It's an unlikely place to even think about exercising, crammed into an airplane seat barely big enough to hold a human, a magazine and a bottle of water. Yet one airline is promoting its seats as perfect places to get fit.

Song Airlines via Associated Press Fitness expert David Barton teaches exercises to two unidentified passengers aboard a Song Airlines flight from New York to Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., this past month. Click photo for larger image.

Song airlines, an Atlanta-based offshoot of Delta Air Lines, recently introduced In-Flight Fitness. The 15-minute workout is designed to work the core, the upper and lower body and to increase flexibility. For $8, passengers are given a resistance band, small ball and illustrated brochure, all neatly packaged in a carrying case.

The seven exercises, says the program's developer, are designed to be done within the confines of the seat without clocking the person next to you. It helps that the airline's 33-inch seat pitch -- the distance between rows of seats -- is a smidge larger than that of some other airlines, making it a bit easier to do the recommended glute extensions, triceps presses, dead lifts, chest presses, seated rows, etc. For the bicep curls, for example, one end of the band is placed around the foot while the arm, bent at the elbow, pulls the band toward the chin.

The idea for the program came about, according to a Song spokeswoman, when focus groups (made up mostly of women) mentioned exercise as an amenity they'd like to have on board, along with manicures. The airline nixed the second idea but liked the first, thinking it fit in with the company's philosophy of giving its passengers choices, such as individual video monitors offering programming and food service that includes roast beef fajita wrap sandwiches and apple martinis.

"Do we think the entire airplane is going to want to do this?" asked Joanne Smith, Song's vice president of marketing and customer service. "No, but we're doing our little bit, like serving organic food. If we can find a way in society to make exercise easier and more accessible for people, I think we're doing our part. If one or two people per flight buys a ball and band, we've done a good job."

Exercise during flying, say health experts, is a good way to lessen the chances of deep vein thrombosis -- blood clots that can form in the legs during long periods of inactivity. It's also called "economy class syndrome," after the custom of stuffing people onto planes with little room to move about. But it can affect anyone packed into a small space for hours, such as soldiers confined to tanks. During most of Song's workout program the legs are either moving or resisting the stretch of the band.