Pilates guide
Chair Pilates is Pilates-based exercise done sitting on a chair, or standing and holding it for support. It suits anyone who finds the floor difficult or can't stand for long: older adults, people with arthritis, multiple sclerosis (MS) or a wheelchair, people recovering from illness, and desk workers.
Chair Pilates itself has barely been tested, but chair-based exercise in general builds some strength and flexibility. What sitting can't do is train your standing balance, so use the chair as a starting point and add standing moves, holding the chair, as soon as you can.
This guide covers what chair Pilates is (and the other kind of "chair" class), what the studies show, how to choose a chair, the moves to start with and when to stop. There's a 15-minute class done entirely sitting down, and a 20-minute class that finishes standing.
Usually it means Pilates-based moves on an ordinary chair: the NHS's 30-minute chair-based Pilates video is for people who find it hard to get down to the floor, and some of it is done seated only. In a studio, a chair class can mean the Wunda chair, a spring-loaded box with a pedal that Joseph Pilates designed, which is a different and harder workout.
We found no trial of chair Pilates in older adults. The only seated Pilates studies are two small ones in people with MS, and neither had a group that didn't do Pilates.
Across 25 studies of adults over 50, chair-based exercise improved grip strength by about 2 kg, and people managed about 3 more arm curls and 2 more chair stands in 30 seconds than comparison groups. In older women, arm and leg endurance and flexibility improved.
Seated exercise had "no effect on balance or mobility" in 14 trials. Fewer falls come from standing exercise that challenges your balance, 3 or more times a week.
Experts agree chair-based exercise should be "a starting point to progress to standing programmes" where possible. Finish your session standing, holding the back of the chair, as soon as you can.
Pilates uses about as much energy as walking slowly, so walk or wheel on other days too: the UK guidelines pair strength and balance work on 2 days a week with 150 minutes of moderate activity.
Pilates-based exercises done sitting, or standing with the chair for support. The NHS video calls itself "suitable for people who have difficulty getting down on the floor and prefer the support of a chair", and some of its exercises are "solely chair-based", for people unable to stand. By 2006, STOTT PILATES, one of the large teacher-training schools, had an "Armchair Pilates" programme that modifies the moves for people with balance and stability challenges.
A typical class starts with breathing and sitting tall, then works the spine (side bends, twists, a hip hinge and back-strengthening lifts), then the legs and arms, and ends standing, holding the chair. Experts on chair-based exercise want a warm-up, strength work that gets harder over time, stretches and a cool-down.
The Wunda chair is one of the pieces of apparatus Joseph Pilates designed. The Pilates Method Alliance describes it as "a small bench or box with a pedal on one side, attached with springs" that "challenges balance, stability, and strength". Lab studies in women found its exercises worked the trunk muscles at moderate intensity, and that one chair session improved flexibility less than one reformer session. This guide is about the ordinary chair; our reformer guide covers studio apparatus.
People who find the floor difficult or can't stand to exercise; older adults with an activity limitation or recovering from an illness, for whom experts see chair-based exercise as part of a progressive falls exercise pathway; care home residents, including some who can't walk; people with MS or who use a wheelchair; and desk workers breaking up long periods of sitting.
Sitting gives you a large, stable base. Seated moves train sitting balance and trunk control, and the arms and the front of the thighs can be worked well. But the hip and ankle muscles you use for standing balance get less work, and sitting takes the load off your bones.
The UK guidelines say sitting still doesn't include "being active while in a sitting or reclining posture, for example, wheeling, chair exercises or seated gym work".
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We found no trial of chair or seated Pilates in older adults or care homes. In a pilot of online, seated group Pilates twice a week for 12 weeks in MS, 16 of 22 people finished and balance scores rose by 10%, but there was no group without Pilates. In 15 wheelchair users with MS, 12 weeks of Pilates improved sitting balance, posture and shoulder and back pain, with no comparison group; a review of shoulder pain treatments for wheelchair users found it was the only Pilates study.
