If you sit at a desk or computer all day as an office worker, you need to start incorporating exercise into you daily life.
You need to start doing things like office stretches, desk based exercises, and figure out how to make exercise a part of your desk worker lifestyle
The fact is, a lack of exercise is worse for your health than smoking, heart disease and diabetes!
We all know exercise is great for your body, but one study takes it a step further.
The JAMA Network Open Journal lets you know that a life without exercise is actually worse for your health than smoking, diabetes and heart disease.
Moreover, the risk for colon, lung and endometrial cancer skyrockets according to a study done by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Not only that, someone that’s overweight and leads a sedentary lifestyle is often affected by:
- Poor mood
- Poor memory and brain health
- High blood sugar
- Poor sex life
- Dysfunctional relationships
A sedentary lifestyle should be avoided at all costs! How many relatives have you lost or are currently suffering from a preventable disease? A friend of mine with 2 young children just had a stroke in his 30’s! He refuses to exercise!
And don’t think it can’t happen to you because if you don’t make exercise part or your daily lifestyle, it will catch up to you, often sooner than later.
Not to mention, if you’re not exercising you’re also missing out on:
- An increase in energy levels
- Better muscle and bone health
- Added fat loss
- Enhanced relaxation and sleep
- More happiness
If that’s not bad enough, our lack of exercise is hitting our pocket books. Internationally, the economic burden of physical inactivity in 2013 accounted for more than 53 billion dollars in added health-care costs, according to a study by The Lancet (2016).
So what can and should you do to add exercise to your life as a office, computer, or desk worker?
Just lead a more active lifestyle throughout the workday! This means making better decisions. Plan your day in a way that forces you to exercise even when your body or mind doesn’t want to.
Here are:
5 Exercises for Office Workers Who Use a Computer
Step 1: Take the stairs instead of the elevator
The first exercise for an office worker can be done by simply taking the stairs instead of the elevator. When you’re walking from the parking lot to your office do you jet straight for the elevator? Just think of how many trips on the elevator you could be eliminating and adding 50 more steps to your daily total.
Are you using the restroom on the same floor? Here is another good opportunity to take the stairs and add a little exercise to your day.
With all this walking, you should be aiming for at least 10,000 steps per day. One study says that walking 10,000 steps a day is just as effective as doing 5-30 minute workouts a week.
Step 2: Park far away and log some added steps
Are you sitting in the parking lot at the mall waiting for someone to get in their car so you can get that elusive front row spot? Go for the spot farthest away from the door, I guarantee it’s available! Again, anything we can do get to 10,000 steps per day should be incorporated into your daily routine.
Step 3: Do a quick workout before work, over lunch or after work
Do you have 15 minutes before work, over lunch, or after work? Of course you do. The average American watches over 4 hours of television a day! If you can’t trade in 15 minutes of “The Bachelor” to get your 15 minute workout in, then it’s time to start reassessing your life. Heck, workout during “The Bachelor”! There’s really no excuse.
Click HERE for more information how to get a quick workout in.
Step 4: Stand/Walk at your desk
Are you getting to work and plopping down in your chair for 8 hours a day? Don’t miss this opportunity to add some standing or extra steps into your day.
Sitting is one of the worst things you can do for your body. Sitting affects your posture, promotes carpal tunnel, and makes your body susceptible to diseases and a shorter lifespan.
Get a standing desk, mini treadmill, or anything to promote movement while you spend your 8 hours staring at a screen.
If you’re serious about exercising more during the work day, check out my article ->> The 10 Best Pieces of Exercise Equipment You Need for Your Office Cubicle
Step 5: Take a walk every evening
Back in the day, both my sets of grandparents worked on a farm, so there was no lack of walking. If you don’t live on a farm, you need to add walking to your evening schedule. Walk around the lake, listen to music, and take the dogs for a walk. Mix it up, keep it fresh. Your body will thank you.
Make these steps a priority in your life to get your health headed in a positive direction.
But for the people that want the best results, the previously mentioned JAMA study encourages these people to maintain a high level of fitness. Even more so, “Extreme cardio-respiratory fitness was associated with the lowest risk-adjusted all-cause mortality compared with all other performance groups.” Therefore, the more fit you are, the more preventative you become towards disease and certain cancers, and the more health benefits you will receive.
Summary: These are 5 Exercises for Office Workers Who Use a Computer
It’s not hard to convince people of the positive effects exercise has on the body. It’s when you start moving and using what you’ve been taught before you’ll see positive results. Exercise, used as preventative medicine, has endless benefits.
Ben Franklin once said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
It’s as relevant today as it was years ago. What does all this tell us? Get off the couch and move and you will lose weight fast and easy! Your health (and wallet) depends on it!
What are your ways of getting some extra exercise in throughout the day? Let me know below!
