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It is a well known fact that most of us do not get enough exercise in. Especially during the week with work, family, and other priorities. After a long day at the office, the last thing we want to do is go home and change into our work out clothes. We can however, utilize some of our time spent at the office to burn a few extra calories here and there, even when we are sitting in our comfortable office chairs.
Chair exercises, if done often enough, can help with your balance, strengthen your abdomen, tone your body and keep your blood moving during the long work day. There are simple chair exercises you can in your office or cube that do not involve too much grunt work. Your office mates might look at you a little funny, but research has shown how important it is for people who sit for long periods of time to get take frequent breaks to move around. In fact a recent article in Fox News stated that “women who stay inactive at a desk for more than six hours a day are 40 percent more likely to die of heart disease or cancer.” If that does not get us up and moving, I do not know what will!
For your abdomen, a great exercise is to hold a water bottle in line with your chest, twist slowly to the left as far as you can, back to the center, then to the right again for a total of ten reps, keeping your knees and hips forward. These are called ab twists, and they are easily done in any office chair.
To work out your upper body, you can simply do a few bicep curls with the water bottle, keeping your abs in and your back straight. Curl 16 reps per arm and you will definitely start to feel the burn!
You can also get a really good quadricep burn by lifting yourself up slightly from a sitting position to a squatting position, so your legs are still parallel to the chair. Hold for 2 or 3 seconds and stand, and repeat the movement for 10 to 16 reps.
These exercises may seem a little silly at first, but for the busy, 9 to 5 worker, you would be surprised how beneficial they can be for your health!
References:
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/07/12/new-guidelines-encourage-office-fitness/
http://exercise.about.com/cs/exerciseworkouts/l/blofficeworkout.htm
