to finish feeling like you’ve been run over by a bus. Sometimes 10, 15 or 20 minutes of movement is exactly what you need.

And if a chair makes that feel more achievable, then grab a chair.  Even if you are an incredibly fit woman, sometimes, we find ourselves needing something a little less strenuous but you still want to do “something”

Perhaps you’ve been waiting until you feel ready. But maybe ready isn’t a feeling that arrives first. Maybe confidence comes after you’ve taken a few small steps. Maybe strength comes from gradually building it. Maybe motivation appears once you’ve started moving, rather than before. And perhaps getting back into exercise doesn’t need to be some huge declaration of “right, that’s it, I’m getting fit again”.

It can simply be “Today I’m going to move my body for 10 minutes”.

Then tomorrow you might do it again. And eventually you may find yourself doing more than you thought you could. That’s how we build confidence. Not by waiting until we’re confident enough to start. But by starting small and giving ourselves evidence that we can.

So if you’re not where you used to be, please don’t let that stop you from moving forward. You don’t need to compare today’s body with the one you had 10, 20 or 30 years ago. You don’t need to punish yourself for time away from exercise, and you don’t need to prove anything to anyone.

You simply need to find a starting point that feels right for you today. And if that starting point happens to be a chair, so be it.

I’ve put together a chair based workout bundle to make movement feel accessible, achievable and most importantly, something you can actually enjoy. Whether you’re returning to exercise, working around an injury, rebuilding your confidence, looking for something gentler or simply fancy trying something different? There’s a workout for you.

Because exercise isn’t about where you start, it’s about taking that first step. And sometimes that first step starts with sitting down.

Ready to give it a go?

Take a look at my Chair based Workouts bundle and choose the workout that feels right for you today. Your body doesn’t need to need you to be perfect, it just needs you to start somewhere.