In 25 studies of 1,388 adults over 50, grip strength rose by about 2 kg, and people managed about 3 more arm curls and 2 more chair stands in 30 seconds; seven of the studies were chair yoga and none was Pilates. In 10 trials of women after the menopause, arm and leg endurance and flexibility improved, and band training from a chair helped daily activities and grip in care homes. In nursing homes, chair-based exercise was feasible and safe. An earlier review found only 6 low-quality studies in frail older people.
Across 14 trials, seated exercise had "no effect on balance or mobility" and did no better than weight-bearing, functional exercise. Across 25 studies, balance scores, the timed up and go test (standing up, walking 3 metres, turning and sitting down) and walking speed didn't change.
In women after the menopause, the timed up and go test was 0.69 seconds faster across 6 studies, while static balance didn't change. That result comes from a fixed-effect model, which assumes every study measured the same effect, and the paper reports the effect inconsistently, so treat it as uncertain.
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After a stroke, seated programmes built on reaching beyond arm's length and trunk tasks improved balance and mobility (7 trials, 337 people), though most trials had some risk of bias. Chair Pilates moves that reach and turn challenge your sitting balance in a similar way; that's our reasoning, not a chair Pilates result.
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For people living at home, balance and functional exercise cut the rate of falls by 24% (39 studies, 7,920 people, high certainty), and the world falls guidelines recommend it 3 or more times a week for at least 12 weeks. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) asks for programmes that focus on balance, coordination, strength and power. In care homes, exercise probably cut falls while it continued, with no lasting effect once it stopped, and the Cochrane review counted seated flexibility programmes as usual care.
In 12 workplace trials, Pilates reduced disability from muscle and joint problems, but pooled pain scores didn't fall clearly, and the programmes were full classes, mostly supervised. No trial has tested short Pilates breaks at a desk. The UK guidelines advise breaking up long periods of sitting with at least light activity.
No trial has compared chair Pilates with chair yoga. In 131 older adults with knee or hip arthritis who couldn't do standing exercise, 8 weeks of chair yoga eased how much pain interfered with life, still 3 months later. In 454 adults over 65 with several long-term conditions, weekly chair yoga was safe but didn't improve quality of life over a year.
Experts on chair-based exercise suggest at least once a week, sessions of at least 10 minutes and no more than an hour, and strength work that gets harder over time. The NHS suggests its sitting exercises at least twice a week, building up the repetitions. The trials most often used 45-minute sessions twice a week for 12 weeks.
The NHS sitting exercises: an upper-body twist held for 5 seconds, 5 times each side; hip marching, 5 lifts each leg; a chest stretch held for 5 to 10 seconds, 5 times. Its strength routine: sit to stand 5 times, "The slower the repetitions, the better", and biceps curls with filled water bottles, which "can also be carried out while sitting", 3 sets of 5 with each arm. Its balance routine: a one-leg stand held for 5 to 10 seconds, 3 times each side, near a wall or a stable chair.
Two or three chair Pilates sessions a week of 15 to 30 minutes, finishing standing at the chair whenever you can, with walking or wheeling on other days. If falls are a worry, add standing balance work 3 times a week.
More repetitions, a slower lowering, heavier bottles or a band; then the standing moves holding the chair; then fewer fingers on the chair. That follows the experts' advice to progress strength work and the NHS's to build up slowly; the order is our suggestion.
For people becoming frail who find light activity difficult, the UK guidelines note "emerging evidence that short periods of standing repeated hourly" help physical function.
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The NHS asks for "a solid, stable chair that does not have wheels", one "that will not slip on the surface it is on", where you can sit with your feet flat on the floor and your knees bent at right angles. It suggests a chair without arms, which would restrict your movement; its Pilates video asks for a flat, firm seat and backrest.
While you recover, the NHS says not to sit in a low chair or a chair without arms, not to bend your hip more than 90 degrees, not to bend down to touch your feet or ankles and not to sit with your legs crossed. Use the chair your team suggests.
