How to Do the Wall Sit (Step-by-Step)
Updated: Aug 15
Muscles Worked: Legs, Glutes
Equipment Needed: None / Bodyweight
Difficulty: Intermediate
The wall sit strengthens your lower body, particularly your upper legs, and increases endurance.
Wall sits may also help you avoid knee issues, since the strengthening impact they have on your quad muscles can assist in strengthening the knees.
Isometric strength and endurance in the glutes, calves, quadriceps, hamstrings, and adductor muscles are developed by doing the wall sit.
How to Do the Wall Sit
Place yourself near a wall (around two feet away). Standing too far away may cause you to slip and fall, while standing too close can reduce the effectiveness of the exercise.
Lean back against the wall with your feet shoulder-width apart and glide down until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Your knees should be bent at a 90° angle and above your ankles. Hold the posture with your head, shoulders, and upper back against the wall.
Hold for 20 seconds to 1 minute, finish when you have about 10-15 seconds of strength left in you, then rest for 30 seconds to 1 minute before repeating.
Repeat up to five times.
Other Variations
There are a few variations of the wall sit exercise, including the following.
Inner Thigh Medicine Ball Wall Sit
The normal wall sit puts a lot of stress on your thighs, but if you notice that your inner thighs are getting off too easy, you may target them specifically by putting an exercise ball between them throughout the exercise.
You may use an inflatable ball or a hefty medicine ball for a more challenging workout. If the workout is too difficult for you, just let the ball drop (provided the floor can withstand an impact from a large med ball) and see if you can finish the time in the normal wall sit posture.
Single-Leg Wall Sit
Lifting one leg off the ground, as you would imagine, makes the exercise considerably more difficult. Do the wall sit in the normal manner, once your in the regular wall sit position, straighten one leg out in front of you.
This puts much more focus on your standing leg as well as your core, which must fight the natural want to collapse over to one side.
Bear in mind this exercise will be much more difficult than the standard wall sit.
Weighted Wall Sit
Adding weight to the workout is one of the simplest method to advance it. You may place a weight plate on your lap or hold a medicine ball, dumbbell, or kettlebell in front of your chest.
It'll raise the pressure on your legs and core, making the wall sit more difficult.
Muscles Worked
There are multiple muscles worked by wall sitting, primarily including the following.
Quadriceps
Hamstrings
Adductors
Glutes
Calves
Other muscles activated to a lesser degree include various underlying leg muscles along with various abdominal and back muscles.
The information provided in this article is not intended to replace professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the guidance of a physician or other competent professional before following advice or taking any supplement. See our terms and conditions.