The typical American adult spends most of their waking hours at work. If you’re one of the many millions chained to a desk for 8+ hours per day, you know it can be a challenge to “fit” fitness into your schedule. Unfortunately, research has shown how sitting for extended periods is detrimental to your health. Luckily, we have some handy hacks for ways to stay active, even if you have an office job where you sit all day long.
Try some of these techniques for staying active during the workday:
- Walk or bike to work: If you live close enough to the office, consider walking or biking to work. Even if you opt for walking to public transportation stops to take the bus or train, it is beneficial to get those extra steps into your day. Not to mention, it is more environmentally-friendly to walk or take public transportation than drive yourself to work. Plus, it can help you burn some calories and energize your mind before you even get to the office.
- Stretch: Stand up twice every hour to stretch your chest, extend your spine, and reverse a hunched seated position. This can also help reduce back and neck pain and help energize your body and mind. If you need help coming up with stretches or you need specific stretches to cater to an injury or medical condition, a skilled physical therapist can help you come up with a customized stretching plan.
- Take every opportunity to get up from your desk: Do you frequently send intraoffice emails to a coworker in short walking distance from your desk? Pretend you’re working in the ‘90s or earlier, back when email and instant messaging wasn’t around. Consider getting up and walking over to them when you can. Do you take a lot of phone calls during the day? Ask for a headset so you can walk and talk on the phone at the same time.
- Take the stairs instead of the elevator: If you work in an office with more than one floor, opt to take the stairs for added daily activity. Start with walking upstairs for at least a floor or two, then add another once it gets easier. You can even go up and down the stairs over your lunch or other breaks to get moving during the day.
- Use a standing desk: If possible, stand up at your desk. Because standing uses more muscles and burns more calories than sitting, it can be great both for your back and posture.
- Bring your exercise clothes to work: It can help motivate you if you bring a gym bag to work to get in a workout at the end of the workday.
Still need help? Contact our highly-qualified physical therapists online or call at (732) 812-5200. You can also schedule your appointment online.