How to Exercise at Your Desk

Guide Note

Many of us spend considerable periods of time at our desks working away. While you may be bringing home the bacon that way, you're not burning off the bacon. It's time to learn How to Exercise at Your Desk in order to alleviate stress and break up the workday.

Table of Contents

Deskercising Tips

  1. Take a short walk every half hour or hour.
  2. Use your lunch break to stretch and do some neck and shoulder rolls.
  3. Do some shadow boxing in an empty conference room.
  4. Organize your co-workers for a mid-afternoon yoga class or walk.
  5. Eliminate neck and back tension by sitting up straight and placing your computer at eye level.
  6. Find out if your company would partially reimburse the cost of access to a nearby gym.

Introduction

(Creative Commons photo by htlcto)
(Creative Commons photo by htlcto)
  • If you have difficulty finding time to exercise in the middle of a workday chained to your desk, it's time to start deskercising. Keep reading to learn some of the possibilities for exercise at work, from yoga to stretching to switching out your desk for a treadmill version. You'll find yourself with increased energy and may start looking at your office in a whole new light.

Step 1: Logistics

(Photo by cwcav)
(Photo by cwcav)
  • Before launching a deskercise routine, you'll need to figure out what's possible in your work environment.
  1. In a big, group office, you'll either need to decide to be discreet about your deskercise, figure out some down-time when you have a moment to yourself to do some stretching, or agree to laugh along with co-workers as you huff and puff your way through your crunches.
  2. Most of the exercises in the step below presume you work at a desk in a chair. But exercises in Step 4 can be done anywhere in or out of the office.
  3. If you're really lucky, you work at one of Mayo Clinic researcher Dr. James Levine's vertical desks, which can be used while employees walk on treadmills, stand or sit (and are supposedly less expensive than traditional cubicles).
  4. Regardless of your particular set-up, it's best to get up and take a short walk every half hour or hour. Instead of emailing a co-worker who's only a few cubicles away, walk over to talk. Even a little movement at regular intervals will make a difference.
  5. And don't forget lunch hour: try stretching, deep breathing, neck and shoulder rolls to release the tension of sitting in front of a computer all day.
  6. Or try starting a lunchtime yoga routine or longer walk with co-workers.

Step 2: Exercise at Your Desk

(Creative Commons photo by Jose C Silva)
(Creative Commons photo by Jose C Silva)
  • You can complete a quick exercise routine without leaving your chair.
  1. Check out these five exercises you can do quickly at your desk, including easy side stretches and leg lifts you can do underneath your desk while on the phone or typing away.
  2. One exercise in this group is the "butt squeeze," which is something you can do without anyone knowing. Simply squeeze and release the muscles in the old gluteus maximus several times in succession.
  3. To exercise calf muscles while sitting at your desk, simply lift legs up from the knee so only the balls of your feet touch the floor. Hold your muscles tightly while legs are raised and then release. Repeat several times or until your calves are tired.
  4. And see these short, instructive videos created by Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies to learn a few more quick exercises to do while sitting at your desk.

Step 3: Office Yoga

(Creative Commons photo by Roland Tanglao)
(Creative Commons photo by Roland Tanglao)
  • For a slightly more advanced approach to deskercise, try incorporating some yoga moves.
  1. Start with a simple yoga pose such as sitting forward and turning your head one direction while you turn your torso in the other direction, holding briefly.
  2. From a standing position, bending to each side with arms raised overhead is a great way to relax at work. Inhale as you lift arms up and bend to each side as you exhale, holding for three breaths and inhaling as you rise back to starting position.
  3. See more office yoga instruction at Yoga Journal.
  4. And check out instructor Marcia Langenberg's yoga postures to do at your desk.

Step 4: Getting More Active

(Photo by Lotus Head)
(Photo by Lotus Head)
  • Though it may not replace your evening spinning class, you can do a modified aerobic workout at work, or at least get up out of your chair.
  1. Be sure to remove your high heels when doing standing exercises. Barefeet or stockinged feet are fine!
  2. If you're ready to get up out of your chair, try these standing exercises, which will focus on the quadricep muscles and the ankles.
  3. Try desk push-ups by placing hands on your desk and walking far enough away that you can push your body up and back down from the edge of your desk. Repeat up to 15 times.
  4. How about using office items like hole punches to use as weights to work triceps and biceps?
  5. Try doing jumping jacks for a minute straight or run in place for a minute.
  6. You can also simulate jumping rope by jumping from one foot to the other and pretending to turn a rope in your hands.
  7. Have a break in between meetings? Waiting at the printer? Why not try a few push-ups or sit-ups? All the better if it's in private, of course, but if co-workers giggle, just reassure yourself with the idea that you'll have toned abs soon enough.
  8. Or shadow box in an empty conference room to get the blood flowing in your arms and whole body.
  9. Take advantage of hallways and stairs: take steps two at a time on a break from work or do lunges walking down the hallway.

Step 5: Preventative Measures

(Creative Commons photo by Andre Charland)
(Creative Commons photo by Andre Charland)
  • Here are several steps you can take to make your work station more exercise-friendly, or at least more comfortable.
  1. Making basic adjustments to your posture can eliminate neck and back tension. Be sure you are sitting up straight in your chair with your shoulders back. You computer monitor should be at eye level, so move it if need be so you can sit straight and look ahead.
  2. Make sure your work area has been set up ergonomically, so that you sit in your chair with legs at a 90 degree angle to the ground and elbows form a 90 degree angle as you sit at your desk.
  3. Try sitting on a large-sized stability ball instead of a desk chair. In addition to doing occasional bouncing exercises, you'll be toning your abs as you force yourself to sit up straight. Find stability balls online at Gaiam.
  4. There are also specific relaxation techniques to try that include visualization and meditation, which will help you cope with work-related stress without necessarily being active.
  5. Outside the office, how about joining a gym that's close to work? Some companies offer reimbursement for gym expenses because they know their employees will be happier and healthier.
  6. If you commute to work on public transportation, how about getting off a stop before your home from the bus or train so you have to walk the rest of the way?
  7. And now that your co-workers are seeing the benefits of your deskercise (you did look awfully good at the office holiday party), maybe you can even start a carpool to the nearest gym after work—or why not start an office running group or regular pick-up basketball game?

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