Finding the time and motivation to work out can be tough — especially now. I won’t pretend that it’s easy to make exercise a part of your daily routine, particularly if it’s not something you’re used to doing.
However, it’s so, so necessary. With so many of us working from home these days, we don’t even have the advantage of choosing to take the stairs instead of the elevator. You could log only a few hundred steps staying at home all day — and fewer if you spend hours in front of your computer, working. It’s recommended to get at least 10,000 steps per day. That deficit is bad news!
Whether you’re in the office working a 9-to-5 or working from home, it’s not enough that we exercise on the weekends or a few times a week. To truly counter the harmful effects of all-day sedentary sitting, we have to take proactive steps throughout the workday.
Why Sitting is So Detrimental
“Sitting disease” is the catch-all term for the negative effects on our health and metabolism due to a sedentary lifestyle. Simply put, the more hours you sit, the more likely you are to die sooner. I know, it sounds intense, but sitting is serious business!
Being sedentary risks your heart health with increasing chances of stroke, disease, high blood pressure, and cholesterol levels. Dementia becomes more likely, along with diabetes and deep-vein thrombosis.
Cancer risks increase. Osteoporosis and anxiety rates go up. Chronic pain grows more likely. Simply put, sitting hurts! If we know that, we need to actually do something about it. Finding ways to move throughout your workday might seem inconvenient, but your body will thank you.
4 Ways to Increase Fitness at the Office
1) Get Ergonomic
Ergonomics, simply defined, is the study of our work environments. Most often we see this applied to workplace comfort and reducing the risk of injury. We’ll see office chairs, desks, and even mousepads touted as ergonomic solutions. Ergonomics matter. Because we’re so often maintaining the same position at our desks, we can find muscles becoming strained or stiff due to awkward angles and overuse.
If you have an uncomfortable desk chair, swap for a new one. If you don’t have a proper workspace at home and have been relying on the easy chair or the kitchen table, you’re due for an upgrade. You can injure your back, neck, wrists, and other parts of the body if you do not optimize your environment!
2) Stand at Every Opportunity
Standing is better than sitting, even if you aren’t walking around. It promotes blood flow and reduces the risk of heart disease. If you’re in a situation where you could stand or sit, stand. Go directly to a colleague instead of instant messaging or calling. Walk during meetings. Take the stairs. Stand while on the phone. You could even invest in a standing desk — which has been growing in popularity — and make standing the norm instead of the exception!
3) Deskercise
Exercising at your desk, get it? It might be cheesy, but it’s a great solution. Whether you bring a pair of free weight to the office or settle for an improvised weight, you can do bicep curls while you work. Perform seated leg raises. Stand and do squats every half hour. Invest in a seated elliptical, cycle, or under-desk treadmill. These all offer a chance to up your exercise throughout the day!
4) Advanced Sitting
Sitting doesn’t have to be totally detrimental. You might not be in an environment that demands or allows you to easily stand and walk around all the time. If this is the case, you can buy a type of seat that still promotes muscle activity and fitness throughout the day. Many of these alternatives are designed to have you practice balance and strengthen your core.
The most common seat like this is the balance ball, but it’s far from the only solution. Active seatingcan involve balancing, leaning, straddling, kneeling, and more. You’ll find that these solutions improve circulation, burn more calories, and promote better posture!
Optimizing fitness isn’t just about carving out time to exercise or choosing to eat whole foods. They’re a part of it, absolutely. However, a well-rounded, holistic approach to fitness means an all-day focus on wellness. We can’t believe that it’s okay to hit the gym and then sit on the sofa for the rest of the night.
If you want to live longer, stay mobile. Take my advice: keep moving!
What ways have you discovered to exercise while on the clock? Share in the comment