Simple Exercise Tips You Can Do at Work

Working a desk job for 40 or more hours a week can bring health risks. The American Heart Association gives this simple advice: “Sit less, move more.”

The act of sitting itself is not detrimental to our health. What we shouldn’t ignore is the long-term consequence of no physical movement for extended periods of time. In fact, sedentary behavior is typically linked to about 30 chronic conditions and diseases, including an increase in the risk of heart disease and diabetes.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reveals that less than 5 percent of adults engage in 30 minutes of physical activity in a day. The human body is designed for constant movement. Your muscles improve their biochemical, neuromuscular, and metabolic systems to accommodate physical activity. When you are seated on a desk for hours, the metabolism slows down, the body gets stiff, and glucose and oxygen transportation to the cells become less efficient. Eventually, this leads to compression, tension, and joint problems.

Whether it’s based at the office or at home, the work must get done. Hence, your caring team at Physicians Premier, your Corpus Christi, TX emergency room, suggests setting a timer to remind you to move around for at least 5 minutes each hour.

Below some exercise tips and other ways to introduce movement:

• Take fitness breaks. Take a brisk walk or do some gentle stretching.
• Stand up and work. Find ways to get out of your chair. For example, you can stand while talking on the phone. Or you may want to use an adjustable or standing height desk to avoid sitting too much. Simple arm and ankle flexes will help get your muscles active.
• Take the stairs vs. the elevator.
• Store stretchy cords, tubes, resistance bands that offer weight-like resistance in your drawer. Do arm curls between tasks or meetings. 
• Exercise at your desk. You may want to do wrist stretches or seated leg raises.
• Stand during meetings.

While its true that the price of sedentary behavior has not been measured in dollars, the costs of ensuring productivity loss and poor health in the workplace certainly has. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, it is about $225 billion per year.

It can be hard to put in an hour or two of physical activity while working. Why not aim small – but be consistent, and start with at least 15 minutes each day? Hopefully, these exercise tips will help minimize your sedentary time because physical activity is just as essential for health as a nutritious diet and regular exercise.