Lose Christmas Weight at Work: Exercises To Do in the Office and at Your Desk

Everyone in the office is either still in post-Christmas food binge mode or they're consciously crash dieting. It's what we all do. However, Thrive have researched some top tips to motivate you or your whole team to lose some pounds while you're back at your office desk (oh how you've missed it, I'm sure!).

The first rule of making 'deskercise' work (we found the term, we like it, we're using it) is by ensuring that your colleagues are on board with you.

Treats are good, but they can also be the beginning of your downfall.

General Good Health Habits at Work

• Get up and move around the office every half hour, be that getting a cup of tea, going to the toilet etc. Blood circulation is easily slowed in office environments.
• Stretch. Your posture can become affected by constant sitting over a keyboard for 7.5 hours a day.
• Talk. In buildings of cubicles or one-man offices it's easy to lose touch with the inner world. A five-minute conversation break can lift your mood and productivity levels. 

Deskercise Made Easy

A lot of articles on Google will tell you to go do wall squats - we'd get laughed at by the rest of the Thrive team for attempting this. Here are some discrete and heart-pumping deskercise tips you can do, from Lifehack [source]...

• Take the stairs: If you need a harder workout, try taking them two at a time - you’ll get a chance to stretch your legs more than you would otherwise.
• Hip flexions: While sitting in your chair, lift your right foot a few inches off of the floor. Keep your knee bent at a 90 degree angle and hold the position as long as you are comfortable.
• Leg extensions: While sitting in your chair, extend your right leg until it is level with your hip. Hold as long as you are comfortable and then relax it. Alternate sides.
• Arm pump: Pump both of your arms over your head for 30 seconds.
• Shoulder raises. Raise your shoulder to your ear, hold and then relax. Repeat, alternating shoulders.
• Water bottle weights: Use a full water bottle as weight to increase the difficulty of your work out. You can do front raises, overhead presses and bicep curls with a water bottle.
• Gluteal Squeeze: Tense up the muscles of your rear end and hold for a count of 10.
• Abdominal stretch: Sit on the edge of your chair and stretch your arms out in front of you. While keeping your back straight, contract your abdominal muscles. Relax and repeat.
• Neck rotations: Drop your chin and roll your neck. Raise your chin up and bend your neck to each side.

Got to work early and got the office to yourself? Try...

• Low-impact jumping jacks. Raise your right arm and tap your left toe to the side at the same time. Keep your right foot on the floor. Alternate sides for a full minute.
• Chair squats. Lift your rear end off of your seat and hold for a few seconds.

Excellent office-orientated advice:

All of the below tips have been taken from the excellent article at Greatist [source].

• The Grim Reamer: Scope out the office for a ream of paper, or a sealed package of printing paper. While seated, place the stack in between the knees and press legs inward, engaging the inner thighs. Continue squeezing the paper ream in place for 30-60 seconds while sorting through the morning’s flood of emails. (Now that’s multitasking!)
• The Lunch Break Hammy: Strengthen the hamstrings with this standing leg curl. Stand behind your chair and hold onto it for support. Gently kick one foot back, aiming the heel for the top of your thigh. Lower the foot back down and repeat exercise with the other leg. Do 10 reps, take a bite of your lunchtime sandwich, and then do 10 more.
• The Patient Printer: The boss lady just requested that a 200-page presentation be printed “perfectly.” Why lackadaisically stand by the printing pages when you could be sculpting your calves with calf raises? Standing with feet shoulder-width apart, press up onto the tippy toes, pause at the top, then lower back down. Repeat for three sets of 12-15 reps, or until the printing, faxing, or scanning is done. Ready to level up? Try raising only one leg at a time.
• The Office Genie: Want to add a little magic to the workday? Cross your legs while seated in your chair (like you did in primary school for 'storytime'). With your hands on the armrests, push upwards to raise the body off the seat and remain floating for 10-20 seconds. After granting a few wishes, release back down to the chair, rest for a minute, and repeat. Craving more magic? Try this balancing act while in a chair that spins.
• The Casual Lean: Waiting in the hall for a meeting to start? Perfect time to nonchalantly work out the upper arms! Casually lean against the nearest wall, supporting your body with the forearm only. Now lean into the wall until the upper arm almost touches it, and then push back out. Repeat for 15 reps or until the meeting gets underway.

Keep your productivity, health and business boosted as 2015 gets underway, by emailing your specific marketing, strategy and web / design enquiries to hello@thriveability.co.uk!