Wish Your Workplace Also Doubled As a Gym ?
That might be more feasible than you think. We all spend many hours bent over screens at work and at home. But there are exercises out there that can help us stay alert and stronger while we’re working. Why not pick a few that you like and break them out whenever your brain is feeling fuzzy or your mood needs a lift?
Health Magazine recently suggested a few quick yoga poses that work just fine at the desk. One example is the Scale Pose.
Sit on the chair’s edge. Press the hands down on each side and lift your legs and bottom off of the seat. Hold your shoulders down and breathe deeply as you lift. Repeat two to three times. I have seen various upper body strength training exercises that work like this one, and they all help to deliver a workout and strengthen arm and shoulder muscles.
Forbes has also come up with a desk exercise for lower body power. It’s called the “Wooden Leg.” As you sit in your chair hold one leg straight out in front of you for two seconds. Then raise it as high as you can and hold for two more seconds. Alternate each leg and repeat 15 times. That ought to wake you up and wake up your muscles too.
And LifeHack also has a bunch of desk exercises including this wrist stretch. Reach your arm out in front of you, palm up and use your other hand to grab your fingers and slowly and gently pull them down to stretch your forearm.
These are just a few of the many ways you can exercise at your desk. Find out what seems comfortable to you.
Taking brief 10 minute exercise breaks whenever you feel stiff and tired could help your body and your work. The next step might be to consider ways to break up your sitting time more too. Lots of people are advising us to stand while we do short meetings, to get rid of extra chairs in our office, and to consider stand up working platforms. Sitting is ranked right up there with smoking by many researchers now, making it well worth our time to consider.
In your regular doctor’s visits, be sure to discuss your work habits and hours. Your physician or chiropractor will have more suggestions to improve your workplace too.
Used under Creative Commons Licensing courtesy of Jim Larrison
