Category: Office Health and Wellness

How to Exercise at Your Desk

Many of us have good intentions when it comes to working out in spite of being at work for 1/3 of the day. We try to get up early to squeeze in a workout before we head in to the office. We plan a stop at the gym on the way home. We might even try to see what can be done during a lunch break. How about sneaking in a workout while you’re at your desk?

Exercise_at_work

Let’s face it, that’s where many of us spend much of our day, and all of those hours sitting in our desk chairs, hunched over our keyboards, are a big part of why we need the exercise in the first place. Turn that Catch 22 into the perfect time to wake up your muscles and learn how to exercise at your desk.

These Arm Exercises actually use your desk as your exercise equipment:

Place your hands under the desk, palms up, and press up as if you’re trying to lift the desk. Hold this contraction until your arms feel tired. You can do both hands at the same time, or alternate between working each arm individually.

Now place your hands on top of the desk, palms down and press as strongly as you can as if you’re pushing the desk down into the floor. Hold contraction until your arms feel tired.

Isometric Hand Press:

Sitting upright in your chair, grasp your hands together in front of your chest as if you were clapping. Firmly press them against each other, the right hand pushing to the left and the left hand pushing to the right. Hold contraction for 10 seconds before releasing. Repeat 4 times.

Shoulder Shrug:

Lift the tops of your shoulders toward your ears and hold for 5-10 seconds
Relax and drop your shoulders low, feeling a slight stretch in your neck.
Repeat as you like.

The Wooden Leg:

Sit in your chair, back straight. Engage your stomach muscles and extend one leg out straight in front of you even with the chair height and hold for 5 seconds. Pressing through your heel, slowly raise your leg up as high as you can, and hold it again for 5 seconds. Lower to the floor and repeat the sequence 8-10 times. Follow up with your other leg.

The Wooden Leg can also be done with both legs at once:
Sit closer to the edge of your seat and place your hands on the desk for balance.
Raise both legs together as high as possible under the desk. Hold for several seconds and slowly lower back down.

Crossed Leg Resistance Lift:

Cross one ankle on top of the other.
Begin to raise your feet off the floor.
Press top leg down and resist with bottom leg – hold this contraction until muscles are tired. Release to the floor.
Repeat with opposite ankle crossed over the top.

Chair Squats:

Stand tall with back straight.
Slowly lower your body to within 1 inch of the chair, almost sitting down but not quite touching the seat.
Hold for ten seconds.
Relax and sit fully into the chair, or lift back up to standing to repeat.

Thigh Muscle Static Contraction Series:

These isometric contractions can be done with all the muscles in the thighs simply by focusing your attention on each muscle group individually.

Begin by focusing on the inner thigh muscles: Contract/squeeze the inner thighs with maximum effort, holding the contraction for 5 seconds. Relax and repeat between 10-15 times.
Next focus on the outer thigh muscles. Contract these muscles as much as you can, holding for roughly 5 seconds and release. Repeat 10-15 times.
Continue on with your hamstrings – the backs of your thighs – strongly contracting those muscles for several seconds and then releasing. Repeat 10-15 times.
For your quadriceps (the tops of your thighs), straighten your legs out in front of you and then do the contractions, holding for 5 seconds, releasing and then repeating.
These can be done periodically throughout the day.

Inner Thigh Adduction:

Choose an item that can be squeezed such as a rolled up towel or even your sweater. Sit up straight in your chair towards the edge of the seat, your abs tucked in. Be sure your feet are flat on the floor and place the item between your knees. Squeeze your knees together with maximum force, holding for several seconds before releasing. Repeat 10-15 times.

Butt and Ab Clenches:

Tighten your buttocks as strongly as you can and hold that contraction for 10 seconds. Relax your muscles. Repeat this contraction 10-15 times.

Follow with your abs:
Tighten your tummy muscles, focusing on pulling your belly button in towards your spine and your side muscles in towards the center. Hold the contraction for 10 seconds. Repeat this contraction 15 times.

Sitting Spinal Stretch:

Sit tall in your chair, abs engaged and making sure your spine is straight. Place your left hand on the desk and with your right hand grab the back of the chair and gently twist your spine and neck to the right as if you’re trying to look behind you. Try not to hold your breath. Hold the twist for 10 seconds and then gently twist back to facing forward. Repeat with your right hand on the desk and your left arm on the back of the chair, gently twisting to the left until you can see behind you. Hold for 10 seconds and then release.

Finally, even just checking in every now and then to be sure you’re sitting properly in your chair helps your back muscles stay strong. Your chair height should allow your feet to be flat on the floor with your knees and hips bent to a 90-degree angle. Your back should be straight, with the lower spine flat against the back of the chair and your chair pulled in close to the desk to avoid hunching forward.

Follow these ideas throughout the day and you can get in some great movement, and you won’t even have to lunge your way to the photocopier.

Ten Simple Exercises You Can Do At Work

Exercise is a love/hate relationship to most of us. Some exercise faithfully, and there are others who wouldn’t think of it. I was raised in a physically active home as a child with a Dad who played semi- professional baseball, and parents who engaged in bowling, tennis, swimming, dancing and walking. There was no way around it, and I am happy for the healthy education of exercise. I began teaching fitness, from infants to seniors, in 1985 and for 22 years brought the gift of healthy living to many of my clients.

