7 Ways to Increase Your Physical Activity While at Work
Do you sit at a desk all day and find that by the time you get to go home all you want to do is relax and not workout? I'm going to share with you some tips to sneak in exercise during the work day. I recently watched this video clip in one of my classes and thought that it got the point across nicely. (Sorry in advance for the bleeped out word!)
7 Ways to Increase Your Physical Activity While at Work
1. Replace your current chair with a balance ball. By sitting on the balance ball you'll be unconsciously strengthening your core the entire day.
2. Get up every 30 minutes and take a quick walk. Set a timer on your phone to help you remember when to get up.
3. Use part of your lunch break to be active. Go for a quick walk while eating, do some yoga poses or stretching, walk/run up and down the stairs a few times. Anything to get your body moving a little bit more.
4. Try alternating sitting at your desk with standing. When we sit down, essentially our body is flat-lining. This doesn't mean we are dead, but it does mean that our muscles aren't doing any work. Now, if we are standing, we are using our core muscles and our postural muscles to keep our bodies balanced. This is why standing is so much better for us in the long-run because our body is doing something as opposed to doing nothing.
5. When filling up your water bottle or going to the restroom, choose the location that is farthest from your desk. This will allow you to get in a little bit more movement.
6. Instead of calling or instant messaging your coworker down the hall or across the room, get up and go talk to them. Or like Jim, from the video suggested, have walking and running meetings.
7. While on the phone do squats, calf raises, or any other type of exercise.
When it comes to getting exercise in during the work day, all it takes is a little bit of conscious effort. Try these tips for a few weeks and before you know it, you'll be burning more calories and decreasing your risk for numerous diseases.
Let me know if you try any of these,
Ashley
