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Work or Workout? Office Exercise You Can
Do
Are you someone who thinks or says,
“I simply don’t have enough time to exercise
because I work so much.”
“My office doesn’t have a fitness center
so I can’t exercise during the day.”
“My family keeps me busy after I get home --
there’s just no time to exercise!”
Careers, family responsibilities and an overall feeling that
there just isn’t enough time in the day to take care
of themselves bogs down many women today. But whether you’re
the company president or a hard-working employee, a little
creativity and dedication to your health can make it possible
to incorporate fitness into busy days with office exercise.
Tips for Office Exercise
- Start strong. Kick-start your day in
the parking lot. Wear your tennis shoes (bring dress shoes
for later) and walk from the far spot in the garage or lot.
During lunch, take a brisk walk outside on a sunny day,
or around the building on a rainy day making sure to use
the stairs instead of the elevator. Leave time for eating
lunch, though!
- Resist. Keep resistance bands or tubes
in your desk drawer. Take 2 minutes of every hour of your
work day and complete 1 strength training exercise with
the resistance band/tube. Anything you can do with free
weights, you can do with a resistance band/tube.
- Bicep Curl: If standing, place tube
or band securely under your feet while keeping the abdominals
tight to protect your back. Keep palms forward and elbows
tucked into the side of your rib cage. Curl the tube
or band up toward body and slowly release down returning
to start position. If seated, sit on the edge of the
chair with your back straight or neutral and repeat
as if you were in the standing position.
- Chest Press: If seated, sit on edge
of chair with your abs pulled in tight and your back
in the neutral position. If standing, stagger your stance
so one foot is supporting out front and the other is
back, with both knees slightly bent and abs pulled in
tight. Tie a knot in the tube and place around your
body, underneath the armpits. Keep elbows up at chest
level with a 90 degree angle in your arm. Holding the
handles of the tube or band, press forward, rounding
arms together at full extension. Slowly release back
in a controlled movement to starting position and repeat.
- Make friends with the walls. These great
office exercises need only you and a wall to build fitness
into your day.
- Wall Push-Up. Stand with your arms
extended out towards the wall, keeping your hands approximately
shoulder distance apart. Your feet should be back far
enough so that when you bend your elbows to a 90 degree
angle, your back remains in neutral alignment and your
nose can touch the wall. Press back and you’ve
completed one repetition of the wall push-up. To make
this a little more challenging, bring your hands closer
together to emphasize the work on the triceps (back
of the arms).
- Wall Sit/Squat. Stand with your back
flat up against the wall while keeping your feet approximately
hip distance apart. As if you were going to sit down
in a chair, slide down the wall pressing the small of
your back into the wall to keep it protected; hold the
position. You can rest your hands on your thighs as
long as you don’t put any pressure on your thighs
as this will take away from the workout. Make sure you
do not squat any further than 90 degrees to help prevent
any strain or injury to your knees. See how long you
can stay in this position. If this seems too difficult,
build your strength by holding the position for 3-4
seconds, return to the starting position and repeat
10-15 repetitions.
- Breathe, Stretch, Relax. This will help
both your mind and body, especially when you spend most
of your day sitting behind a desk and/or typing at a computer.
- Hamstring Stretch. Sit at the edge
of your office chair, extending your legs in a “V”
position while keeping only your heels on the ground.
Hinge forward at the hips while keeping your back in
neutral alignment; reach your hands towards your toes.
To deepen the stretch, drop your toes to the floor and
reach your hands a bit further.
- Neck Stretch. While seated and keeping
your back tall, grasp the underside of your office chair
with your left hand and pull up, creating resistance
without lifting your shoulder. At the same time, gently
drop your right ear to your right shoulder, feeling
the stretch along the left side of your neck (the sternocledomastoid
muscle). Hold the stretch for 8-30 seconds and gently
return to starting position. Repeat on opposite side.
As women, we often put ourselves last. But when we make ourselves
the priority in regard to our health, we can accomplish our
other tasks with greater energy and efficiency. So take mini
breaks throughout your work day for a little office exercise
to build a stronger, healthier you!
Written by Samantha
Rowland, Health Promotion & Fitness Specialist at Green
Mountain at Fox Run
For 37 years, Green Mountain at Fox Run has
developed and refined a life-changing program exclusively
for women seeking permanent strategies for healthy
weight loss and healthy
eating. More than just another weight
loss retreat and spa, and definitely not a fat
camp, Green Mountain combines proven science with what
works in the real world, to offer an innovative non-diet
lifestyle program. Our core weight
loss program offers an integrated curriculum of practical,
liveable techniques that helps women take charge of their
eating, their bodies and their health. Unlike health
fitness spa or adult
weight loss camps, our approach is not focused on managing
binge eating or just losing weight, but on how to maintain
a healthy weight and healthy lifestyle. Our participants'
long-term weight
loss success is among the highest of any weight
loss program, as documented in peer-reviewed scientific
literature. Learn more about our women's weight loss program
©2008 Green Mountain at Fox Run, Ludlow,
Vermont. This information is the property of Green Mountain
at Fox Run. Permission to use single copies for personal,
noncommercial use is authorized. For all other purposes,
please see details.
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