How many of you are trapped at your desk for 8 plus hours a day? Are there a lot of days you don't even get the chance to take a lunch break, much less take time to workout?
The American Heart Association recommends that you get 30 minutes of physical activity, 5 times a week at a minimum.
Pretty hard to do that when you work an exhausting and time consuming job. This is where the office chair workout comes in handy.
Before we move on, just know that you have to meet 2 requirements to do this workout:
-you have the freedom to move around a little bit
-You don't mind people thinking you are the crazy person in the office
This workout is assuming you work 8 hours per day, 5 days a week. It also assumes you have a chair with wheels on it, just stick with me. This workout will not always be feasible, but a little something always beats a whole lot of nothing.
Here is how it works:
Set an alarm to go off every 15 minutes. Every 15 minutes you will do the exercise for 1 minute, changing exercises every hour.
Hour 1- Jumping Jacks.
As an alternative, you can do chair jacks. Just do the upper body part of the jumping jacks. Don't be surprised if people think you are drawing attention to yourself.
Hour 2- Squats.
Use your chair as a guide. Feet shoulder width apart, push your hips back, keep your knees out, sit away from your knee caps, and slowly lower yourself down towards your chair. Lightly tap your chair, then stand all the way up.
Hour 3- Chair Plank.
Place your forearms on the seat of your chair, walk your legs out until your body is in a nice straight line. Hold that position, make it harder by rolling the chair back and forth with your forearms
Hour 4- pushups.
You can do the pushups on the floor, hands on your desk, hands on the wall, knees on the floor, hands on your chair, any option will do.
Hour 5- Push back/walk in.
This is mainly where the wheels on the chair come in. Place your hands on the edge of your desk, hands shoulder width apart, explosively press backwards (if you are on carpet, don't push quite as hard if you are on hardwood floors). Next, you will dig your heels into the ground and walk yourself back to your desk. Great hamstring workout.
Hour 6- High knees.
Run or march in place getting your knees up as high as possible.
Hour 7- Reaches.
Feet shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent, lift your right heel, pivot, and reach your right arm across your body to the left side, repeat with your left arm. Make sure to pivot each time, letting your belly button lead you to the side. Make it more challenging by holding a lower squat.
Hour 8- Basketball shots.
Knees slightly bent, feet shoulder width apart, we will start with the right hand being the "shooting" hand. You will pivot and step to your left, reach out with both hands, and grab the invisible ball, step and pivot back, then shoot the invisible basketball.
If you have ever seen a 3 point competition, that is what you are mimicking. Alternate the shooting hands each minute, so both sides will each get 2 sets in. If you want to make it a little more interesting, this is a great way to get rid of all the balled up papers and trash around your desk.
This will net you 32 minutes of exercise every day at your desk. You can start working in crazy stuff like foam rolling, stretching, yoga, etc... later on after you fully break your co-workers in. If there are thing that are not feasible in your office, adapt t what you can do.
You will find that you are more productive, energetic, and a lot of your back pain will subside due to the decreased amount of sitting. Please report back co-worker observations of your activities.