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Put the brakes on. The UK guidelines note that some wheelchair users who do a lot of upper-limb or overhead activity are at risk of rotator cuff tears, so keep reaches at or below shoulder height if your shoulders hurt. Our guide to exercise for wheelchair users covers protecting your shoulders.
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They overlap a lot: breathing, sitting tall, twisting and side bending. Pilates puts more weight on trunk control and strength, and yoga on poses, breathing and relaxation. No trial has compared them, so choose the one you'll keep doing; our chair yoga guide covers the yoga version.
No trial has compared chair and mat Pilates either. Seated exercise did no better than standing, weight-bearing exercise, and the experts see the chair as a stage on the way to standing. Moving from the chair to standing work, then to the mat if getting down and up is safe for you, is a sensible ladder (our suggestion); our seniors guide covers mat and standing Pilates for older adults.
Chair Pilates includes the same kinds of moves (a seated twist, marching, a chest stretch), with more attention to breathing and trunk control.
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Chair Pilates uses little energy. Pilates averages 2.8 METs (metabolic equivalents: multiples of the energy you use at rest) and seated or stretching video workouts 2.5, against 4.8 for brisk walking. The Older Adult Compendium has no Pilates entry; it lists chair yoga at 2.8 and chair-based conditioning classes at 3.8 on its scale for people over 60. Chair Pilates won't drive weight loss on its own; our Pilates for weight loss guide covers what helps.
Chair Pilates won't build bone: the UK consensus recommends resistance and impact exercise for bone, with back-strengthening and balance work for posture and falls. With osteoporosis, avoid rounding forward under load, use a hip hinge with a long back instead, and do back-strengthening lifts 3 to 5 times, held for 3 to 5 seconds. "Generally, Pilates is very safe and won't cause a spinal fracture", the Royal Osteoporosis Society says. Our Pilates for osteoporosis guide has every swap.
Our Pilates guides for back pain, arthritis and MS have the evidence for each. The two seated Pilates studies were both in people with MS.
Sit near the front of a solid chair with your feet flat, and do the chin tuck, twist and breath reach seated even though the demos show them standing; our 15-minute seated class gives a starting dose for most of them.
3D demoLateral breathing (Pilates breathing)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoChin tuckBeginner · No equipment
3D demoSeated upper-back lift (sit tall, shoulders back)Beginner · A bench or box
3D demoSeated overhead side bendBeginner · A bench or box
3D demoThoracic rotationBeginner · No equipment
3D demoSpine twist (Pilates)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoMermaid (Pilates seated side bend)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoTable slide (seated forward reach)Beginner · A bench or box
3D demoSeated marchBeginner · A bench or box
3D demoSeated knee extension (chair)Beginner · A bench or box + Something with weight
3D demoChair leg extension and sweepBeginner · A bench or box
3D demoSeated bent-knee calf raise (soleus raise)Beginner · A bench or box
3D demoIsometric chest squeeze (palm press)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoBand rowBeginner · A band + An anchor point
3D demoSeated dumbbell curlBeginner · A dumbbell + A bench or box
3D demoBreath reachBeginner · No equipmentThese are the moves that train standing balance: hold the back of a sturdy chair, start with the NHS doses (5 slow sit-to-stands, 5 calf raises, 5 side leg lifts each leg, one-leg stands of 5 to 10 seconds), and use fewer fingers on the chair as they get easier.
3D demoSit to stand, pushing on the thighsBeginner · A bench or box
3D demoSit to stand from a chairBeginner · A bench or box
3D demoStanding marchBeginner · No equipment
3D demoSlow calf raiseBeginner · A wall
3D demoWall side leg lift (standing side kick at the wall)Beginner · A wall
3D demoSingle-leg standBeginner · A wall
3D demoTandem stance and heel-to-toe walkBeginner · A wall
3D demoSide-stepping (sideways walking)Beginner · A wallSwap seated forward folds that round your back under load for the table slide, a hinge from the hips with a long back. Smooth, comfortable twisting is fine, the UK consensus says. Each move's page has its osteoporosis caution.
