Flexion Chair Exercise Guide: Form, Muscles Worked, and Variations

Understanding the Flexion Chair and Its Benefits

The flexion chair, often referred to by its Portuguese name "cadeira fle," is a unique piece of exercise equipment designed to target the posterior muscles of the thighs and buttocks. Using a flexion chair requires you to sit in a kneeling position, with your shins resting on padded boards and your body weight supported on your heels. This engages several lower body muscle groups at once, allowing for an efficient strength training session.

Muscle Groups Worked

The flexion chair is an excellent tool for building strength and size in key areas, including:

• Gluteal muscles (gluteus maximus, gluteus medius)
• Hamstrings
• Adductors
• Gastrocnemius (calves)

This makes the flexion chair popular among those looking to sculpt an shapely, strong posterior chain. It provides more focused activation than exercises like squats or lunges while remaining comfortable enough for most trainees to perform.

Advantages Over Other Training

There are several reasons you may want to include the flexion chair your workouts:

1. It isolates the thighs and glutes more directly than compound lifts.
2. The supported kneeling position prevents lower back strain.
3. It helps improve flexibility in the calves and hamstrings.
4. It allows you to achieve significant muscle fatigue with relatively lighter weights.

How to Use the Flexion Chair

The flexion chair is simple to set up and perform exercises on with proper instruction. Here is a step-by-step guide to get you started:

1. Adjust the Chair Height

First, adjust the height of the chair so your thighs rest comfortably on the pads when kneeling. The chair height can typically be customized to accommodate most users, but very tall or short trainees may need to modify positions.

2. Kneel on the Pads

Kneel backwards on the padded section so that your upper shins and knees are both fully supported. Keep your torso upright without excessive arching or rounding of your lower back. Engage your core to keep your body stable.

3. Check Your Foot Position

Your feet should point straight back from the chair. Experiment with different degrees of external rotation at the hip joint to find a foot angle that feels secure. Do not internally rotate feet more than 10 degrees.

4. Initiate the Movement from Your Heels

With good knee and foot positioning established, you'll perform the flexion movement itself by driving your heels back towards your hips. This will accentuate the stretch through the fronts of your shins and calves while maximally engaging your hamstrings and glutes.

5. Control the Eccentric Phase

As your hips reach full extension, or as flexible as allows pain-free, reverse direction by bringing heels slowly back under knees to flex the hips. Move slowly and with control to maximize tension on target muscle groups.

Exercise Variations

Some of the most popular and effective flexion chair training variations include:

Bent Knee Calf Raises

1. From starting position, plantarflex ankles to raise heels as high as flexibility allows.
2. Slowly lower heels back to ground with control.

Single Leg Extensions

1. Perform one rep by only extending and flexing one leg at a time.
2. Maintain contracted glutes in non-moving leg for added stability work.

Weighted Extensions

1. Hold dumbbell between feet or strap weight plate around ankles.
2. Perform reps in same manner but with added load for more strength and muscle gains.

Training and Progression Recommendations

Here are some final tips to get the most out of flexion chair training:

1. Start with bodyweight for several workouts to nail form.
2. Initially use moderate volume with higher reps (3-4 sets x 15-20 reps) to build capacity.
3. Increase resistance first through holding weights between feet before adding load elsewhere.
4. Emphasize eccentric tempo over a 1-2 second count.
5. Target 2-3 flexion chair sessions weekly for lower body hypertrophy.

Employing smart, progressive programming built around the unique stimulation of the cadeira fle will lead to outstanding results in shaping and defining your posterior chain musculature.