Little exercises you can do at your desk

FOR many of us, work means being stuck at a desk, our butts glued to a seat for an average 40 hours each week. Outside of these hours, many of us, in an effort to fulfil personal as well as obligations to our families, are unable to hit the gym — simply because there just aren’t enough hours in the day to accommodate that.

If you are serious about infusing fitness into your daily schedule, personal trainer and fitness instructor Gisel Harrow said that your desk job does not have to mean an inability to exercise, neither does it have to restrict your mobility.

“A desk job can be pretty frustrating; it means several hours each day being pretty much in one place. It provides very little opportunity for you to move around and so you don’t really get any exercise,” Harrow told All Woman.

She said that if you want to free yourself of the sedentary lifestyle that desk jobs promote, you could benefit from these exercises below:

Basic stretches

While seated, tilt your head towards your shoulder and hold it there for five seconds for each side. Stretch your arms by reaching out while rotating your wrists. Then with your arms behind you and your chest up, stretch and hold your legs straight in front while rotating your ankles counterclockwise and stretching your legs. You could also extend your legs and hold them for five seconds — repeating 10 times for each leg.

Dips and elevated push-ups

Exercises such as dips and elevated push-ups can be done by using the edge of the desk or even the chair to work the arms and chest using repetitions of up to 10 times for three sets.

Squats

Do squats while typing or researching by sitting and standing at intervals for 15 to 20 repetitions. You may even put your chair aside for a while and then do a sitting motion while you wait for something to load or wait for a response to an e-mail.

Glute kicks

Many office jobs include routine visits to another office and the printer or photocopier. While waiting at the printer you could do glute kicks by swinging your legs back and squeezing each 10-15 times. Just be careful; make sure that you face your co-workers to reduce the likelihood of accidents.

Core muscle exercise

Core muscle tightening may be achieved by simply sitting upright, pulling in oxygen (inhaling) and holding it for as long as is tolerable, repeatedly as often as you can.

Harrow said that for best results you should also ditch poor eating habits that are often the case for office workers, such as fatty and greasy foods often sold in work canteens, popular sugary drinks and snacks that are often found in vending machines, and binge eating sugary snacks from your desk.