CalisthenicsIn review

Chair Squat

A bodyweight squat that sits down on a chair and stands back up.

This page is a working draft. A coach has not reviewed it, so read it as a starting point, not as checked instruction.

Pattern: Squat
Modality: Calisthenics
Difficulty: Beginner
Mechanic: Unknown
Force: Unknown
Laterality: Bilateral
Impact: Low
Trains where: Gym, Home
At home: Yes

How to do it

Set up

Stand in front of the chair with your back to it and the feet hip-width apart.

Do the rep

Reach the hips back and bend the knees to sit down on the chair under control.
Sit for a moment with the feet flat on the floor.
Lean forward a little and push through the feet to stand up tall.

What counts as a rep

A rep counts when you sit on the seat under control and return to a full stand without pushing with the hands.

One rep starts standing in front of a chair, sits down until the full weight is on the seat, and ends at a full stand.

Breathing

Breathe in as you lower; exhale as you stand.

Cues

Sit down slowly.
Nose over toes to stand.
Arms forward, not on the thighs.

Common mistakes

Dropping onto the chair
What you seeThe hips fall onto the seat at the end of the descent.
FixLower more slowly and reach the hips back.
A slow descent trains the legs and is easier on the back.
Pushing with the hands
What you seeThe hands push on the thighs or the chair to stand up.
FixCross the arms or reach them forward. Use a higher seat if you need help.
The legs must lift the body for the rep to train them.

Stop the set if

Stop if you feel sharp pain.
Stop if the chair moves or tips.
End the set when you cannot stand up without the hands.

General educational content, not individual coaching or medical advice.

Muscles worked

Prime movers

Quadriceps · moderate confidence
Glutes · moderate confidence

Assisting

Hamstrings · moderate confidence
Adductors · moderate confidence
Deep core / trunk stabilizers · moderate confidence

Equipment

Bodyweight + Chair

Use a stable chair without wheels. Put its back against a wall so it cannot slide.

In the app

You log this by hand. The camera coach does not watch this movement yet.

Tracking: Camera candidate

How this page was checked

Draft. A coach reviewer has not signed this off yet.

Draft text is original copy for Wave 2 batch 4, written from the blueprint CSV row and the Wave 2 rules page of 2026-10-12. No human review is complete.
Technique, cues, rep standard, breathing, stop cues, and error corrections need independent sources and the assigned review tier (blueprint two-source rule).
Programming roles, skill tier, failure cost, timed use, goal fit, and equipment follow the rules page; the switch-on PR must confirm them.
Anatomy uses the CSV planning hints; the assigned review tier must confirm it.
Legacy relations and engine edges stay empty until the progression ladder lane and S2-CAT-005.
Timed use and goal fit copy ex_air_squat, the closest Wave 1 record.
Skill tier beginner, failure cost low, as ex_air_squat (rule 3).
`chair` is a picker id that every user has, as `wall`, so the record requires it and home stays yes. The optional box-step from the CSV is dropped; it does not fit the movement.
ex_squat_to_box (this batch) is close to this row. The chair squat sits fully on the seat; the squat to box only touches the box. Coach review must confirm that both stay.

All instruction and editorial text in this record is original draft copy written for Allena. Planning metadata comes from the internal Wave-2 blueprint CSV.

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