Sitting and hunching over your desk for too many hours, switching between your phone, computer, and coffee is complete inactivity pure and simple. Whether you sit for long hours at work or are stuck in your room for some reason, rest assured that sitting will definitely take a toll on your health.
The internet and computers have taken over our lives in such a way that working, playing, meeting, hanging over, selling, buying, even visiting a doctor, all means sitting still like a dummy_that’s one dark side of the bright 21-century social structure!
Too much sitting is hazardous
While this may not need any researches to prove, several of them have linked long hours of sitting to serious medical problems. Take for instance obesity out of a number of conditions resulting from sitting for extended periods of time. Obesity alone gives birth to a cluster of other health problems including cardiovascular diseases.
So, the thing is, you don’t have any excuse whatsoever to hibernate. You may be on a job that demands long hour sitting, but you should be crafty enough to workaround a fix and save your health, your very own health from losing its grip.
The 5 at-work workouts
These 5-minute workouts are precisely designed to suit your work environment. They are all no-equipment, simple to do exercises that don’t demand a lot of time either. They are all one-minute exercises you can do while hardly leaving your seat.
Objectives? well, some of them will turn your locked joints and others will give you some good muscle burns. Squeeze, stretch, compress, the exercises will hit your entire body. Additionally, these exercises are very effective in relieving back pain and giving you a nice energy boost.
So, why sitting still anymore? Let’s workout! and who cares if the colleagues stare at you like you might have lost your mind!
Exercise-1: Seated calf Raises + Chest Presses
Starting Position:
Sit out on the edge of your seat with your hands clamped together and pressed hard against your chest. Make sure your forearms are along a straight line and feet closed together and placed in front of your hips.
Let’s Start!
- Gradually straighten your arms while still pressing your palms against each other. Come up onto your toes contracting the calf muscles along with the motion.
- Slowing bring the hands back to their initial position while releasing your feet back at the same time.
- Do 10 reps.
Exercise-2: High Knees + Lateral Raises
Starting Position:
The initial position for this exercise is similar to the previous one except for the position of your arms. Let your arms come down straight along the length of your torso touching your hips.
Let’s Start!
- Slowly bring your left leg up really high by pulling your knee as high as you can off the ground. As you do so, raise your hands directly out to the sides just about the shoulder height.
- Drop your leg down nice and slow, slowly letting your arms go back to the starting position. Do the same with your right leg and complete the circuit.
- Do 10 reps.
Exercise-3: Seated Side Bends
Starting position:
The starting position for this exercise is the same as the previous one except for the position of your arms. Bend your right arm, flatten your hand, and press your fingers against the skull just behind your ear. Straighten your left arm sidewards at the shoulder length.
Let’s start!
- Crunch down towards the right side, get a tight squeeze in the right oblique from the base that ribcage is the crest of your hip.
- Slowly come back up straight and go ahead and tip all the way in the opposite direction letting the weight of your left arm actually pull you down a little bit. Use those obliques to pull you back to the initial starting position crunching with the right side getting a tight squeeze.
- Do 5 repetitions and switch sides.
Exercise-4: Seated Russian Twists
Starting position:
Sit on the edge of your chair sideways. Keep your feet an arms-length apart. Bend your arms, bring your hands just in front of your chest with your fingers folded and pressed against each other.
Let’s start:
- Keeping your back flat lean back just a little bit as just as far as you can control without your feet coming off the ground. Twist and rotate your entire upper body right as far as you can while keeping your hands in front of your chest.
- Twist back towards the left side as far as you can.
- Half a twist back to the initial position to complete the circuit.
- Do 10 reps.
Exercise-5: Seated Swimmers
Starting position:
Sit on your seat as you normally do with your feet touching each other. Now tip forward to where your chin is vertically aligned with your knees. Straighten your arms flatten your hands.
Let’s start!
- Swing your hands in a full circle and bring back to the initial position to complete the circuit while ensuring they don’t drift outwards.
- Do 10 reps and your daily 5-minute at-work workouts are completed.
Not 5 minutes yet? Relax, drink a glass of water and share this workout pack with the people you care about. Enjoy a body well energized and taken care of!