Fitness At Work: Exercises While Sitting Or Standing

Working at office can be more stressful than you imagine, especially if you have a desk job. Picture yourself sitting on a chair from morning to evening. The only exercise, if you can call it that, is sauntering to the toilet and back or to the boss’s room and back. Not more than 50 yards, is it? Tired after a long day, you go home and park yourself in front of the TV, gobble down a huge meal and go to bed. But you can’t sleep. Your muscles are sore, you have a crick in your neck and you feel a gnawing pain in your lower back. So what should you do? Get active at work.

It’s not your fault if you have a sedentary job. However, if you become lazy, feel lethargic and turn into a couch potato, you have no one but yourself to blame. What you need is some exercise. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have the time or money to enroll in a gym or go to the park to run. You can exercise even while sitting in your chair. This will keep your muscles toned and help you feel positive throughout the day.

Exercises while sitting

These exercises need no special time or place. You can do them while sitting on your chair.

• Shoulder shrugs and rotations : Your shoulders can feel stiff and tense with no movement. Try shrugging or rotating them, clockwise and anticlockwise, to feel relaxed.
• Upper backstretch : Your back can kill you if you don’t take care of it. Stretching it time and now will help release some of the stress.
• Chest stretch : Do you feel a tightness in your chest? Or do you feel claustrophobic? Then you need to get some fresh air. Practice chest stretching too.
• Wrist rotation : Using the keyboard can cause your fingers and wrists to hurt. At times, you may want to just throw the computer out of the window and get back to writing with pen and paper. Don’t despair. Rotating your wrists will make you feel better again.

Practice these exercises at least twice a day, and see your aches and pains vanishing within a week.

Exercises while Standing

If you feel tired just by sitting for long, stand up and practice these easy-to-do exercises.

• Stride Jump : Your muscles hurt, probably because of disuse. Jumping will help keep your muscles soft and supple.
• Hip rotation : Does your backside feel stiff, like a ton of lead? You need to move your hips in a circular motion to get rid of your stiffness.
• Thigh Stretch : Get some circulation going in your legs. This and the next exercise will help you keep your legs nimble and flexible.
• Squats: Squatting is a good exercise and will improve circulation in your entire lower body .

Practice these exercises twice a day and feel light and pepped up throughout the day. You will notice a feeling of well-being and improved performance.