posted
02/29/12
As a personal trainer, I get a lot of fitness questions thrown my way. A very common one is, “What can I do to stay fit at the office?” I always tell people, “The key is to be practical.” You’re probably not going to do squats in your cubicle. You’re not going to run on a treadmill while typing emails at your desk. Exercising in the office can’t replace a true workout, but it can supplement an already healthy lifestyle. Here are five small things you can do to stay trim while you (pretend to) work.
1. Walk
When your coworkers go downstairs for a 10-minute smoke break every hour, go outside for a 10-minute walk. Or, if you don’t have 10 minutes, walk around the office for five. Walking stimulates your circulatory system (read: gets the blood flowing), which is crucial for fighting illness and stabilizing body temperature. It will also raise your energy levels, burn a few calories and clear your head (read: increase your productivity). So the next time you’re caught in a lull at work, take a brisk jaunt to turn your whole day around.
Sitting lowers good cholesterol and increases diabetes risk. If you’ve got a meeting, hold it standing up. It’ll be shorter, more effective and better for your—and everyone else’s—body.
2. Stand Up
Sitting behind a desk all day isn’t just bad for your posture. It can wreak havoc on your energy levels. And it can lower your good cholesterol by 20 percent while increasing your risk of diabetes by 7 percent every two hours. Solution: stand up whenever you can. If you’ve got a meeting, hold it standing up. It’ll be shorter, more effective and better for your—and everyone else’s—body. When you take phone calls, same thing. Take them standing up. You’ll be amazed at the boost of energy you’ll feel. Plus, it will allow you to do a few other simple exercises…
“I’m gonna need you to go ahead and take meetings standing up, m’kay?”
