If you work full-time and sit at a desk for eight hours a day with very little movement and without any training, you can greatly endanger your health. Sitting too much without exercising is responsible for health ailments such as weight gain, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and other chronic conditions.
There are numerous articles about the dangerous consequences of sitting at a desk all day without going to the gym or exercising at home. European Heart Journal often publishes articles about sitting issues. According to these scientific articles, sitting for extended periods of time is responsible for several health risks: higher levels of artery-blocking triglycerides and the heart disease predictor C-reactive protein, lower levels of the “good” cholesterol HDL, and a larger waist. And one study has shown the terrifying fact that people who sit all day have a 40% increased risk of dying.
People generally are not aware of the risks of sitting all day, until they gain weight or get severe back, spine or neck pain. If you don’t have time to go to the gym and you want to take care of your health, there are some easy exercises you can do at your desk, even while you’re sitting down. Whether you’re at work or sitting at your home, take a break to try some of our cool exercises!
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Warm-up!
Before you take exercise at the gym or at your desk, don’t forget about warming up! Just lift your shoulders up towards your ears in an exaggerated motion and release. Repeat this up to ten times before moving on to making shoulder circles. First, you can go clockwise, then counterclockwise, for the same amount of repetitions. Warming up this way will help you loosen your shoulder muscles and get your body ready for the next exercises.
Desk Push-Ups
People are usually afraid of push-ups and refuse to do exercise like that because it’s hard. But try to do desk push-ups. Just place both hands on the desk, shoulder-width apart. Extend your legs behind you with your feet firmly planted on the ground. Basically, you will be in a regular push-up position but with a desk in the way. Then, bend your arms and sink your upper body so that your chin nearly touches the edge of the desk, and then push up. Don’t force yourself much, repeat as many times as you want.
Wrist stretches
Sitting all day at your desk doesn’t just affect your body, but first, it affects your hands and wrists. Sitting at a desk usually means you type on your computer or text on your phone all day. This may lead to carpal tunnel syndrome. You must have felt wrist pain sometimes at your work, so why not try wrist stretches? You just need to spread your fingers out as far as they can go, then tightly clench your fist. You can also place your fingers on the edge of your desk and stretch them back.
Stress ball exercise
Stress-ball is the best corporate presents, great to show your employees how much you care about their health. You can find high-quality stress balls at low price and release your employees from stress. These balls are usually filled with clay, gel, sand, foam or rice and they are easy to squeeze. You can find them in a wide range of shapes, sizes, and materials. You just need to squeeze stress ball by the hand and fingers to ease muscle tension and ease stress. This exercise can help you build or maintain hand strength, too.
Chair v-sits
One of the people’s favorite sitting exercises is chair v-sits. This exercise is performed with a butt on the ground, hands planted next to and a bit behind your hips, while you’re leaning your torso back until you can feel the core engage, as your feet are lifted from the ground and moving your torso back as you straighten your legs. After that, you can return to the starting position. This version might not be the most office-friendly exercise but it’s surely challenging.
Sitting on an exercise ball!
One of the most useful and unique products that can improve your health is an exercise ball. Modern working environment includes a game room, relaxing area and why not exercise balls instead of a traditional office chair? Sitting on an exercise ball instead of a regular office chair can improve your health. The instability of an exercise ball requires an employee to increase trunk muscle activation and thus increase core strength, improve posture and decrease discomfort. This ball increases calories burned. For example, sitting on a stability ball burn 4.1 calories or 6% more than sitting on a regular chair every hour.
Wall Sit
Wall sit exercises are the best if you want to build strength and endurance at work. You need to stand with your back against the wall, bend your knees and slide your back down the wall until the thighs are parallel to the floor. Sit and wait for up to 60 seconds, but not less than 30. By the time, as you get more advanced try to cross the right ankle over the left knee, hold for 15 seconds and then switch. What’s cooler? This exercise is great if you want the whole team to get involved.
Stay hydrated
It’s great to try all these exercises at your desk at work, but don’t forget to stay hydrated! You will immediately feel re-energized after drinking a glass of water or cold juice. You may already know that it is suggested to drink six to eight glasses of water a day, and if you do these exercises you will need more to recharge. If you’re looking for some cool mugs and water bottles, as well as products for preparing drinks, check out our latest lifestyle subscription box.
Photos: Duong Huynh on Unsplash, https://www.ourhealth.org
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