The nine-to-five rat race forces most adults to spend eight or more hours a day at work, many of them with their bums glued to office chairs and with no time to exercise. Fortunately, there is a smart but easy solution to the problem: desk exercises!

Desk jobs invariably include long hours with your bum glued to your office chair. This, in turn, increases your risk for obesity, a strained back, wrists, eyes and neck, and poor muscle tone and strength. To combat these adverse effects you need to turn your office desk into a mini gym.

To exercise actually just means to move. Many movements and exercises can be done at the desk in your office. All it takes is to recognise the possibilities and make use of the opportunities for short bouts of stretching, aerobic and strength exercises.

Stretching

Get your muscles warmed up and ready before you start this office workout of stretches:

    • Do neck stretches by slowly tilting your head as far as it can go towards your shoulder. Don’t lift up your shoulder. Hold for ten seconds. Tilt to the other side, then forward and back. Don’t apply any strain.
    • Loosen up your shoulders by rolling both forward in a circular motion and then backward. Repeat ten times.
    • Stretch your wrists and make small circular movements before you hit the keyboard.
    • Do ankle and calf stretches at your desk. Lift one foot off the floor and straighten that leg. First flex your ankle pointing your toes up and then extend you ankle pointing your toes down. Do this ten times with each foot. Now, draw imaginary circles in the air with your toes, both clockwise and then anti clockwise.

Aerobics

Aerobic (cardiovascular) exercise targets the heart and lungs to keep them in tip-top shape. Any activity that makes your heart beat faster and leaves you slightly breathless will do. For example:

    • Walk to talk to a colleague in another office or room rather than e-mailing him or her
    • Walk fast, don’t dawdle
    • Take the stairs (two at a time if possible) instead of the lift.

Strength and resistance training

Bodyweight or resistance training refers to exercises in which your own body (and gravity) provides all the resistance needed to help exercise, tone and strengthen your muscles. Static strength training exercises can be done discreetly without anybody else noticing. These silent, squeeze, hold and release exercises can be used to strengthen just about any muscle in your body, for example abs, buttocks and pelvic floor muscles.

Other examples:

    • Good posture, pulling in your tummy and keeping your back straight when sitting or walking, is an effective core (muscles in your pelvis, abdomen and lower back) strengthening exercise.
    • Chair squats are an effective body-strengthening exercise that you can do every time you stand up from your chair and sit down again. Stand up straight. Pretend to sit down again but only lower your buttocks to a few centimetres above your chair, carefully hold and straighten up again. Keep your back straight throughout the exercise.
    • Strengthen your abdominal muscles (abs) and relieve tired leg muscles while sitting at your desk. Keep your feet flat on the floor. Tighten your abs and lift one leg until it is level with your hip. Hold, lower and change legs.
    • Strengthen your calves and ankles while you read or talk on the phone. Stand and hold onto your chair. Place your left foot on the back of your right calf. Now rise up on your toes (instep), hold for 20 to 30 seconds and lower. Change legs and repeat three times
    • Tighten and strengthen your gluteus (buttocks) muscles and relieve back pain by lifting first one and then the other buttock up and almost off the chair for 30 seconds. Now squeeze, hold and release.

 

Sources

Kylstra, C. 2014. Burn calories at your desk. Retrieved from: http://www.cosmopolitan.com
Milam, E. 2014. Deskercise! 33 smart ways to exercise at work. Retrieved from: http://greatist.com
Schneider, J. Ten office exercises you can do secretly. Retrieved from: http://health.howstuffworks.com
Smith, J. 2013. The ten best exercises to do at your desk. Retrieved from: http://www.forbes.com