Desk Yoga
Health issues and morbid amount of weight gain are pretty common nowadays when the major workforce is working behind desks and the majority of the time is spent sitting erect on chairs. Normal working hours does not allow you enough time to hit gym or do any healthy activity to boost your metabolism, which ultimately leave you in bad health and thus reduce your productivity at work. According to a new research, increasing an hour of television time increases the obesity by 23% in a short period of 3 to 6 months.
An ideal way to fill this gap is to do some necessary activities during your work hours, keeping a motive in mind to indulge yourself in some healthy activity. If we look at the broader side, we can achieve two simple results from exercising at work; relieve stress and get some strength training; only a little stretching and lifting up your weight in different ways can do the task. Here are a few simple exercises to do between your work times
Avoid elevators and prefer stairs: It seems easy to use elevators, but at the same time you missed a chance to circulate your blood and boost your metabolism by just avoiding stairs. Using stairs daily keeps you active, in fact it’s one of the best exercises used by gym instructors to develop legs and slight warm-up.
Exercise moving your toe: It is usually said that a strong base make up a firm structure, always keep working your legs, and you can lift your toes frequently by keeping your heels on the ground. Taking a small walk or just standing at your seat involves muscle friction and thus increases the blood flow throughout the body.
Lifting your leg: This is something we usually do but never notice its importance, lifting your legs up and keeping them at 90 degrees from your upper body helps you maintain posture and good balance. At the same time, your thighs will be stiff, and you are having some strength training at your desk.
Raise and lower your complete body: This is another good point, through which you can work on your shoulders and complete upper body, just take support from a firm surface and lift your complete body with the force of your hands. This needs to be done a couple of times at some regular intervals. All you need to do is to make a routine that whenever you leave your seat, maybe for a restroom or pantry, you have to do this exercise, and through this way, you can easily target 5-8 sets of healthy exercise.
Stretching your arms: Stretching is something that keeps you looking young and energetic, a lot many people spend huge amounts of money on Yoga classes and other stretching circuits, stretching is a simple exercise that requires complete muscle movement. Starting from the wrist to the forearm, shoulders, and upper body, everything needs to be stretched in different directions after long hours of sitting. Moving your wrist, and making fists and neck move often keeps you away from muscle strains.
According to the latest study published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Obesity (3), investigators suggested that utilizing only 5% of the daily time (equivalent to 48 minutes in a 16-hours of awake cycle) can improve the physical health many folds. Additionally, if you are able to incorporate desk exercises during work hours, the risk of serious health issues such as atherosclerosis, deep venous thrombosis, diabetes type II, and stroke can be reduced several folds.
References:
- Tremblay, M. S., Colley, R. C., Saunders, T. J., Healy, G. N., & Owen, N. (2010). Physiological and health implications of a sedentary lifestyle. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 35(6), 725-740.
- Tremblay, M. S., Colley, R. C., Saunders, T. J., Healy, G. N., & Owen, N. (2010). Physiological and health implications of a sedentary lifestyle. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 35(6), 725-740.
- Kozey-Keadle, S., Libertine, A., Staudenmayer, J., & Freedson, P. (2011). The feasibility of reducing and measuring sedentary time among overweight, non-exercising office workers. Journal of obesity, 2012.