Office workers - work outs at your desk?
ArmywifeOpper
Posts: 7 Member
Does anyone do anything while sitting at their desk that has actually helped them with their fitness journey? I have looked up all sorts of things but I need something I can do while actually doing my work and not stepping away from my desk. Any suggestions that you've tried that have helped you tone up or burn some extra calories?
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No. I don't want to look like a weirdo LOL.
Have you looked into a stand-up desk?0 -
Following - I work an office job and other than getting up and going for walks, I've yet to find something useful.
It doesn't help that I'm in the middle of a large room with no door or privacy and there are four of us in here... lol0 -
You could bring weights and do leg lifts under your desk. Other than that, you can step back and do some of the others once every hour to keep you moving. It literally only takes a minute to do some lunges, chair dips, or tricep kicks. My favorite are jump squats... they take a little more than a minute, but not much.0
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My wife and I both got Desk Cycles a few weeks ago, and they're amazing. Most of my hobbies are at the computer, and just keeping my legs moving while I'm sitting has made a huge difference. Even at almost no resistance, it makes a difference in my progress.0
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Nope.
I have to schedule in a workout at home or in the gym0 -
I just get up and walk the building for about 5 minutes every hour. It helps with stress.0
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I do a few squats in the bathroom every time I go, and I will only bring one paper at a time to the printer (which is about 60 feet away) so I can get some more steps in. Also, I take the long way when walking somewhere. When I'm microwaving food at lunch, I walk in place, but only because I'm the only one in the office. If someone else was there I definitely wouldn't lol0
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Had a coworker in another office that has a desk cycle and he loved it. I sit right on the end of a cubicle aisle with no cube across from me, so I'm easily viewed in the walkway, ugh. Before I was moved I would do squats, lunges, desk pushups and high knees as no one else could see me.0
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I get up every 15 to 30 minutes and stretch or take a quick walk. But exercise? In front of a desk and computer with a mouse in hand? Nope.
Reserve time out of your day to exercise and concentrate on your exercise.
Besides, multi-tasking sucks.0 -
I have a desk job, but I'm able to get up an walk around as frequently as I want. I also have my own office, which gives me the privacy to do workouts in my office at lunch. I mention these things because what works in my situation may not work in yours.
After reading Dr. Jay DiCharry's Anatomy for Runners, I started focusing on strengthening my feet & ankles as much as possible. Frequently throughout the day, I lift a foot off the floor and rotate my ankle through all planes of motion. One workout I do uses resistance bands: step on the ends where the handles are, put your other foot on your knee and loop the band around the ball of the foot; lift the toes. It's kind a of windshield wiper motion, rotating at the ankle toward my upper body (inward). It strengthens the connective tissue of the ankles in a manner that helps prevent injury when I roll or twist my ankles while running. I will also the reverse motion with that same foot on the ground, keep the heel in place and rotate the foot outward.
I keep a lacrosse ball at my desk to work out "stuck" spots.
You can do a lot with resistance bands. I used to reject the notion of them, because it's really difficult to quantify if I'm improving -- I can't see if my strength has increased, and it's easy to slack off -- but I decided to change my mindset: this is about keeping my lower legs healthy, not about lifting a certain amount of weight.0 -
Saw this under the desk "elliptical" at Brookstone the other day.. I don't know how effective it is, but might be worth trying!
http://www.brookstone.com/stamina-elliptical-trainer/830367p.html
I have never found any "desk workouts" to be very effective. Instead, I set step goals for myself to reach throughout the day and track with my Fitbit. If I have a full meeting day, it might only be 5,000 steps before leaving work for the day. This usually forces me to take the long way around the office, walk outside for 20 minutes on lunch, etc., but it definitely makes me move more than I typically would.
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I will walk to the farther washroom - I drink a lot of water so the steps add up. I also make a point to park far away from the office entrance... at my desk I do some stretching but no real exercising, there are far too many judgmental eyes around me, hehe.0
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I need to be better but keeping tennis shoes at the office & going for walk on my lunch break helps. I look a little silly in my dress clothes & athletic shoes but I don't care! I try not to break a major sweat so I'm not gross & smelly for afternoon but every little bit helps! I put in my earbuds & goooo.....!0
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Kegels.
Won't burn anything extra but is it the only exercise you might be able to do without anyone seeing and/or noticing.0 -
I'm thinking about buying a desk cycler. http://www.walmart.com/ip/17299064?wmlspartner=wlpa&adid=22222222227000996906&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=40331800832&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=78293950232&veh=sem0
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I get up frequently from my desk and walk around. I even go outside pretty often because I hate my desk that much!0
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chelsy0587 wrote: »Kegels.
