5 simple exercises at your desk to decrease stress and increase productivity
We’ve decided to go a little off the board with this weeks topic, but a helpful article nonetheless, and we are all about increasing productivity and helping out our readers!
Office jobs can sometimes be monotonous and stressful, causing muscles to cramp and increasing chances of obesity. In addition to this, sitting all day can become very boring and stagnant. When you exercise you get your blood to start flowing and you feel good. When you feel good and the heart is pumping, you are more confident and more productive. Now not all of us have the luxury of being able to go to the gym during the day or having exercise equipment in the workplace. However, there are some exercises you can do right at your desk that will increase your productivity. Check them out:
- Chair Dips – They are exactly what they sound like, dips in your chair. You are certainly familiar with dips in the gym. These work your core, triceps and shoulders using your own body weight. How to do: While remaining in a seated position, place your hands on the arm rests of your chair with your elbows at a 90 degree angle. Push yourself up, raising your bum up off your chair. To start, you can keep your feet on the ground for extra support. As you become stronger, raise your feet up using only your arms to hold you up. Hold yourself up for 10-25 second, repeat 5-10 times.
- The straight leg – This exercise promotes lower body and core strength, whilst stretching out those stiff legs too. Very simple, remain seated in your chair and raise one leg up keeping it straight out. Keeping it straight, raise it up as high as you can and hold for 5-10 seconds. Repeat this 5 times per leg.
- The Back stretch – This one is very important as it will stretch out those tight back and neck muscles. When your muscles are stretched and relaxed, you feel more at ease and are able to work more fluently. Stay seated in your chair and put both hands on the same arm rest. Grab the arm rest and twist your body in that direction, hold for 10 seconds. Repeat this 3 times for each side.
- The invisible chair squat – Legs, core and butt – this will have all three nice and tight in no time. Stand up and position yourself right in front of your chair. Bend down a little bit and place your feet about shoulder width apart, with your hands either on your knees or out in front. Squat down to the same height as your chair and hold for 20 seconds. Do this about 10 times per day, eventually increasing the hold time. Careful that your skirt or pants aren’t too tight that day, nothing worse than a big rip right down the sweet spot.
- Desk push-ups – Self-explanatory exercise; stand up in front of your desk and put your palms on the edge of the desk. Do about 10 push-ups against the desk, increasing the amount as you get stronger.
- BONUS – Since we like you, we decided to add in an extra tip. Stretching. Simple, yet so effective. Stand up and for about 2 minutes or so, just stretch. Arms, necks, legs, shoulders, back and wrists (very important to fight of carpal tunnel).
These will loosen you up and you will feel fantastic. Do these stretches every 2 or 3 hours for loose muscles, a relaxed body and increased productivity at work. Be sure to share these with co-workers, family and friends.
Most people will avoid doing these because they are embarrassed to be seen doing squats in their office. Well, don’t be! There is nothing embarrassing about staying fit, loose and productive at work. Give these a try and let us know if they work. If you have some other quick and effective exercises you would like to share, post a comment or email them in.
