[Did] 10 chair stands a day, 3 days running

Novice SunnySide · 2026.10.30 07:00 · Views 61 · Likes 8

Carrying groceries in from the car still gives away how little strength I’ve got, so instead of overthinking where to start, I picked something small to try this week.

Monday: 10 sit-to-stands off the kitchen chair, no hands on the armrests. Did it again Tuesday, same count, and again this morning before coffee. 3 days running now.

What I noticed:
– Day 1, the last two reps were shaky, knees wobbling on the way down
– Day 2 felt steadier, especially sitting back down, which is apparently the HARDER half
– Day 3 my thighs were tired after, in a ‘worked’ way, not a ‘hurt’ way

Picked the chair because there’s no equipment, no gym decision to make, and I can squeeze it in between meetings without changing clothes (the standing-between-calls habit from last week basically set this up). Turns out once you’re already up, a few reps isn’t much of a jump.

Still not sure how many days a week this should be, or if 10 is too low to bother raising yet versus just sticking with it a while longer. Anyone know when it’s actually time to bump the number up?

Comment 8

dewdrop10.30 07:30
did 10 too, knee wobbled on rep 9 same thing
OceanBreeze10.30 08:55
dewdrop said: knee wobbled on rep 9, same thing. mine was day 2, left knee on the way down, right around rep 8. I started doing 10 every morning before I sit down at the desk for the day, because once I’m at the computer I don’t get up again until lunch if I don’t make myself.
SkinHarmony10.30 09:16
The part about sitting back down being the harder half really tracks, it was the opposite of what I expected too. I started with 8 reps off my kitchen chair 3 weeks ago because carrying groceries was wrecking my forearms, and the first week my legs shook more on the way down than standing up.
Good Enough Skin10.30 13:12
The worked versus hurt distinction is the one I track too, more than rep count. Last month three deadlines landed in the same week and every small habit I’d built just stopped overnight, no walks, no stretching, nothing. Picking one small thing to restart with is about the only method that’s ever actually worked for me.
FreshFaceFriend10.30 14:20
that worked-not-hurt feeling on day 3 is the best part, I chased it for 9 days before my knees finally stopped shaking on the way down.
Kindly Curious10.31 07:17
3 days in a row is already further than I got when I tried standing up from a dining chair without using my hands, so the armrest rule alone would have gotten me this far. About 3 weeks ago I started something similar, rising off the chair before I start making dinner, since sitting for an hour and a half on the bus twice a day leaves my legs pretty useless by the time I’m home.
→ Kindly CuriousSunnySideAuthor10.31 08:20
Kindly Curious said: the armrest rule alone would’ve gotten you further, that’s how I started my jog-walks too, 3 weeks in and still switching to a walk whenever my legs give out.
WarmCup11.03 13:53
the day 1 to day 3 shift from wobbly to steady really got me. with my kid’s eczema waking us up some nights, even holding onto something small for 3 days running feels big