Form Fridays - The Chair

July 19, 2019 | by morwebadmin

Have a seat, Locals! The chair challenges the entire body - from arms to legs to core and, of course, the booty! Let's breakdown the ideal form for this challenging position we love!

When setting up a chair, a great place to start is by bringing your toes close to or even directly under the barre. Then pull back on the barre so that your arms are straight and then sit down into the position. In the picture above, Emily is she is showing us the ideal chair positioning. Her arms and back are straight, her chest is proud, and her hips are in line with her shoulders. Check out the 90 degree bend in her legs! Her thighs are parallel to the floor and her knees are stacked on top of her ankles. There are many variations of the chair so be sure to listen to your instructor's set up!

Above is a common mistake we see and can be caused solely by the placement of our feet. Emily’s feet are further away from the barre than we saw in the first picture. This is causing her bum to shoot back and her hips are no longer in line with her shoulders. In the position above, Emily will have a harder time engaging her core and is more likely to let her knees bend forward in front of the toes risking knee strain or injury. She is also missing out on some extra back/postural muscle strengthening because her weight is shifted back causing her legs to compensate.

We also often see the mistake shown above where Emily has let go of her upper body and her bum is tucked under. Because she is not focused on her upper body posture, her shoulders are rounded and hunched and her chest isn't proud. Her bum is tucked forward and not in line with her shoulders and you can see more of curve through her spin. This positioning will make it harder for Emily to properly engage her core and glutes. It may also cause her shoulders and neck to be tense and could cause lower back strain.

Tips:

• keep your gaze forward and neck straight
• relax your shoulders - don't let them creep up to your ears
• straighten your arms and draw your shoulder blades together
• try to keep your weight in the heels of your feet

AKA – it should look like you're sitting in an imaginary chair! You've got this, Locals!

Happy Friday!