Exercise routines for the office
Are you stuck in an office chair throughout the day and have little to no time to hit the gym? Here’s a list of exercise routines that you can do daily. While they will not make you the next Mr. Olympia, they will help relax and stretch your tensed muscles, improve your posture and make you overall stronger.
There are many workout plans, but these are our favorite exercise routines:
Before you begin your first office workout, we wouldn’t like it to be your last, so make a mental note to make this in to a healthy habit.
The first set of desk exercises to get your muscles ready are going to be stretching and light warm up.
- Begin with slowly tilting your head towards the shoulders and hold for 10 seconds.
- Roll your shoulders for 10 times forward and then backward in a circular motion. Repeat this 2 more times.
- Stretch your arms to the sides and roll them at your elbows 10 times forward and then backward.
- Stretch your arm in front of you with palm down and pull on your fingers gently, hold 3 seconds. Now pull up on fingers.
- Stand up and stretch your back by slowly lowering yourself towards your knees. Repeat 5 times.
- Relieve the stiffness in your legs by lifting one leg to the back, bent at the knee and holding for 3 seconds.
Finally, extend your ankle pointing your toes down and then up, repeat this 10 times with both feet.
These stretches are enough if you perform them at least 3 times during your work period. They take about 5 minutes to do and can be a nice break from the office chair.
If your boss is one of those people that doesn’t want to see you up from your chair multiple times during work hours and you can’t do the stretches a couple of times throughout the day, here is another list of exercises that you can do right after you’ve stretched. If you want to make them more difficult fill one or two water bottles and use them as dumbbells!
When you have your longer break do the following:
- Start with jumping jacks. Do it for 1 minute. This exercise will elevate your heart rate and is a good cardio exercise.
- Start running in place for 60 seconds. Make sure to lift your knees up!
- Next exercise is jumping rope, without the rope. If you have room and a rope in the office / hall you can do them with the rope.
- Get the water bottle dumbbells and rise and lower both of your arms over your head. Perform 15 repetitions.
- With the water bottle in your hands, you can perform lunges. 10 for each leg.
- Next up is squats, 15 repetitions. If you can perform a one legged squat, do that by holding on to a wall or table for balance. 10 for each leg.
- Desk pushups can strengthen your arms and core. If your desk is solid and can support your weight it’s a great exercise to do.
- Chair dips. With your legs out in front of you, grab the edge of a chair (or desk) and lift yourself down and back up. You can place the water bottles in your lap to add some extra weight.
- Triceps kick. Bend at the hips about 45 degrees. Extend your elbows behind you and lift the water bottles as if you are lifting weights.
- Finally, perform biceps curls. Start with your arms in resting position, than curl them upwards squeezing the biceps. Don’t forget the water bottles!
This is a short list of 10 desk exercises (office chair exercises) that you can perform. As you get stronger, you can start doing more repetitions if time permits it.
We know some of these can be humiliating to do in the office, but it is a small price to pay towards better health. Besides, chances are you might even get your coworkers to join you.
If you go to the gym and have your gym workouts, these exercises won’t interfere with your workout plans. They are primarily stretching exercise routines. They won’t replace the gym equipment and the home or gym exercise routines, but at least you are up and moving! Your body will love you for it. You will start feeling better, stronger and healthier in no time.
As addition to this, your mind also benefits from exercise. For a list of mental health benefits of exercise you can read here.
For more ways to improve you mental health you can read here.
If you already have your own workout plans and perform desk exercises or office chair exercises, please share them with us in the comments bellow.
Share this post with your colleagues so they too can reap the benefits of exercise.