While you recover, keep the hip bend below a right angle, don't cross your legs, and skip moves that fold you forward towards your feet. In the leg sweep, don't cross the middle (our suggestion).
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Keep reaches at or below shoulder height, and leave out overhead presses with weights: the NHS advises against making up strenuous exercises or using heavy gym equipment with shoulder pain. Our Pilates for shoulder pain guide has more.
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If you get dizzy when you stand up, or have glaucoma, skip head-down folds towards the floor and come up slowly (our suggestion, in line with the moves' own cautions).
Start with the 15-minute seated class if you can't stand to exercise, or the 20-minute chair Pilates workout, which finishes standing, and add the balance routine on other days when you can.
A 15-minute chair Pilates class done entirely sitting down, in a chair or wheelchair: breathing, spine moves, and leg and arm strength with water bottles.
15 minBeginner13 movesA bench or box, Something with weightA 20-minute chair Pilates workout for beginners and older adults: breathing, sitting tall, gentle spine and leg moves, and a standing finish at the chair.
20 minBeginner14 movesA bench or box, Something with weightA 20-minute seated workout for older adults who cannot stand for long: marching, leg and arm strength, posture, and sit-to-stands that lead back to standing.
20 minBeginner11 movesA bench or box, Something with weightA 15-minute chair yoga routine done entirely sitting: slow breathing, neck, shoulder and wrist stretches, seated twists and side bends, and a calm finish.
15 minBeginner16 movesA bench or boxA 25-minute workout done sitting, in a chair or wheelchair: seated cardio intervals, light strength work, posture and stretches, with pacing and cooling built in.
25 minBeginner14 movesA bench or box, A dumbbellA 30-minute workout in your wheelchair: a warm-up, seated cardio, four shoulder exercises from a trial programme, and stretches for the front of the shoulders.
30 minBeginner14 movesA bench or box, A bandA 3-minute standing break to repeat every 30 to 60 minutes at your desk: sit-to-stands, calf raises, marching, an upper-back turn and chin tucks.
3 minBeginner5 movesA bench or box, A wallBalance practice in 10 minutes: tandem stance, single-leg stands, marches, heel walks, tree pose and floor transfers.
10 minBeginner7 movesA wall, A bench or boxWalking, strength and balance across the week, built up gradually.
The Royal Osteoporosis Society's list for stopping exercise; call 111, or 999 in an emergency (911 in the US). The NHS video pages add: if symptoms worry you or don't go away, get help from 111 online or call 111.
In the US, call 911.
Stand up slowly, sit back down if it happens, and tell your GP if it keeps happening: unexplained dizziness and falls need checking (our suggestion).
Don't rush to get up. Lying on the floor for a long time causes harm, and up to 80% of people over 90 can't get up from the floor after a fall, so keep a phone or alarm within reach when you exercise alone. If you fall repeatedly, or have started avoiding activity because you're worried about falling, ask your GP about a falls service; NICE offers a falls assessment to people at higher risk.
You're frail, have moderate to severe dementia, have had a spinal fracture or fall regularly: the UK guidelines suggest starting with a trained professional. Experts on chair-based exercise also suggest a health check before starting a programme, and a leader trained to work with frail older people.
Chair-based exercise built strength in trials: about 2 kg more grip, 3 more arm curls and 2 more chair stands in 30 seconds across 25 studies, and better arm and leg endurance in older women. Make it harder over time so it keeps helping.
Seated exercise didn't change standing balance or walking speed in trials. Fewer falls come from standing exercise that challenges balance, and a Cochrane review counted seated flexibility programmes as usual care.
No chair Pilates study has measured bone, and sitting takes the load off your bones. The UK consensus recommends resistance and impact exercise for bone.
