Office Workers: What do you do during the day to keep acive?

Occasionally get up & jog in place for a minute or two. Take a walk around the building. Use lunch hour for some activity. But mostly, I'm ok with the fact that I'll get most of my activity in the evening hours.

I often pick a restroom that is further away. When I was in a two story building I always went to the one downstairs so I'd have to climb the stairs. I park my car at the back of the parking lot. I use my two 15 minute breaks during the day to take a half mile walk and if it's not a running day I'll take a half hour walk at lunch.

I'm also in an office all day long. I make sure I go to another floor for the washroom, as others have suggested. I've also been doing some basic yoga a few times a day. Helps to stretch out and keep my body loose and limber.

I'm a college student and teaching assistant (which mostly involves grading papers, so very sedentary work). I make sure to get 1,000-2,000 steps before I leave the house in the morning (10-15 minutes of jump roping/jumping jacks/mountain climbers, etc.), brisk walk for 40 minutes during lunch break (that's upwards of 6,000 steps), plus incidental walking throughout the day. I hit 10,000 steps without fail doing this routine.

Walking at lunch is a great solution. I wish I had time to go for a walk during my lunch break, but I work in the pastoral team at a college and our break time coincides with the students' so obviously that's when they drop in. Oh well. I try to squeeze in a few extra steps by walking to the printer/toilets/water fountain that's in the next block rather than the one on my floor, and physically going to people's offices rather than emailing and phoning all the time. Probably doesn't achieve much, but it's nice to stretch my legs.

Walking at lunch is great. My coworkers and I sometimes take laps around the building (indoors because of the cold) when we need a small break. Fidgeting at your desk is also pretty good. I like to do twists in my chair (grab the edge of the desk, use my abs to rotate my hips/chair) and move my legs as much as I can.

I have a standing desk so I stand all day at work and only sit in the car during my commute. The standing desk I have can be moved down if I want/need to sit for a while.

If you can't handle the cost (or your employer won't pay for it) you can create your own standing desk using boxes/books/whatever. You really just need a way to raise the monitor, keyboard, and mouse. If you work on a laptop it's even easier.

I walk around the parking lot during breaks and sometimes lunch. I can't wait for it warm up a smidge, though, as I don't care to walk when its in single digits. Kudos to those who can, I'll wait and go to the gym this evening.

My biggest tip would be to make time for deliberate and sustained exercise 5-6 days per week.

Beyond that, if you need something from a colleague get up and walk to their office or cube rather than paging them on the phone or shooting them an email. Just get up and walk around for 5 minutes or so every hour...go get some water, go to the bathroom, check the fax machine, etc. Park further away from the office building. Take the stairs if you have a multi level office building...in that same RE, use facilities and break rooms on other office floors than the one you work on...and take the stairs. Park further away from stores, etc when you're running errands.

These are all great ways to improve your NEAT...but you need to make time for deliberate and sustained exercise, especially if you work in an office setting.

Go down to the work gym at lunch time for a double session.

WillLift4Tats wrote: »

Agree with the above. I take advantage of my 15 minute breaks and take a brisk walk around the area. I also just switched out my office chair for a balance ball. It's my third day, my back feels better by the end of the day, and my posterior can feel the challenge of stabilizing!

I also take advantage of nice days like today and bike to work whenever possible. Of course these are little things, but they are better than nothing. I depend a lot on workouts outside of work time.

I've thought about suggesting balance balls at the next meeting when they ask for ideas and suggestions. Just to see the looks on their faces.

I on average get 7000 steps in at the office between going to the printer, bathroom, breakroom and instead of emailing folks I go talk to them etc. The rest of my 10k steps comes from getting ready for work and after I get home tidying up the house...it's doable without adding in extra exercise...but I do that too.

i wear my fitbit on my sock and try to walk in place as much as i can. 15 minutes in the morning at home, while i'm eating my oatmeal, or afterwards while i am crocheting. we have no stairs at the office nor can i go to a further bathroom but i do have a 30 minute lunch break, and i walk in place at least 20 minutes of that. when i print something i do have to walk to the printer room so i do more steps in place. i try to get in 7,000 steps by the time i finish work. i usually get in 3,000 or more steps during the evenings (on non-gym days) while i stand up and walk in place while i crochet. i try to get to the gym 3 x per week to do some strength training.

I sit on my butt most of the day at work in a small office so I try to find any excuse to get up and move. If I have to print something, instead of using my printer, I'll print to the one on the other side of the office. I take a walk around the block and a lap around the Trader Joe's parking lot when I take the mail to the mailbox. When I carry files out of my bosses office to put on mine so I can do my thing with them, I take them client by client so I'm making 4 or 5 trips (sometimes 15 or 20 when we're deep into tax season).

I've cut my eating at lunch while reading (that killed me) time short so I can take small walks. I keep a protein bar in my desk at work so sometimes I'll just put my earbuds in and walk for the whole hour and have that for lunch.

And, if I'm alone in the office, I say screw it to work and pace back and forth until I'm no longer alone.