Efficient and effective desk workouts to do while at work
By Christina Thomas
While we were in quarantine it may or may not have been quite easy to develop a nice workout routine. If you did that really is awesome, I wish I could say the same and if you didn’t that’s okay too. One thing we all have in common though is the general change in our daily routine with having to get back to work and start school. It is not always the easiest task to adjust back to normal after such a long break from normalcy and including typical parts of your day like your workout routine can easily get brushed under the rug. It may now become hard to squeeze in a workout due to other obligations.
If you find yourself having this problem, it’s a good thing you decided to read this because we have found some effective workouts that can be done while you’re at work or school. These can work if you’re given some sort of break or if you are just at your desk.
Walking
Walking is a simple exercise that is actually quite underrated in my opinion. You actually don’t need to do many high intensity workouts to stay fit and healthy. Simply walking everyday does wonders for your health and really helps with the blood flow and circulation.
Arm Circles
This is an easy workout that can be done sitting at your desk or standing up as long as you can have your arms extended and keep your back straight. You stretch your arms out on either side of you and rotate them forward and then backward, you can also bend your arms at the elbow and do the same rotating motion. This movement builds the strength in your arms and helps with blood flow.
Triceps Stretches
For triceps stretches, you will bring one arm across your body and hold it there with the opposite arm holding your shoulder. You can hold that stretch for as long as you want then to switch to the other arm.
Overhead Shoulder Press
You take your arms and press them over your head in steady motions like you’re lifting weights above your head. This is supposed to benefit your upper back muscles as well as your arms.
High Knees Walk in Place
While sitting in your chair, if you have room, you can walk in place and lift your knees at a higher angle to get more movement
Opposite Toe Touches
This exercise can be done in one of two ways, one is bending down to touch your opposite foot or you can lift the opposite leg to the opposite arm. For both it is important to remember to be mindful of the way you bend your back and to maintain even breathing.
Front Kicks
Given that you have enough space for this, you can do front kicks while at your desk to just bring circulation to your feet.
Overhead Side Bend
This exercise is done by bending to either your left or right and you lift an arm over your head and hold it in that bending position, then you can do the same thing on the other side.
All of these exercises are to help with incorporating some sort of a quick, yet effective physical activity into your daily routine that may be too busy. If you have separate time dedicated for your workouts and you don’t do any of these ones, try checking them out, many of them are helpful with circulation and stretching your muscles. Most importantly, do research on your own and find what works for you. It could be yoga, running, HIIT training, boxing, anything at all, having some sort of physical activity to do for at least 10 minutes can really benefit your health.
In addition to that, make sure you keep drinking water and stay hydrated throughout the day because it can be really hard to do that on a busy day when you’re working for eight hours.
