It’s 7:30 PM. You had planned to leave the office at 5:00, head to the gym and be home in time to make dinner and relax. You’ve been sitting at your desk for the past 10 hours staring at a computer and talking on the phone. You’re stressed and sore from sitting all day. But…it’s cold; you’re hungry, and really tired! You head toward the gym, look at your watch and yawn. Your stomach rumbles and suddenly you’re opening your front door with an unused gym bag in your hands.
We all have good intentions when we start out, but sometimes after a long day at work, we just can’t muster the energy to get to the gym or even work out at home. However, studies have shown that frequent short bouts of exercise have cumulative effects, and a number of fitness bursts throughout the day can have health and weight-loss benefits similar to longer sessions.
So your solution? Work out while you’re working!
Before you attempt this though, try to gauge the formality of your office. Not every workplace will take kindly to wall push-ups and jumping jacks at your desk, but you can recruit fellow employees and convince your boss of the benefits. Benefits like increased energy throughout the day that will help everyone stay focused and more productive and reduce stress.
Try to work each muscle group at least once or twice during the workday. Aim for about 2-3 sets of around 10-12 repetitions.
Biceps-This is probably the easiest group of muscles to work from your desk. Be careful though because once everyone sees those “guns” popping out, they’re gonna get suspicious.
Curls-Keep your arms at your sides and a make fist with each hand. With your palms up, bend at the elbows and curl up with upper arms at your side or on your desk. Contract the biceps and slowly and bring the arms back down to starting position. You can also do a set of curls with your palms facing in.
You can also add a weighted ball to increase the intensity. Hold the ball with both hands, keeping your hands underneath or alternate one arm curls holding the ball. Contract and return to start.
Or, place a resistance band under your feet about shoulder width apart and hold handles at your sides. Contract and return to start.
Triceps- It might be a little more evident to your co-workers when you are doing these exercises, but hey, when they see that your upper arms are no longer flapping in the wind when you wave at them, they’ll want to join in!
Dips-Sit with the heels of your hands on the edge of a sturdy chair seat. Slide your butt off the seat, and support your weight with your hands. Your legs should be bent at about a 90-degree angle Bend your elbows back, and slowly lower your butt toward the floor. Keep your elbows tucked in. Your body should just clear the seat. Push back up until your arms are straight; don't use your feet for help. You can increase the resistance by straightening one or both legs as you lower and lift.
Overhead press-Using a weighted ball, hold ball over your head with elbows by your ears and raise it straight above your head.
Bend arms and slowly lower the ball behind your head. Return to start. Or perform this movement with a resistance band.
Legs-You can easily work your legs all day long in both standing and sitting positions. Plus, the more you get up and down, the busier you’ll look!
One-legged squats- Hold onto a wall or table for support and lift one leg off of the floor. Bend and squat while waiting for a web page to load, the copier to spit your reports, or faxes to print.
Butt kicks-Stand with one leg straight and try to kick your buttocks with the other.
Leg extensions-Sitting in your chair, lift one leg off the seat, extend it out straight, hold for 2 seconds; then lower your foot (stop short of the floor) and hold for several seconds. Switch; Add ankle weights for more intensity if desire
Inner thighs-While seated, put heels on the floor and point toes toward the ceiling. Legs should be shoulder-width apart. Bring knees together only and contract inner thighs. For outer thighs- Repeat, except keep legs slightly apart with feet flat on the floor and push knees outward. You can wrap a resistance band around your legs to make it more challenging.
Calves-Sit on the edge of your seat with feet six inches apart on the floor. Raise heels two to three inches off the ground and bring back down.
Chest-Whether you want pecs like the Incredible Hulk or simply want to keep the “girls” from sagging, these moves can get you started.
Flyes- Sit up straight and keep your stomach tight. Raise arms out to the side and keep aligned with shoulders. Bring both elbows together towards your chest and then away
Presses-Sit on a ball or chair, back straight and abs in. Hold a medicine ball (or any other type of ball) at chest level and squeeze the ball to contract the chest. While continuing to squeeze the ball, slowly push the ball out in front of you at chest level until elbows are almost straight. Continuing the pressure with your hands, bend the elbows and pull the ball back to chest.
