If you’re stuck at work and cannot make it to the gym, or perhaps you don’t have enough time over your lunch hour to drive to the gym, change, workout, and then get back to work, rest easy as there are still many things you can do right in your office to get your body in better physical shape.
Here are five things you can do on a daily basis if you have a desk job and are looking to get in shape.
Sit on an Exercise Ball
Exercise balls are fantastic pieces of equipment and can be used to take your fitness to the next level. By using one as your desk chair you will call your abs into play more, increasing the activation of the entire core.
Start by sitting on the ball for 10 minute time chunks two or three times a day and work your way upwards from there.
Use the Stairs
This common piece of advice holds strong. While you may not burn all that many calories in a single trip up the stairs, day after day, month after month, it’s definitely going to add up.
In fact, you could find yourself pounds lighten in the New Year if you left the elevator out of your daily routine. Not too mention that climbing stairs is a fantastic way to work the glute muscles, firming the entire backside.
Desk Squats
To further work the legs, consider doing desk squats. To perform these, simply stand up in front of your chair and then squat down again until you are almost lowered back down into the sitting position.
Hold for three to five seconds and then rise up again into the standing position.
Do ten of these every hour over the course of two days out of the week and you will have stronger legs because of it (you may want to make sure your office door is closed while doing this movement though, or your co-workers may think you’ve had a few too many midday drinks).
Contract The Abdominal Muscles
While you may not want to get down on the floor and start doing sit-ups right in your office, simply contracting, holding, and then releasing the abdominal muscles will help strengthen the core and flatten the stomach.
Many times we let our stomachs ‘go’, which is what really causing that outwards protruding image, particularly if we don’t have especially high body fat levels.
By squeezing the stomach and thinking of bringing the belly button to the spine, you’ll also correct your posture while you improve your abdominal strength.
Chair Dips
Finally, to help work the arms, after you’ve done your ten squats for the day, consider doing chair dips off your chair as well (or, if you really want to up the intensity, do these off the exercise ball you’re sitting on periodically throughout the day).
This will help target those pesky tricep muscles – the same muscles that give your arm that ‘wing’ appearance when you let your body fat levels get too high.
So, don’t stress if you can’t make it to the gym. With a bit of effort and creativity, you can still improve your body without ever leaving your office.
Related posts:
