Since almost 95 percent of employees sit behind a desk for 8 hours or more, they are living sedentary lifestyles. When a person sits all day, their blood flow and muscles are weaker and their metabolism starts to decrease. A lot of employees that sit all day long have problems with blood clots in their legs and many of them start to pack on the weight. Your muscles are in desperate need of exercise and stretching while you are at work. It is important to find ways to exercise each day while you are the office. Here are some tips on how you can step up to exercise at the office:
Sit up straight. A lot of people don’t realize how much their sitting posture really impacts their health. It is important to have good posture because it will reduce the strain on the neck, shoulders, and back muscles. If you do not have a comfortable chair, bring an ergonomic pad to sit on that supports your back and promotes good posture. You also need to keep your elbows bent at a 90 degree angle when you are typing. Purchase a wrist pad for your wrists to prevent carpal tunnel syndrome. Sitting up straight is also important for your eyes. If you constantly have to look up and down to read the screen, you will experience eye fatigue. This can lead to headaches and dizziness.
Stretching is important and vital for your health. Before you sit down to work, always stretch your muscles. Your arms and wrists need to be stretched out before you begin typing, this will help to lessen the effects of carpal tunnel syndrome. It is also important to stretch your legs when you are working to keep proper circulation. It is easy for the blood to pool in the legs and you will start to feel increase pressure and pain as you sit. Since people can easily develop blood clots in the legs, stretching your legs every 45 minutes is vital for good circulation.
An easy way to strengthen the legs and back while you are at work is to bring an exercise ball to the office. The exercise ball promotes good posture and it can help you strengthen your legs and back muscles. If you don’t like sitting on the ball all day, rotate it with your office chair. Try sitting on the exercise ball for an hour, then switch back to the chair. The ball will allow you to bounce and move around a little bit when you are sitting behind your desk and it may even help the workday to pass by faster.
Some offices have an on-site gym. During your lunch break, walk on the treadmill or use the elliptical machine for 20 minutes. This helps to increase your heart rate and pump blood and oxygen to the brain and muscles. If you can get in a workout before work, do so. Morning workouts help to awaken the body and it causes you to be more alert during the day. If you don’t have a gym on-site, go outside and walk around. Walking for 30 minutes a day will strengthen your heart and lungs. It promotes good physical health and will increase your life expectancy.
Another easy exercise to do at work is to bring some hand grippers. Hand grippers strengthen your arms and wrists. This can really help to prevent carpal tunnel syndrome and it can help to pass some time when you are talking on the phone. Normally you will see a difference in your forearms and you may notice that the pain in your wrists is minimal when you use hand grippers each day.