There are many reasons to find exercises you can do at the office,, however, replacing a program of regular exercise is not one of them. Breaking the monotony of the day, getting your blood circulating to think clearer and preventing aches and pains that come from sitting in the same position too long are three good ones, however. Even with a program of regular exercise, doing some simple “office exercises” can increase the amount of activity you get daily and be a boon to your health.
Keep it simple with these three exercises.
If you have a cubical or office that protects you from view, Others might avoid entering the elevator with you if they see you doing some of these exercises without knowing why. For instance, walking and running in place, lifting your knees as high as possible for a 30 seconds to a minute will look rather odd, but it does do wonders. Standing up and sitting down repeatedly to mimic squats could be another eyebrow raiser that also is excellent. Using the edge of your desk to do push ups as a modification, or even getting on the floor to do them, as long as you can’t be seen.
Raise yourself up with tricep dips.
To help avoid bat wings and tone the back of the arm, tricep dips are a good exercise. Don’t use the floor to do the dip, particularly when dressed in good clothing. Instead, sit on the edge of your desk, put your hands on the desk behind you with your fingers pointing toward your body and lift yourself up off the desk, then slowly lower yourself down.
Be the office kook and lunge everywhere you go.
To do a lunge, you take a step forward about two to three feet, with one foot, let’s say the right foot, leaving the other foot in place. Bend both knees until you’re down in lunge position with both knees at a 90 degree angle. (The back knee will touch the floor). Stand back up, bring your left foot forward to meet the right foot, then step forward with the left foot and repeat. It will take you quite a bit of time to get very far, so make sure you’re not on a mission that needs to be completed quickly.
- Lean against a wall and slowly lower yourself down to sitting position. Don’t do this against a cubical wall, unless you thrive on the excitement of things crashing.
- Take a quick break and stand when you can. You don’t have to sit down to read a correspondence, so don’t. Just standing is helpful.
- Go up on tip toes while waiting for technology or people. Place your feet shoulder width apart and go up on your tip toes and lower until the papers are all collated at the printer or your takeout is ready.
- Squeeze your glutes. No one will ever know you’re squeezing your buttocks but you. It’s the perfect under cover exercise for the office.