Desk job getting you down and giving you that Ponderosa widespread look? Never fear, help is here! You don’t need to be doing a heavy lifting job every day like large appliance disposal, you can get fit right at your desk.
We’ve all heard of Jazzercise, exercise, weights, cardio, but have you been introduced to deskercise? Deskercising is just a short stretching routine that will help you ward off some of the negative impacts of being chained to an office all day. It can also help with rehabilitation after a minor car accident or injury.
Studies have revealed several alarming statistics about the lifestyles of many individuals who do a lot of work in a seated position.
- The risk of heart disease increases by 64 percent.
- Life expectancy can decrease up to seven years.
- It’s a major contributor to obesity, depression, diabetes, high blood pressure.
When you consider all the things we do that require sitting aside from work (eating, driving, reading, watching television, we spend an incredible estimated 70 percent of our time in a seated position.
What You Can Do
Fortunately, our friends in the fitness industry are already working on ways for us to offset these adverse impacts. By using your chair and desk, you can perform 15 different exercises. You will be able to work your: arms, triceps, wrists, lower body, spine, shoulders, hamstrings, butt, neck, ankles, and even strengthen your core. If you would like to see a pictorial or video version of this exercise, check out https://www.diygenius.com/deskercise/.
Who Will Know?
And if you don’t want to feel like you’re exercising, we can offer more suggestions for your daily efforts. These are a few you can do, and no one need even know!
- Lose the elevator, take the stairs,
- Spend a portion of your lunch break, walking,
- Rather than picking up the phone to reach out, get up and visit the person you need,
- Wanderlust, just spend a few minutes every day, wandering about speaking to your officemates,
- Standing while talking doesn’t sound much like exercise, but it’s better than sitting,
- Squeeze your butt and hold for ten seconds while seated in a meeting,
- Hold your tummy in for ten seconds and release.
Yeah, They Might Notice These
These may be a bit harder to disguise, but still easy to do and soon, you’ll see your co-workers following your lead.
- Do some squats while you’re standing at the printer, copier, or fax machine.
- Give yourself a handshake, lock hands and pull,
- Shadowbox, or wall push-ups,
- Use your core muscles to swivel your desk chair back and forth, great for the abs,
- Work on a team-building exercise that involves fist pumps, great for your arms and a motivator as well,
- Do bicep curls with your stapler, or tape dispenser, anything with some weight,
- Set yourself a calendar reminder every hour to get up, and walk to the restroom or grab a bottle of water.
Resources
Here are more links you will want to use if you’re interested in more deskercise opportunities:
- http://greatist.com/fitness/50-bodyweight-exercises-you-can-do-anywhere
- http://www.healthline.com/health/deskercise – Overview1
Make it fun, you’ll feel better, be more productive, and you make even make some new friends.