Won't burn anything extra but is it the only exercise you might be able to do without anyone seeing and/or noticing.
I don't think it was funny the second time
Didn't see your post when I posted mine.. sorry.I get up frequently from my desk and walk around. I even go outside pretty often because I hate my desk that much!
Not my desk... the bathroom on the other side of the wall.
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Also, there's a bathroom workout I found online that I often do. It's 10 squats, 10 sink pushups, and 10 sink armcurls. Not much but by the end of the day it adds up to about 5 minutes of calisthenics if I go to the bathroom as much as I can get away with without looking like I have a stomach bug. lol0
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If you're able to download them on your computer, I've used a couple of reminder apps for getting up and stretching or doing other microbreaks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/time-out-break-reminders/id402592703?mt=12 and https://www.stretchclock.com/. There's also this website: http://www.breakpal.com/memberships. Stretchclock and Breakpal have videos of little exercises to follow. Time Out, you're on your own. I also go and work out daily, but these for me help with just prompting me to get up every half hour and at least stand up and stretch, if not pace in my office or something. Like they say, it's not good to just sit all day long, and you'd have to google it, but I think some of the things I've read have said to do a microbreak for a minute or two every 20-30 minutes if you can. Beyond this, the only thing I do at my desk is put on music, and because I'm a dancer (some of my daily workouts are dance class, plus I swim and a bunch of other stuff), I just kind of bop along to the music. I've done hip-hop and tap, so sometimes I'll just do that bounce you do in hip-hop, a little groove with my arms or some of my tap moves with my feet under the desk. I am in an office alone, so I could really get into it if I wanted to, but I also have windows to the outside, and I don't want to scare the outside passersby.
Now the bopping isn't going to burn any serious calories, nor substitute for standing up on a microbreak, but I figure any bit I can move and not be static, it's probably a good thing. 0 -
I have a desk cycle. I don't keep it at work, but I do work from home every evening as well as in the office so I pedal on it for about 2 hours each night while I work from home and when I'm leisurely on my computer, like now... I love being able to fit in a little workout.0
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Just curious... do desk cycles make any noise?0
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Just get up and walk around for 5 minutes every hour. There are new studies out saying that sitting for extended periods of time is as bad for you as smoking. Anecdotal evidence (me!) says that after years of sitting for my job and school, I'm in terrible shape. I'm not going to work out at my desk, but I have a watch that vibrates every 55 minutes to remind me it's time to get up and move. I walk to the water cooler, to the washroom, or even a couple rounds around the office, just to get some blood flowing. It helps a lot.0
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There's nothing I could do at my desk that is going to improve any aspect of my fitness. I make time for dedicated exercise to improve my fitness.
I do things to try to improve my NEAT though, like going over to a colleague's office or cubicle if I need something rather than emailing or paging them...I take the stairs...I get up an walk around for 5 minutes or so every hourish...I use the restroom on the 1st floor...I park as far away from the building as possible, etc. This has nothing to do with my fitness, just things to try to move a little more.0 -
I workout before work because I have a desk job....but I do purposely get up from my desk often to take a walk...where there's a will, there's a way
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I could sit at my desk all day but like others, I try to get up a move every 30 minutes. My goal isn't to squeeze in more exercise but to move. I too saw an article that sitting for long hours without getting up is bad for you. I would walk to the kitchen to get more water, or when I'd go to the bathroom I would do 10 squats in the stall or do a squat and hold it for 15 seconds or 30 seconds. My company has offices on 2 different floors so I would take the stairs versus the elevator.
I'm now in a different location so I can't use the stairs. But I can do squats at my desk without people seeing me. So I'll do that or, keeping my right leg straight I raise it to about hip level then lower it. I do that 10 times then repeat on the left. Or I do alternating slow high knees.0 -
I have a small cup for my water so that I can get a walk downstairs to the kitchen and back up to my office every time I need water. It helps me get some light exercise in throughout the day, gives my eyes a rest and keeps me on track with my water intake.0
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I already do at least 1/2 an hour of cardio everyday, but that desk cycle sounds interesting. I'm trying to work in anything additional to what I'm doing and I have time for. I have 3 little ones, twins who are 2 and a half, and a 4 year old, I work full time and I'm going to school, so I don't have much more time than 1/2 an hour, I wish I did, I would probably get in at least an hour of cardio if I could. But thanks for all the suggestions. I'm lucky I have my own office, so I can get in some squats and knee raises every hour.
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No, but if I didn't have access to a gym at work, I probably would buy one of those desk cycles.0
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