The other week I bloogged about “Secret Office Workouts For Longevity” and I mentioned, according to research, that fidgeting like rapidly tapping your feet and talking with your hands can burn up to an extra 350 calories a day. Continuing on that vein then exercising whilst traveling on public transport (or any transport really) is a really good way to burn up extra calories – if you can make every second count. But how do you do it without looking obvious?

The Austrian Organisation Eltis has a humorously named program “Fin In Fahrt”, which translates to “Fit in Travel”. The organisation facilitates the exchange of information, knowledge and experiences in the field of urban mobility in Europe, and supports the creation of urban transport systems, which use less energy and produce less emissions, while improving the competitiveness of urban areas and the mobility and quality of life of its citizens. In particular they promote exercising whilst waiting at public transport stops through the use of custom designed stops with exercises on them.

So too Scientific American seems to be getting in on the act with their Podcast on “Mass Transit Encourages Exercise and Weight Loss”. It reports that Residents tend to stay thinner when a commuter train was added to their region, because of increased exercise walking to and from stops.

And whilst all this is good news, and promotes the expansion of public transport whilst reducing carbon emissions and the cost of health care, there seems to be few programs freely available on the Internet for knowing exactly what exercises to do. That is until I came across the unusually named Chicken Bus Workout developed by nomadic traveling enthusiast Lisa.  Whilst this article is very tongue in cheek there are some real lessons to be learned here for maximising your workout during transport down time.

So after recommending a warm up and stretching session (two points for that, well done), the exercises most useful for conventional public transport systems are:

The Half-Seat Squat

Also known as the Butt Cheek Squeeze, according to Lisa this is done when you’re sitting on a crowded bus with only half of your backside on the seat. In order to stabilize yourself, you have to tighten the free butt cheek so that you don´t fall off the seat. While doing so, you also tighten up the quad muscle because you’re in a pseudo squat position.

The Bicep/Elbow Grip

Lisa says that you can do when forced to stand and lean or sit in awkward, uncomfortable position. With one hand (e.g. left), grab part of a seat on the right hand side of your body. Then, stabilize yourself with your opposing elbow. Difficult to explain but especially if you ‘pulse’ your tension on and off you’ll get a good muscular workout.

The Sitting Ab Crunch

You contort your body slightly and bed a little forward, carefully tightening your ab muscles, so that you take up as little space as possible. Again, ‘pulsing’ your ab muscles on and off will make the workout more effective.

The Flamingo

And just in case the Chicken Bus Ride is a little too tongue in cheek for you then Joakim Christoffersson’s NanoWorkout recommends an exercise called The Flamingo. Just lift one leg slightly and try to keep your balance without holding on to something. Public transportation are rarely known for providing a smooth ride so you are in for a challenge, but if you for some reason think it’s too easy then try to close your eyes while still standing on one leg.