How To Exercise At Your Desk

I'm don't consider myself a workaholic - more like a work-a-lot-ic. And at midlife, I strive now more than ever to integrate time for exercise into my daily routine. The at-home treadmill helps and I have found that making dates with girlfriends to go for hikes and walks is a fool proof method of getting myself moving.

But, when the pressure mounts and deadlines loom, I do occasionally find myself sitting in my workout clothes (and running shoes) sucked into email on my computer, instead of hiking the trails.

For many of us, finding the time to get in the recommended 30 minutes a day of exercise can seem daunting, but the Loyola Center for Fitness says that even when we are glued to our desk, we can still exercise.

"Taking a break from work for even a few minutes can help you feel better and increase your energy level," said Kara Smith, special programs coordinator for the Loyola Center for Fitness.

Here are some exercises Smith recommends that allow you to get in some cardiovascular, strength and flexibility exercise - all at or near your desk.

Cardiovascular


1. Stand whenever possible. Standing opens the front of the hips

2. Take the stairs. Five to seven times a day is a good goal

3. March in place or take a brief walk around your office to increase your energy and blood flow


Strength


1. Strengthen legs by standing feet hip width apart. Sink your hips back as if sitting in a chair. Lower slightly, return to standing

2. Strengthen your arms, shoulders and chest. Sit in a chair without wheels and place your hand on the arms. Use your arms to lift your bottom off the chair seat and lower yourself back down. Aim for 15 repetitions

3. Work your knees by sitting tall in chair. Lift one leg and straighten, hold for 2 seconds and lower. Repeat with other leg.

4. Stretch your back and shoulders by squeezing your shoulder blades together and away from your ears, hold for three seconds and release. Repeat 15 times.

Flexibility


1. Sit in a chair and reach both arms overhead, stretching them back. Hold for 10 seconds. Grab your right wrist with left hand and stretch deeper through your right side. Hold for 10 seconds, repeat opposite side.

2. Hold your arms in front of you and gently circle your wrists in both a clockwise and counterclockwise motion. Stretch your hands by making fists then opening them as wide as you can

3. Sit tall in a chair keeping your weight even in both hips. Gently turn your body to the right. Deepen the stretch by using your left hand to hold the right chair arm. Hold for 15 seconds, switch sides

4. Release neck tension by sitting tall in your chair. Release your right shoulder down, you can even sit on your right hand, and tilt your head so your left ear is going towards your left shoulder. Hold for 15 seconds, switch sides.

Karen Leland is author of Watercooler Wisdom: How Smart People Prosper in the Face of Conflict, Pressure and Change. Read more at www.karenleland.com

Follow Karen Leland on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Karenleland

Comments

[Psoaslady]

Along with moving, stretching, and toning - keeping the core muscle - the Psoas - released helps increase circulation and maintain good proprioception (neurological information that organizes you in space and time). The chair you sit in matters most! I recommend getting rid of any office chair with a bucket (scooped bottom) seat because sitting with equal weight as you suggest in the article needs a firm base of support. This is impossible unless the chair provides that support. A scooped office chair narrows the pelvis, collapsing and compressing organs, and constricting internal muscles. I recommend seating on a firm, flat or wedged surface ( so your weight is on top and slightly in front of the sits bones) and if possible sit with the hips slightly higher then the knees. Doing so helps the core muscle be supple and responsive while avoiding low back pain and tight hip sockets associated with poor sitting habits.

[greenthumb60]

I started using a treadmill desk about 2 years ago. I built the first one I had by securing a large board to my existing treadmill. It worked okay, but was not real easy to use for more than 1 hour. Then I heard about the Walkstation but it was simply too expensive for me, then I came across the Treaddesk and ended up buying one last November. Although I did end up spending about $1800, it has been money well spent. I can sit or stand up and walk off and on throughout the day and I average about 4 miles every day while walking at 1.2 mph pace. I think anyone that is serious about their health should look into changing how they work and consider using one of these treadmill desks.

[RMankovitz]

One day, sitting at my desk at work (I am an inventor), I realized that now was when I was ready for some exercise. I wondered, why can't I exercise while I continue to do my work?

So I came up with a chair-based exerciser product that straps onto the center post of any swivel chair. It is a combination of a leg press and a leg extension under the desk. I designed it to be force balanced so I could push on it without swiveling, which allowed me to read or type at my computer and still be working out. Since it is designed specifically for use in an office environment the Officizer represents a new category of fitness equipment that allows you to be pumping away underneath your desk without anybody knowing what you're doing!

The four patents that cover the technology (US 5,690,594; 5,921,900; 6,010,430; 6,117,050; and foreign patents) include using the computer you are working on at your desk to monitor your exercise progress. A special mouse design monitors your pulse rate via your fingertip, and a small software program is designed to pop up on the screen every so often to let you know your pulse rate and to spur you on toward meeting pre-established goals. Eventually, I hope to get around to either mass-producing the device or licensing others to do so.

Roy Mankovitz, Director
http://www.MontecitoWellness.com

[Roberto Alamos]

good tips :)

[goodnews7]

Good article, some of the staff would print something like this out and hang it above their computers. Sometimes sitting for hours at the computer would have a "stiffing" effect on our bodies. So, every once in a while, we would be together a just start doing our at the dest exercises.