Desk pushups-can be a good strengthener. (First, make sure your desk is solid enough to support your weight.) Standing, put your hands on the desk. Walk backward, and then do push-ups against the desk.
Wall Push-Off- Stand about three feet from a wall, and place your hands flush against the wall, about shoulder-width apart. Slowly lower your body toward the wall by flexing your elbows. When your elbows are aligned with your torso, push back up. Do 10 repetitions. Make this exercise more challenging by using your desk: Stand several feet away and position your hands on the edge of the desk, shoulder-width apart. Then repeat the raising and lowering of your body by flexing your elbows.
To work both your chest and shoulders, try this exercise my son used to do while sitting at the dinner table! I kid you not. He used to be able to hold this pose for 5 or 6 minutes at a time. I can hardly lift myself more than ¼ inch, but it really builds upper body strength.
Place both hands on your chair arms (or seat) and slowly lift your bottom off the chair. Lower yourself back down but stop short of the seat, hold for a few seconds.
Shoulders-This is where most people feel tension and pain as a rule, so these movements can help loosen and de-stress muscles.
Forward raise-Raise arms forward with palms down to shoulder level. Lower.
Bent arm shoulder raise-Sit up straight with no weight or holding light-medium dumbbells at your sides. Keeping the elbows slightly bent and wrists straight, lift the arms up to shoulder level (palms face the floor). Lower back down.
Overhead Press-Sit up with no weight or holding light-medium dumbbells in both hands. Begin the move with arms bent to 90 degrees, weights next to the ears (arms should look like a goal post). Press the weights overhead and lower back down.
Shrugs-Just like the name implies.
Back- Back pain is the number one biggest complaint from people who work at a desk or computer all day. Again, loosen and strengthen tight, weak back muscles with these moves.
Rows-Extend arm or arms to the front and pull back as if rowing. Arms should be close to your sides and fists tight.
Lat pulls-While seated, hold a medium-tension band in both hands up above and slightly in front of your head. The distance between your hands will determine the intensity of the exercise (closer together is harder, further apart is easier). Contract the back and pull the right elbow down toward the ribcage. Release and switch sides
To stretch your back (and strengthen your biceps), place your hands on the desk and hang on. Slowly push your chair back until your head is between your arms and you're looking at the floor. Then slowly pull yourself back in.
Abdominals-How cool will it be when you can work the - pack while you’re working!
Torso twists-Sit or stand holding a medium dumbbell in front of your chest. Keeping the abs contracted, rotate the torso to the right while keeping the hips and legs facing forward. Contract the abs to bring the weight back to center and then rotate to the left.
Seated isometric crunches-Sit upright on the edge of your chair, grasping the arm rests or the edges of the seat pad. You can also stand with your hands on your hips, feet shoulder-width apart. Next, pull your stomach up and in as far as possible -- think of pulling your belly button toward your spine. Hold that position for the count of five to ten, then release.
Side Bend-Reach your arms above your head. Keep your back straight, and interlace your fingers with your palms facing away from you. Lean to the left from the waist and hold. Next, lean to the right and hold.
Cardio-In addition to pacing furiously while you are on the phone, here are a few more ways to work in cardio during your work day!
Rip off a minute's worth of jumping jacks. If you're a beginner, try the low-impact version (raise your right arm and tap your left toe to the side while keeping your right foot on the floor; alternate sides)
Do a football-like drill of running in place for 60 seconds. Get those knees up! (Beginners, march in place.)
Simulate jumping rope for a minute: Hop on alternate feet or on both feet at once. An easier version is to simulate the arm motion of turning a rope, while alternately tapping the toes of each leg in front. Or, actually jump rope if you have a conference room or open space. Or, actually DO jump rope (make sure you have ceiling clearance, though).
While seated, pump both arms over your head for 30 seconds, and then rapidly tap your feet on the floor, football-drill style, for 30 seconds. Repeat 3-5 times.
Or do walking lunges in your office or a vacant room. No conference room? Take to the stairs -- two at a time if you need a harder workout! Do this 5-7 times a day.
Don't let fear of embarrassment keep you from exercising at work. Chances are, your co-workers will admire your efforts rather than be amused. You might even get them to join you on a lunchtime walk or stair run! And what better team builder is there than that?
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