Working in an office, at a desk or from home isn’t any less exhausting than other career paths out there. It may not be the same kind of exhausting as a labourer or other physically demanding jobs but it comes with it’s own demands. One thing that working in an office may impact though is your health. We’ve all heard the reports and read the research from professionals that tell us we should be getting in at least 30 minutes to an hour of intentional exercise each day; but how close do office workers really get to that benchmark? If you’re an office worker and like many others, answered that question with a response lower (if any) than what our health experts recommend; then below you can find some tips to help you keep active and the blood flowing during your busy work days.
Tips for keeping active from the office
- Every hour stand up and walk to the end of the office or house and back. Spend 2-3 minutes each time doing
this and you could slowly build up to 14-21 minutes for exercise in an 8 hour work day. - At half hour intervals throughout your day, alternate squats and lunges. You don’t need to do many. In fact, 5-10 squats or lunges would take roughly 20-30 seconds each time.
- Send your printing to the printer that’s furthest away from your desk/office. If you work from home try and set up the printer at the other end of the house. Alternatively, you can do a walk to the other end of your house and back before getting your pages from your printer next to your desk.
- Use an exercise ball instead of a computer chair to help your posture, abs and back muscles.
- Walk to work or park further away to increase your steps.
- Spend your lunch break taking a brisk walk in the park close to the office or checking out the beauty of nature around you (while eating your lunch of course! We shouldn’t neglect our hunger.).
Lastly, always seek medical advise before trying new exercises and please don’t use our tips as expert advice in place of a medical or fitness professional. These tips have come from tried and true experiences from our office workers and NOT from qualified medical and fitness professionals.
Find more tips and tricks in our blog.
Find some more office workout moves in this blog written by Michael Lau, a licensed physical therapist, strength and conditioning coach, and co-founder of The Prehab Guys.
