How to exercise on a plane ?

If by "exercising" you mean "engaging inappropriate activities", you should make sure that you're allowed to. Singapore airlines officially banned sexual activities from their A380 doulbe bed suites - click here for more. Other companies offer this type of flying, more links available in the official "Mile High Club" website.

That being said, let's go to appropriate exercise. The very reason for exercising on board is to reduce the risk of deep vein thrombosis (a.k.a. DVT). To make the long story short, blood got stuck in your legs because of gravity and no movement, coagulates there, forms a clot, which can then go to your lungs causing lethal risks. For more info about DVT, click here to its defition in wikipedia.

Yes, I'm a Monty Python fan. The goal of these exercises are to avoid DVT, but also to avoid uncomfortable feelings at articulations, back, and neck levels.

The same Singapore Airlines that banned "inappropriate activities" published a list of "approrpiate activities" to do in flight, including some stretching exercises. Click here to read Singapore Airlines recommendations.

Lufthansa's website also includes a page about "Well-being on board" which addresses similar topics, including relaxation and eating tips.

The Air-France page about Health and comfort simply advises to take short walks in the cabin, but also mentions exercises shown during the in-flight movie.

The award of the most coprehensive european airline information about how to exercise on board goes to the Portuguese TAP, with this list of illustrated ways to exercise on board.

On the American side of the Atlantic Ocean, Delta offers some additional tips regarding DVT, but not real exercising methods. I guess the american companies bet much more on flight magazine and on-board information.

DVT is a real thing, but its certainly not the terrifying monster that media depicted during the last decade. Not every second passenger on a plane dies. Some statistics mentions 2500 DVT cases a year in the United Kingdom. Assuming 250 passengers in economy class of a Boeing 747 (low number, but easy for calculations), that means 10 full economy-class troop affected by DVT each year.

Compare that to the number of flights operated by such planes yearly, and you'll see how remote the risk is. And once again, it's a risk for long-haul flights. No risks on a Heathrow - Geneva flight, nor on Heathrow - Nice. Up to now, I never heard of DVT while watching a movie in theater, or a musical.

If you're at risk, discuss with your doctor before flying, but otherwise follow the simple tips given by the airline. Have a safe flight !