Why Chair Tricep Dips Are the Perfect At-Home Arm Workout

Your at-home arm workout that doubles as a posture reset.

Feeling slouchy? This simple chair move will wake up your arms, open your chest, and remind your body what good posture actually feels like.

How to do it:

1. Sit tall on the edge of a sturdy chair with feet hip-width apart.

2. Place your hands on the edge of the seat beside your hips, fingers pointing forward.

3. Press through your hands, lift your chest, and scoot your hips slightly forward so they hover just off the chair.

4. Hold here, drawing your shoulders back and keeping your core gently engaged.

Full Workout:

CORE RECOVERY: Connect with your breath, activate your deep transverse abdominal and rebuild your core.

TIP: Placing one hand onto your belly and one on your upper chest is helpful feedback. You want your belly to rise on your inhale (not your chest).

Does your chest want to rise? This is a common compensatory breathing pattern we fall into when stressed. It’s contributes to shoulder and neck stiffness. It’s good to circle back to this throughout your days and notice when you start to breathe into the accessory muscles.

BREATHING 101

What is Belly Breathing?

Diaphragmatic breathing, also known as belly breathing, is a technique where you breathe deeply using your diaphragm—the dome-shaped muscle under your lungs—rather than taking shallow breaths using your chest. This style of breathing encourages a full exchange of oxygen, which calms your nervous system and supports the body’s natural relaxation response.

How to correctly breathe?

Diaphragmatic breathing can be performed in any position, but it is easiest to practice while lying on your back with knees bent. Start by placing one hand on your abdomen and the other hand on your chest.

Example:

CORE RECOVERY: Connect with your breath, activate your deep transverse abdominal and rebuild your core.

TIP: Placing one hand onto your belly and one on your upper chest is helpful feedback. You want your belly to rise on your inhale (not your chest).

Does your chest want to rise? This is a common compensatory breathing pattern we fall into when stressed. It’s contributes to shoulder and neck stiffness. It’s good to circle back to this throughout your days and notice when you start to breathe into the accessory muscles.

PRACTISE

Breathing Exercises for Early Postpartum

You’ve learned why breathing matters for postpartum recovery — now let’s put it into practice with two simple, safe, and effective techniques you can start today.

Breathing Exercise 1: Box Breathing (For Calm + Reset)

Let’s start with one of the simplest postpartum breathing techniques: Box Breathing. It’s a calm, structured way to slow your breath, relax your body, and give your mind a mini reset in the middle of newborn life.

Perfect for: Calming nerves, lowering stress, and helping your body shift out of “fight or flight” mode.

This simple technique helps reduce stress, ground you, and activate your parasympathetic nervous system — the one that tells your body “you’re safe, you can relax now.

How to Do It:

🫁 Inhale → 4 counts
⏸️ Hold → 4 counts
😮‍💨 Exhale → 4 counts
⏸️ Hold → 4 counts

When to Use It:

• Before bed
• After settling baby
• Anytime you feel overwhelmed or stressed

💛 Mum-Life Tip: Try this before bed, after settling baby, or whenever you feel overwhelmed. It’s like a mental pause button.

Breathing Exercise 2: Diaphragmatic Breathing (For Core Connection)

Once you’ve tried Box Breathing, you can move on to Diaphragmatic Breathing — also known as belly breathing. This one’s all about reconnecting with your deep core and pelvic floor while helping your body shift into full rest-and-repair mode.

How to Do It:

🫁 Inhale through your nose (2–3 seconds) — belly rises, chest stays still
😮‍💨 Exhale through your mouth (4 seconds) — belly softens and falls

Aim for 5-10 cycles

When to Use It:

• Before or after a feed
• While waiting for the kettle to boil
• Lying next to bub during tummy time
• Before bed/ first wake up
• Anytime you feel tense, anxious, or overwhelmed

💛 Mum-Life Tip: Aim for around 10 breaths each time — it’s just enough to feel your body soften without needing to watch the clock. Think of this as your all-day reset — from feeding to nappy changes, it’s a small way to recharge your body and mind.

EXERCISES

BREATHING EXERCISE 1:

Try “Box Breathing” for stress reduction, grounding and activating the parasympathetic nervous system. “Box Breathing” consists of the same number of counts during your inhale as your exhale with an added pause at the peak of the inhale and valley of the exhale.

• Inhale for Four Counts – 1,2,3,4
• Pause for Four Counts – 1,2,3,4
• Exhale for Four Counts – 1,2,3,4
• Pause for Four Counts – 1,2,3,4
• Repeat this cycle 4 times

🤍 This rhythmic breathing practice can help activate your parasympathetic nervous system (the one that makes you feel calm).

BREATHING EXERCISE 2:

Use “Diaphragmatic breathing” throughout your day.

• 10 breath Cycles before bed
• 10 breath cycles in the morning
• When baby cries
• When you feel overwhelmed

🤍 Adding deep breathing to your daily routines may improve your physical, mental and emotional health, help activate your parasympathetic nervous system (the one that makes you feel calm).

BENEFITS of breathing

Why Diaphragmatic Breathing Is Key to Postpartum Recovery

Diaphragmatic breathing, or deep belly breathing, is a gentle yet powerful technique that helps restore strength, reduce stress, and promote healing in a way that honours what your body has been through. Here’s why it’s such a game-changer for postpartum recovery:

The answer to postpartum recovery may be how you breathe—here’s how to do diaphragmatic breathing. Correct breathing lays the foundation for healing and restrengthening your inner core. With breath, you begin the healing process postpartum by simultaneously rehabbing both the deep core and the pelvic floor.

QUALIFICATIONS
Pilates Education & Qualifications.

Elise Barlow holds a Diploma of Pilates Comprehensive Instruction (Polestar, 2014) and a Certificate in Pilates Matwork Instruction (Polestar, 2014). With 10+ years of teaching experience, she is a Polestar Mentor, selected to train and support future instructors. Elise is also certified in Prenatal and Postnatal Pilates.

Elise Barlow is a Polestar-certified Pilates instructor, mentor, and educator with over 10 years’ experience, specialising in prenatal and postnatal movement.