How to Work Out at the Office

Stretching gets the blood pumping and the body moving. Improving flexibility, it makes everyday tasks like lifting boxes, typing, tying shoes and manning the desk easier on the body. By strengthening muscles, tendons and ligaments, it prevents injuries. Even better, it can relieve stress, giving life to taut muscles and releasing endorphins to improve your mood.

A simple stretch to do at work is a head roll. Designed to ease the stiffness of the neck and upper back, this stretch can quickly energize and soothe your muscles. Another one to keep on hand is the triceps stretch. Take your arm, bent or straight, and push it toward the opposite shoulder. This will activate muscles of the entire arm. If you feel tension in the arm and back, interlace your fingers behind your back (palms out) and raise your arms upward. This can be done sitting or standing and will strengthen muscles of the forearm, shoulder and back. These exercises can be done from your very desk, giving you a jolt of energy when the day begins to get rough.

For those of us suffering a desk job, the closest we get to exercise is a walk to the bathroom. Not good if you're trying to lose weight or if you hope to wake up a bit. Don't worry, a quick trip down the hall can work more than just the legs. Start with stomach crunches. Yep. Crunches can be done in plain sight if you do them correctly. Simply tighten the muscles of your stomach and hold for as long as you can. As your muscles build strength, you can do repetitions, tightening your muscles for 10 seconds, relaxing for 2-3 seconds, and repeating. It's harder than you would think. This exercise will firm the stomach and strengthen its muscles. Do them with your back straight.

Another muscle you can work at the office is the glutes. Whether walking or sitting, these muscles can be whipped into shape with minimal effort. Much like the abs, the gluteal muscles are able to be worked anywhere- sitting or standing. Simply squeeze and hold. The exercise is more effective when walking because you can switch tension between steps to activate muscles of the calf and thigh instead of focusing solely on the butt. If your office/department has a level of incline that you constantly avoid, like the wheelchair ramp, stairs or main entrance to the cafeteria, take it. Incline also works muscles of the upper leg and gluteal muscles.

Last, but not least, is walking. 30 minutes a day can make a dramatic difference in your health, reducing high blood pressure, cholesterol and the risk of coronary disease while improving your mood. So, park further away in the parking lot and use lunch time to its full advantage. Try splitting the time in half, 30 minutes to eat and 30 minutes to walk outside. (If you have a shorter lunch period, try exercising 5 minutes before lunch, that way a microwave is open when you return.)