Ten Simple Exercises

In many professional offices, employees sit at a desk for approximately 7 hours per day. Ten simple exercises you can do at work can make you body feel energized, provide a clear thinking mind and grant you good health in your professional journey. While you sit at your desk, make a conscious effort to:

1. Rotate your ankles
2. Perform heel raises
3. Raise your toes
4. Stretch your arms over your head and bend to each side while in your chair
5. Roll your neck to reduce tension
6. Do knee lifts in your chair
7. Perform straight leg lifts
8. Be mindful to sit up straight
9. Tap your toes to keep the blood flowing
10. Stand up often

These ten simple exercises that you can do at work will make you feel more alert, hold your energy level high, keep your muscles strong, keep your mind stimulated and your attitude enthusiastic!

Good Ways To Deal With Stress At Work

In our lives we are met with challenges that test our patience, our character, and sometimes all that we have held true to our personal image. Though we look for escapes they are not always available to us, the stress builds and we become less of who we want and more aggressive or more detached from our social structures. It can engulf so much of our lives we sometimes begin to think these feelings normal, all from negativity and stress. Stress at work can add to the already overwhelming amount of difficulties presented in life, but if we take a few short moments to collect ourselves, we can spare ourselves some weight from the boulders we each push uphill.

Stress at Work

Available at all of our desks is a key to lower stress levels. While reading, take both hands and place them palm up on your desk. Rest your feet on the ground and relax your body against your chair. Close your eyes and breathe in heavily through your nostrils, expanding your abdomen as you do. Hold your mounted breath for a moment and exhale slowly, pulling your abdomen in as you do. While taking the time to focus on your breathing, tell yourself you are relaxed. Repeat it while you inhale, feel the weightlessness of your limbs. When you again open your eyes, repeat that you are relaxed. Whenever you feel stress or negativity, you can come back to this small meditative exercise for as long as necessary.

Stress at work can be out maneuvered by simply removing yourself from the situation momentarily to collect thoughts. Taking the time to focus on our breathing can again center ourselves when we spin away; taking the time to work through a stressful work situation can relieve us from continued negativity throughout the day. You deserve to feel as stress free as possible, and you can begin your journey today!

Ten Simple Steps To Get A Good Workout At Work

Many of us would love to be able to get more exercise, but the problem most people face is having time to workout. With our busy lives, some of us barely have enough time for work, family and home obligations, and sleep, so getting in a workout on top of all that would be quite a challenge.

So what to do when you don’t have time to workout? Since we spend so much time at work, it makes sense to try to squeeze in small bits of exercise throughout the day at work. The recommended amount of physical activity for health benefits varies depending on individual needs and goals, but 30 minutes of moderate activity is a good place to start. Note that this does not mean the 30 minutes has to be done all at once; it can be broken into smaller amounts of time that add up to 30 minutes total. Looking at it that way, it is easy to see how you can squeeze in some exercise at work in order to total 30 minutes per day. Here are ten simple steps to get a good workout at work.

Workout at Work

  1. If you drive to work, park as far away as possible from your building, so that you get a good walk in. Wear a pedometer and try to get 10,0000 steps in per day.
  2. Take the stairs whenever possible inside the building.
  3. Put in face time with your coworkers. Instead of emailing, get up and walk over to see your coworker. You can also suggest taking walks during meetings instead of gathering to sit in a conference room (if there is no presentation or anything that needs to be seen). When you are on the telephone at your desk, stand up instead of sitting down.
  4. Trade your desk chair for an exercise ball. This will force you to work your core to balance. Or have your desk replaced by a high desk, so that you have to stand at it. This will greatly reduce the amount of sitting you do per day.
  5. If you have an office, you can close the door for privacy during breaks or at lunch and do a number of no-impact exercises. You can do squats, lunges, pushups, crunches, etc. You can even keep hand weights at your desk (or use waterbottles) to get in some light resistance training.
  6. Join a local gym and workout at lunch. Many gyms offer 30 minute “express” classes that cater to working professionals on their lunch break. Or you can walk on the treadmill or use one of the other cardio machines for 30 minutes. This will leave plenty of time to shower and grab a quick healthy lunch.
  7. Like to be social during lunch? Start a lunchtime walking or jogging club. Forget the water cooler and catch up on the latest office gossip or entertainment news while getting in shape with your coworkers.
  8. Set a timer on your computer or cell phone to go off every hour to remind you to stand up, step away from your desk, and either walk a lap around the floor or go up and down a flight or two of stairs. Every little bit of activity counts!
  9. Want to encourage your co-workers to fit in exercise too? Start a sports league at work. You can practice or play games during lunch or after work at a nearby location or local school.
  10. Whether or not you have an office, you can still do some exercises at your cubicle. Isometric exercises are performed without weights and require you to tense your muscles for a time and then relax them. Since the moves are performed without actually moving any part of your body, no one will actually even know you are exercising!