Tips to improve your fitness during Work Hours

13-09-2017 | Posted By: Chhavi | 4118 View(s)

Yesterday I woke up with a sprain in my back. I had to struggle just to get out of my bed and start my morning chores. When I did reach my office, I echoed my frustrations to my colleagues, and I could see the instant sense of recognition in the opinions they voiced to me and the many lectures on how to improve your fitness during work hours. Even, they have had mornings like these, ‘A by-product of sitting long hours in your office chairs’ they told me.

I only recently transitioned from student life to work life and never had such displeasures before. My daily schedule was never so geographically confined to a single chair, and I had plenty of time to get some necessary exercise for my body.

This is actually a story lived by a lot of people who have to go to the office every day. You never have enough time for exercise, do you?

Yes I know, you have to make time for your health and define your priorities rightly, but the truth is work often takes the central role in a dedicated professional’s life, and it is not always possible to prioritize your health over it.

So, determined to get my fitness back on track, I fired up my computer and googled for “ Tips to improve your fitness during work hours ”, to spare me from back problems and any further headaches. The mighty Google did come to my rescue, but unfortunately, most of the tips listed there were simply not possible for me to practice in my office space.

I tried to modify these suggestions to suit my needs and have listed the tips I found the most effective below for you. These tips may or may not be feasible for you based on your office environment, so I suggest you select the ones you feel would be the most helpful to you and those which wouldn’t embarrass you in front of your colleagues.

Instead of getting a Standing Desk, stand more often. Secret tip – Use your phone’s timer.

Sitting for long durations can lead to posture problems and obesity and various other discomforts, all of which I cannot list down here. You can Google it and you’ll find thousands of articles warning you to not sit for too long on your office chairs.

Naturally, ‘Standing desks’ were one of the first suggestions listed in my search results. However, I couldn’t imagine getting one of those desks in my office. For starters, they required a little infrastructural investment on my part. Secondly, everyone in my office would just keep staring at me, shifting my focus from my work.

One day, I hope such desks become a staple in every office, but for now, we can make do with our phone’s timer. Put a timer on your phone that will go off every hour. Whenever it goes off, get up and walk for two minutes. You can go for a coffee break or to look at the view outside your window or fill your water bottle. This may not be a substitute for standing desks, but it is certainly less embarrassing.

Instead of ditching your car and cycling to work, park your vehicle at some distance from your office.

Regular walking strengthens your heart and reduces the risks of cardiovascular diseases.
I realised, in the two months, when I changed my commute from my college to my current office, I have substantially reduced my walking distance to almost negligible.

Walk

The only distance I cover on my feet was from my home to my car and my car to my office. I tried going for morning walks, but I found myself often skipping days on account of me feeling the need to get those extra few minutes of morning sleep. Also, if your daily commute is more than 5 km, cycling to work doesn’t look like a feasible solution as well.

So, I started to park my car at a nearby park and then walk the rest of the way. Make sure the distance is significant enough, but not so long that you get late for work. I recommend that you select a distance which allows you to walk for 10 mins at least each day. This way as your walking speed increases, you can increase the distance gradually too.

Go out During Lunch Breaks.

If the previous solution isn’t practical enough for you; you can always go out for a walk during lunch breaks. Most companies give an hour for lunch, which employees after eating their meal, spend talking with colleagues or doing some other activity to take their mind off work.

Instead, after eating lunch, you can go for a walk and motivate your colleagues to accompany you too, so that you don’t miss out on the bonding time.
If you don’t have any parks near your office, you can always circle your office space. A good 20 min walk will help you get your mind fresh.

Avoid your Canteen’s Junk Food.

In my office, we don’t have a canteen, but there is still plenty of junk food stashed in the cabinets for us to munch on. Sometimes while working, I have to face a stressful situation, and in such cases, I often turn to these cabinets and eat a few chips and biscuits. Yes, a few chips don’t seem harmful at first, but munching every day can never be good for health.
If your offices are also stuffed with such junk foods or if the canteen in your office often serves unhealthy food, try and avoid eating them. Instead, bring green salads in your lunch boxes. Okay, maybe that is stretching it a bit, I take my words back. Instead, try and bring healthier food in your lunch boxes, and maybe something to bite when you feel like having a snack.

Drink plenty of water.

Drinking water promotes weight loss and flushes out the harmful toxins in your body. An average male should drink 3 litres of water every day. This is actually easier to keep track of when you are in your office. Keep a 1-litre bottle on your desk and make sure to at least empty it twice in a day and you should be comfortably achieving your target.

Meeting

Use Books to elevate your Computer Screens to Eye Level.

Tilting your head to look down on your screens puts pressure on your neck and your eyes. To avoid that, I use books to elevate the height of my computer screen. This is a very simple method to prevent possible muscle discomfort. If you use a laptop, you can get a cheap external keyboard and then use the same approach. I also found a useful ‘20-20-20 rule’ on the internet to protect one’s eyesight– “looking away from your screen after every 20 minutes for 20 seconds and focusing on a fixed point 20 feet away. ”

Doing a few Stretches while sitting wouldn’t harm you

Every once in awhile, when you are working, spare a few minutes to do a few simple stretches. Stretching increases the flow of blood and circulation for a healthier body and directs oxygen to your brain for a clearer mind and improves your mood.

Hope These Tips to improve your fitness during Work hours do not become a substitute for regular workouts, but when you don’t have enough time for a workout, following these useful tips can help you maintain your fitness level. Go now, do something to improve your health and mark my words it will go a long long way in having a Healthy and Happy Life cutting down on your need to visit the Doctor for Health-related issues.