The urban life, as we know it, is always running out of time. There is always something that needs to be done. In this on-the-go lifestyle one often ends up missing out on bigger things that require our attention, most common of those being our own health. Whether you work to live or you live to work, you must exercise to avoid lifestyle-health problems. For those, who find it hard to scrape out some time for a proper workout regime, here are a few easy and effective exercises that one may do while at office. You spend the maximum part of your day there, don’t you? Then, why not use it the most productive way.
1. Stretch that BACK: The most common source of discomfort to people who work for long hours is backache. What else do you suppose will happen if you keep sitting on that chair for so long?! Regardless of how spongy or comfortable your chair is you will experience stress in your back area if you remain seated for several hours. We suggest that you stretch your back from time to time. For this, you need to remain seated on your chair. Bring your legs close such that your feet lie right next to each other. Your knees should touch each other. Now, hold out your arms and clutch your fingers together. Stretch these out as you raise your arms above your head. While sitting take your arms behind and bring these forward. You shall feel the stretch in your back and feel more relaxed.
2. Table-side Push-ups: Your office desk can be of more help to you than you may realize. To get best results, you need to place your desk in such a manner that a wall is behind your chair with some space in between. Place your hands on the desk and fix the toes of feet at the edge of the wall. Now, bring your chest to the table and voila! You are doing push-ups. Since these are not conventional push-ups you should be able to do more number of push-ups than the number that you can do at the gym. Ideally, you should be able to do about 20 of these in one go.
3. Tone those ARMS: Did you know that you can beautifully tone your arms and flex side waist muscles while remaining seated on your office chair? Bring your knees together and begin to tap these. Hold about one and a half pound of weights in each hand. Hold out your arms and then move them away reaching parallel to the shoulders sideways. Be gradual in your movement. You don’t want to cramp your arms too much. If you are not able to find weights then you can use one litre water bottles to practice this exercise. If you want you can throw in a few pebbles to increase the weight of the bottles.
4. Firm up your LOWER WAIST: Place your hands on the arms of your chair. Bring your knees together and make sure the sides of your feet are touching each other. Hold the arms of the chair with your hands as you sit up straight. Now, raise your legs together and try to bring them as close to your chest as possible. This is a fabulous exercise for lower waist and upper thighs.
5. Twist the NECK: Working at a stretch for several hours at office considerably exhausts the neck. By performing simple neck exercises, you can improve circulation in the head and upper back. Sit straight and look straight. Turn right and then bring the neck back to the original position and then turn to the left.
Not to Forget the Importance of Sitting in the Right Posture
Wrong posture is not just bad for your back but can easily increase your belly fat and disfigure shape of your upper body. You shall insist on being given a proper chair that allows you to adjust your sitting position as per comfort. You know you are sitting in the right position when your feet are comfortably touching the ground and your upper body is at 90 degrees to the lower body. The chair must have a proper support so that you may rest your back on it as and when you like.
We strongly recommend that you watch a few good video demonstrations on how to exercise while at office. The following video by a fitness professional explains the office workout really simply –
