Work out at work

By Cambridgeshire Agenda on September 8th 2011

With today national ‘Workout at Work Day’, York Fitness is helping Brits to get healthy in the office by offering five simple tips they can incorporate into their daily work routine

WITH 42 per cent of adults not getting the recommended amount of exercise each week*, Workout at Work Day is part of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy’s ‘Move for Health’ campaign, which promotes ways for people to be active in their daily lives.

Tom Haynes, personal trainer and expert fitness consultant at York Fitness (http://www.yorkfitness.com/) offers five simple tips people can follow at work to help keep themselves fit and healthy.

Tear up your waste paper to recycle

Don’t use the electric shredder – next time you need to recycle documents, tear them up manually so you engage your chest, biceps and triceps muscles and burn a few more calories.  Also, you’ll be doing your bit to help reduce energy usage in the office too. 

Send your work to a printer in the office that is further away

By walking those extra few steps each time you need to print something, you are not only increasing your daily step count and getting your blood flowing, but you are also giving yourself a longer break from your computer screen. This can help to alleviate eye stress and strain as well.

Don’t make internal calls – get up and speak to people

Next time you need to speak to a colleague, get up from your desk and go over to speak to them.  Conversations face to face can help you build better relationships with your colleagues, and you’ll be giving yourself a break from your desk. A short walk can help to loosen up muscles that might be tight and sore from sitting in the same position for a long time too.

Get out of your chairs and use the stairs

If you have stairs in your office, try to take a short break from your desk once or twice a day and use them. After lunch we often get sluggish, so taking a brisk walk up and down a flight or two of stairs will help to wake you up and burn calories after lunch, invigorating you for the rest of the afternoon.

Hey Slouch – elbows off the table!

Challenge yourself today with a team member, to see who can last the longest without leaning over and putting your elbows on the desk. Why not put a forfeit in place to make it more interesting – something like the first one to crack needs to make the next tea round perhaps? To provide greater support to your back, sit upright with good posture, and keep abdominal muscles engaged and firm.

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