Core · Bodyweight
Seated Upright Twists on a Chair
How to do the seated upright twists on a chair, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Logged as
- Reps
- Movement
- Rotation
- Mechanic
- Isolation
How to do it
Sit tall on a chair with your feet flat on the floor and your hands clasped or held at your chest. Keeping your hips square and facing forward, rotate your torso to one side, return to center, then rotate to the other side in a controlled motion.
- 1Feel your obliques drive the rotation on each side
- 2Keep your hips and knees still so only your torso turns
- 3Sit tall and rotate around a long spine
Common mistakes
- Don't let your hips or knees swing with the twist
- Avoid using momentum; control each rotation
- Don't slouch or round forward as you turn
Muscles worked
The seated upright twists on a chair mainly works the obliques, with the upper abs and lower abs assisting.
- ObliquesPrimary
- Upper AbsSupport
- Lower AbsSupport
- Lower BackMinor
Kovo programs the seated upright twists on a chair for you and tracks it every session.
We build your whole program, drop the right lifts into each workout, and adjust your weights as you get stronger. Free on iOS and Android.
More abs & core exercises
- How to do the ab wheel rollout
- How to do the ankle tap plank
- How to do the ankle taps
- How to do the resistance band dead bugs
- How to do the resistance band pallof press
- How to do the rollout
Last reviewed June 2026.