Many people are too busy with their tasks that they sit long hours in front of their desk without standing up or taking a break. This is not recommended even if you are going regularly to the gym or exercising each day. It’s because there are serious health problems connected with extended sitting the whole day.
You become more prone to heart attack because of this and the risks can be compared to that of smoking. There is a scientific reason behind it and that includes the level of good cholesterol dropping by 20% within only a couple of hours of sitting continuously. Fat reducing enzymes also go down 90% as soon as you sit, while metabolism drops, and leg muscles’ electrical activity stops.
If you have been sitting on your chair for 24 hours straight, you are at high risk of developing diabetes too as your insulin effectiveness goes down by 24%. While you may add more minutes to the gym or take extra steps by taking the stairs rather than the elevator to compensate for your extended hours of sitting, this may not be sufficient. Breaks in between are still necessary.
The good news is that there are exercises that you can do without leaving your desk or work area. This may feel and look a bit awkward at first, but you’ll get used to it in no time. Plus, the fact that this will improve your health is all worth it.
One of the exercises that you can do at your desk is the chair lift. Make sure that the arms of the chair and the chair itself are sturdy as they will carry your weight. To do this, sit straight on the chair and cross your legs. Lift your body up from the chair by pressing your arms on the armchair.
Another exercise to try is the lower body stretch. This can be easily done by stretching your feet in front of you, while seated on your chair. Hold the stretch for a couple of seconds, and then extend up as high as you can, before holding it for another two seconds.
Aside from the bottom stretch, there are also exercises that you can do for your upper body that won’t require you to go out of your chair. One is the shoulder stretch that you can do by stretching your hands up and behind your back, while they are on top of each other. Stretch as far as you can and hold for a few seconds.
There’s also the side stretch where you raise one hand to the ceiling, grab its wrist using the other hand and pulling to the side of the hand grabbing the wrist. Hold the stretch for 10 seconds and repeat on the other side.
These are only some of the simple yet effective way of exercising while working in the office for long hours. We created an infographic that contains more exercises to incorporate in your daily routine at work to improve your health.
See the eye-catching image that we prepared and start trying the exercises while at work for better health.
Author’s bio:
Scott has been blogging and managing websites for several years now. He developed a multitude of strategies and methods to streamline his content production allowing him to do more in much less time and free up his schedule to better enjoy life.
