Summer is on the way yet you still feel chained to your office chair – unable to get outdoors and keep fit whilst everyone out your office window is exercising out in the sun. Don’t worry though, we’ve listed our top five ‘deskercises’ that you can do from your desk which will help keep your mind and body active – no matter how many spreadsheets you have to work through today!
1) Walk, don’t email!
Instead of sending an email reply to the person sitting across the room from you or in their office just down the corridor – get up from your desk and go over to them! This not only resolves problems face to face and stops your email overload but also will give you a moment to stretch those legs and get up and out of your chair for a few minutes.
2) Got one of those fun swivel chairs at your desk? Then you can easily give your torso and abs a good workout!
Start by having your back stretched and upright against the back of your chair, and then hold the edge of your desk with your fingers and thumbs. From there, keep your feet flat on the ground, suck your stomach in and use your body core as the axis to swivel the chair from left to right and back again. Do four – five sets of twenty rotations (1 rotation being left – right – left) and hey presto! You’ve worked out without even leaving your chair! (reference: https://www.buzzle.com/articles/ab-exercises-at-your-desk.html)
3. Use the stairs!
Simple yet effective. Avoid the need of waiting for the lift or having to make awkward small talk with your co-workers by ‘elevating’ (see what we did there!) your heart rate! Time how long it takes and see if you can beat it each time you walk up!
Courtesy of Karolina/kaboompics.com
4. Stand at your desk!
As we wrote in our previous blog post on sitting being the new smoking, the constant sitting down at work is wreaking havoc on our health with every two hours of sitting down reducing blood flow, raising blood sugars and dropping cholesterol levels by 20% so just by doing something as simple as standing up at your desk, can be so superficial towards balancing our health.
5. Seated leg raise.
Whilst seated at your desk, lift one or both legs and hold it there for five seconds, then lower your leg(s) back down to the floor without letting them touch the ground. Then repeat for 15 reps. A way to do a secret workout without many people knowing and not having to leave your desk – plus you can add weight to your legs (rucksack/handbag/briefcase) to increase the pressure and workout.
Need more tips like these? Follow our ninja exercise board on pinterest.