Wakeout pack — 28 exercises

Office Chair

Playful chair exercises that turn your office chair into exercise equipment.

sittingdeskmiddaydo anywhere28 exercises

30-second preview

Reach for this when…

You're a bit bored at your desk and your swivel chair is starting to look less like a seat and more like a toy.

Why this happens

The modern office chair is the most consistent piece of equipment in the average adult's life — eight hours a day, five days a week, occasionally sobbed into. This pack treats it less like a cage and more like a toy. A swivel chair is a pelvis-rotation device. Armrests are dip bars. The seat pan is a gentle incline for hip mobility work. The point isn't to turn cubicle life into a gym — it's to notice that the chair you're already in can produce real spinal rotation, pelvic mobility, and mild upper-body strength if you stop treating it as a seat and start treating it as equipment. Most desk workers have never actually used their chair's range of motion. Ten minutes of doing so tends to wake up the same rotational patterns that long sitting suppresses, which is part of why it feels weirdly satisfying. It's also the only thing in the office you can abuse guilt-free.

About this routine

Best on a swivel chair with wheels and armrests, in an office setting where briefly spinning around doesn't alarm anyone. About five minutes. Skip if your chair has no swivel, lock the wheels if you're on slick flooring, and avoid the dip-style movements if you have wrist or shoulder pain. Safe during pregnancy at lower intensity. None of this replaces actual medical advice — but it's more fun than 90 percent of what else you could do at your desk.

The routine

28 exercises in this pack

180 With Left Leg

180 With Right Leg

180s To The Left

180s To The Right

360s

4-step Circles

22 more in this pack

Unlock the full routine.

The iOS app plays all 28 exercises in order, with audio cues, countdown, and a streak that keeps you honest.

Get the iOS app

Use this pack when you need to…

Built for these moments

Boost Energy

High-energy moves you can do seated or standing, like seated boxing and kicks, right at your desk when you need a lift.

Why this pack: Moves like 360s and Hula Hoops turn your office chair into playful exercise equipment, a fun way to give yourself an energy boost right at work.

Activate My Legs

Higher-intensity leg moves, seated or standing, including kicks, sit-to-stands and office chair moves that put your legs to work.

Why this pack: Your legs do the work here, with Forward Crawl, Feet Drags and Single Leg Walks moving your office chair around while you stay seated.

Gain Mental Clarity

Cardio moves like punches, kicks, jumps and desk pumps that send oxygen through your blood and leave your head feeling clearer.

Why this pack: When work has you craving a pick-me-up, playful moves like Shine The Floor and 4-step Circles give you a quick energy boost from your office chair.

Improve Mood

Playful moves for when your mood dips at work, from dancing to pretend punches, kicks and a little fun with your office chair.

Why this pack: Sisyphus, Hip Action and a few 180s let you channel your inner child, with playful office chair moves made for fun and joy at work.

Frequently asked

What people ask about office chair

Can I really exercise using my office chair?

Yes, within limits. A swivel chair provides spinal rotation resistance through the pivot, armrests support low-load upper-body strength work, and seat-edge positioning enables hip mobility and core engagement. It's not a replacement for a gym, but it produces real movement — especially rotational patterns and pelvic mobility — that long sitting actively suppresses. The gains are modest but useful, and the barrier to entry is zero.

Won't I look weird doing this at work?

Some of the movements are discreet, some are visibly silly. The spinal rotations and seated pelvic tilts read as stretching. The dips and spin-based movements look like play. If visibility is a concern, do it during a quiet stretch of the afternoon or in a lounge. If you're fully remote, the question dissolves. Part of the point is reclaiming the chair from being purely a site of misery.

Is this good for back pain?

For general desk-life stiffness, yes — the rotational and pelvic mobility work addresses exactly the patterns long sitting shuts down. For acute back pain, probably not; use the seated back pain relief pack for that. The swivel-based movements require trusting your back to rotate under control, which is uncomfortable if something is actively angry. Save this pack for when the back is stiff, not when it's screaming.

What if my chair doesn't swivel?

You'll lose about half the pack. Fixed chairs can still do the seated mobility work, the pelvic tilts, and some of the armrest-based strength movements, but the rotational exercises specifically use the swivel as the resistance source. If you have a fixed chair, the seated back pain relief or work sitting packs will give you more workable material. Or, at the risk of being extravagant, get a chair that swivels.

Packs built for the same body, a slightly different moment.