The Simple Guide to Staying Active at Work

Working in an office makes it easy to spend most of your day sitting down. Unfortunately, our bodies are made to stand and walk so sitting in a chair is rather unnatural and unhealthy.

You should try to reduce your time spent sitting during the day. Here are a few tips to help combat sitting during your days stuck in the office.

Inactivity at it's best

Ditch the phone

If you need to talk to a colleague about work, try standing up and walking to their desk rather than picking up the phone and calling him/her. Not only will the conversation probably go better being face to face, you will quite literally turning on your legs and boosting your metabolism.

For bonus points stand on one leg while talking to your colleague. Standing on one leg will increase the difficulty of the exercise meaning that you will get another metabolism as well as added strength benefits. If you are worried about looking a little strange just conceal your feet behind their desk.

If your boss doesn’t like you taking the time to walk to your colleagues desk, tell him to take a hike. Or take one yourself (joke intended).

An alternative form of 'free' exercise

Cash in on free exercise

‘Free’ exercise is a term coined by a fellow trainer of mine. It describes exercise that doesn’t cost you anything and usually doesn’t take much out of your normal routine to do. For example, ride to work instead of driving. If you are less than an hour’s ride to work you should be trying to ride there at least once a week. Other ways to redeem some free exercise are:

• Park your car a few blocks from work and walk.
• Instead of buying your lunch from the café/tuck shop on the corner, bring your own and walk to the local park. (Double points for this one!)
• Take the stairs. Avoid escalators and lifts whenever possible.

By using free exercise it’s not too difficult to add 60-90 minutes of exercise each day while still getting everything done.

Just get off your ass and move

Get up from your desk and do a walk around the office. Or fill your water bottle or make a cup of tea. Or get more post it notes from the supply cabinet. Or get something from the printer. Just increase your overall movement for the day.

If you are the kind of person who gets enthralled in your work, set reminders on your calendar every hour or half hour to do something. You can download free timers from places all over the internet.

If these guys can move while working for the Empire, you can move while working at your desk

By now you should be starting to get the idea. Decrease the amount of sitting you do during the day and you will start noticing more energy and better quality sleep. You may also notice fat loss, better balance and increased work performance which is pretty good for just sitting less.

Images: star5112, david_shankbone, JD Hancock