Tips to Keep Moving at a Desk Job

Sitting for 6-8 hours straight is not good for your health, however there are many jobs where one is required to sit in a desk in front of a computer for many hours.  Here are some tips and ideas to help you move during your sedentary desk job.

1.      Park in a spot furthest away from the door to your building.  This allows you to add more walking time in your day to help make up for sitting at your desk for hours on end.

2.      Take the stairs instead of the elevator.  Again this allows you more time to walk and use your leg muscles.  Remember, you will expend more calories walking up the stairs then you do standing in an elevator.

3.      If you need to print a document, if possible, don’t print it to the closest printer.  Try to use a printer that is in another room, that way you are able to get up and walk around and stretch your legs.

4.      Do some simple, short exercises at your desk.  Every hour take a one minute brake from sitting at your desk and pick an exercise to do, choose a different exercise for each one minute break or choose 3 or 4 different exercises and rotate between them during the breaks.  Here are a couple exercises you can do at your desk during your break, however, there are definitely more that you can find and do at your desk.

A.  Toe raises- Stand by your desk, either slightly touching your desk or chair for balance, or stand with your hands by your sides.  Slowly raise your heels up so that you are only on your toes.  Once you reach the top, slowly bring your heels back down but stop right before they reach the ground, then repeat.  You can make this exercise harder by doing 1 leg at a time, or holding a weight of some sort in your hand (dumbbell or heavy book).

B.  Squats- Stand beside your desk with your arms to your sides and feet a little more then shoulder width apart.  Bend at your knees and push your butt back like you are going to sit in your chair (you can put your chair behind you if it will make you feel more comfortable doing the motion).  Make sure that your knees do not go past your toes! keep your weight in the back of your heels and make sure you squat down nice and slow.  Keep your abs tight and back straight (slightly leaning forward).  Once your thighs are parallel with the floor (or you barely touch the seat of your chair), slowly stand back up and repeat.

C.  Arm dips- Stand so that your back faces your desk and place your hands on your desk with your fingers facing towards you.  Walk your feet out in front of you some so that you are using your arms to hold your self up on the desk.  Bend your elbows until your arms are parallel to your desk and your body will dip down.  Once you reach the parallel, slowly straighten your arms again.  Make sure that while you are slowly moving up and down that you are keeping your stomach tight so that you are not arching your back.  You can do this with bent legs or for more of a challenge with straight legs.  The further you walk your feet out from your body, the harder the exercise becomes.

5.  Invest in a new chair for your desk.  There are alternatives to the regular desk chair that is at your office currently and they are actually designed to help keep you moving. An article from Sparkspeople.com called “4 Fitness-Friendly Alternatives to Your Desk Chair” discusses some of these chairs and gives some of the benefits and disadvantages to them.  One of these chairs is actually a ball sitting in the frame of a chair, which requires your body to use more muscles to stay balanced (mainly in your stomach and back) then what is required in a regular chair.  This chair also comes with instructions for different exercises that can be done with the chair at your desk!  For more information go to: http://www.dailyspark.com/blog.asp?post=4%5Ffitnessfriendly%5Falternatives%5Fto%5Fyour%5Fdesk%5Fchair

If the link does not work go to www.sparkspeople.com and type the title of the article in the search bar.

Not only are the above tips good for your body physically, they are also good for your body mentally.  When you get up and move, you increase your heart rate and the blood flow in your body.  This helps your brain receive more oxygen which helps keep you more aware, awake, and alert.  This then leads you to being more productive during your work day and slightly less stressed by the end of the day.

Written by: Brittnay Deroche (Spring Intern)