The NHS video is for anyone who finds the floor difficult, the seated Pilates studies were in people with MS, and the UK guidelines count chair exercise as being active, not as sitting still.
Pilates averages 2.8 METs and seated video workouts 2.5, about the same as walking slowly; brisk walking is 4.8.
Pilates-based exercise done sitting on a chair, or standing and holding it for support, for people who find getting down to the floor hard or can't stand for long. In a studio, a "chair" class can instead mean the Wunda chair, a spring-loaded box with a pedal that Joseph Pilates designed, which is a harder workout. Check which one a class means before you book.
It's a good way in, especially if the floor is difficult, and chair-based exercise builds some strength: across 25 studies of adults over 50, grip strength rose by about 2 kg, with more arm curls and chair stands. It didn't improve standing balance or walking speed, so add standing moves, holding the chair, as soon as you can. Our seniors guide covers Pilates for older adults more widely.
For strength and flexibility, chair-based exercise in general does: in older women it improved arm and leg endurance and flexibility across 10 trials. Chair Pilates itself has barely been tested: one small online pilot in MS and one study of 15 wheelchair users, neither with a group that didn't do Pilates. Experts also expect it to help mood, coordination and some daily activities.
It can improve sitting balance, but not standing balance on its own: seated exercise had "no effect on balance or mobility" in 14 trials, while seated reaching helped balance after a stroke. Fewer falls come from standing exercise that challenges your balance, 3 or more times a week. Finish at the back of the chair, and ask your GP about a falls service if you fall repeatedly.
Not on its own: Pilates uses about 2.8 METs and seated video workouts 2.5, the same as walking slowly, against 4.8 for brisk walking. It can build strength and make everyday movement easier. Our Pilates for weight loss guide covers what helps.
Yes, as long as it avoids rounding forward under load. The UK consensus recommends back-strengthening exercises held for 3 to 5 seconds and repeated 3 to 5 times, and alternatives to the Pilates roll-down and curl-up, such as a hip hinge with a long back. It won't build bone, which needs resistance and impact exercise; our osteoporosis guide has more.
No trial has compared them. They overlap a lot; Pilates puts more weight on trunk control and strength, and yoga on poses, breathing and relaxation. Chair yoga has more trials, including a UK trial of 454 older adults in which it was safe but didn't improve quality of life, so pick the one you'll keep doing.
A solid, stable chair without wheels that won't slip, where you can sit with your feet flat and your knees at right angles; the NHS suggests one without arms so they don't restrict your movement. After a hip replacement, use a chair with arms while you recover. In a wheelchair, put the brakes on.
Yes: in 15 wheelchair users with MS, 12 weeks of Pilates improved sitting balance, posture and shoulder and back pain, though there was no comparison group. Put the brakes on, and keep reaches at or below shoulder height if your shoulders hurt. Our guide to exercise for wheelchair users covers protecting your shoulders, which carry a lot of load.
Short seated moves are a good way to break up long periods of sitting, which the UK guidelines recommend. Workplace Pilates trials used full classes, not desk breaks: pooled, they reduced disability, but the drop in pain wasn't clear. Our 3-minute desk movement break is a quick option.
At least twice a week, as the NHS suggests for its sitting exercises, building up the repetitions over time. Experts suggest sessions of at least 10 minutes and no more than an hour, with strength work that gets harder. Walk or wheel on other days too, because chair Pilates is gentle on the heart and lungs.
Chair-based exercise was feasible and safe in care homes, and a large chair yoga trial had no serious related harms. Stop and sit still if you feel sick, dizzy, very short of breath, clammy, or have chest tightness or any pain, and call 999 for chest pain that feels tight or spreads to your arms, neck or jaw. Start with a trained professional if you're frail, have had a spinal fracture or fall regularly.
Exercise education, not a personal prescription, and clinical review of these guides is pending. If you are pregnant, have a health condition or have had recent surgery, check with a doctor, midwife or physiotherapist before starting, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
