Back to the Wall

American Fitness, Nov, 1999 by Gregory L. Welch

I have attended several fitness classes and seen instructors do many different exercises. Almost everything I have witnessed has appeared to make sense with the exception of "wall sits." I've been told they are a good exercise for activities such as skiing and seem to be popular with the older adult population. Can you tell me if they are actually any good?

Rachel Hively Downey, California

It's true--"wall sits" are a popular exercise. They are often included in fitness classes for older adults and featured as the "get ready" secret for the upcoming winter ski season. When designing an exercise program, however, one of the key components is how to get maximum effectiveness from the workout. One of the best ways is to follow the law of specificity as closely as possible. This is the main reason why "wall sits" are such a poor choice. They are not specific to any activity or aspect of life for the older adult. Even though they may resemble a skiing position, the biochemical differences between "wall sits" and skiing are substantial. In fact, the only thing significant about "wall sits" is how much time people are wasting by doing them.

Let's try to understand where the rationale breaks down. For the non-exercise professional, "wall sits" may appear to make sense for two distinct reasons. They isolate the quadricep muscle group, resulting in fatigue. This tends to suggest strength training has occurred, which is essential to the elderly as well as the skier. However, what is perceived as a strength benefit is more likely due to neural excitation (fiber recruitment) than actual strength gain. For activities performed by the elderly as well as the skier, however, there is far more effective "real life" exercise protocol than isolating the quadriceps, such as developing the quadriceps along with the hamstrings and gluteals as a functional unit.

The other reason some feel there is value in "wall sits" is because the body positioning tends to resemble a person skiing. This is a misconception with regard to the issues of dynamic balance and muscular action. Skiing requires weight distribution over the balls of the feet with a slight lean forward. In order to turn the skis, the body weight and position must keep the tips of the skis in contact with the snow. "Wall sits" place the body weight backward. There is pressure (not weight) placed on the balls of the feet, but that is simply to keep the body from sliding down the wall. Secondly, skiing is an activity requiring continuous biochemical adjustment throughout a variable range of motion. The involvement of the quadriceps, hamstrings and gluteals is working as a functional unit with the addition of the constant shift in the relationship between concentric and eccentric muscle contractions.

As previously mentioned, the trainer should routinely scrutinize each aspect of the program for common sense. Valid questions would be: Does a person ever have an actual need to lean against a wall and act like they're sitting in a chair? Where is the logic in training the individual to pretend to sit in a chair?

Granted, the quadricep muscle group is highly recruited during this activity. However, by the very nature of the exercise, it is an isometric contraction and far less effective than resistance through a range of motion specific to real life. Furthermore, if the biomechanics of pretending to sit in a chair are considered important, then wouldn't it be more prudent to focus on the components of truly lowering to and rising from a real chair? "Wall sits" offer no real benefit simply because they do not involve the gluteals, hamstrings and quadriceps as a functional unit. This biochemical unit is mandatory for the elderly.

The exercise that truly meets the criteria for training the gluteals, hamstrings and quadriceps as a functional biochemical unit is squatting. Squats have often been criticized for being hard on the knees. However, when performed properly, the squat is an excellent exercise for isolating muscles used in snow skiing as well as the activities of daily living among older adults. Lunges would be an additional possibility, although they can be too difficult for some older adults. Part of the problem with lunges and squats is simply perceptual. They have been around for what seems like forever and are not considered flashy, "trendy" or "cool" like some exercises that fitness magazines try to popularize.

Lastly, it is important to look at "wall sits" from a safety standpoint. From the moment a person slides down the wall into a sitting position, fatigue begins. Obviously, the longer the person stays in this position, the more fatigued they become. The breach in safety occurs as the individual tries to rise from the sitting position, which risks straining previously fatigued quadricep muscles. Another recovery method of torso flexion combined with trunk rotation places the vertebral disks in their most vulnerable position for rupturing. In any case, these recovery maneuvers can put a substantial amount of stress on body parts that are generally not part of the training protocol, thus leading to potential injury. [ hope common sense will prevail and more appropriate exercises than the "wall sit" will be chosen.