Desk-side Fitness

June 12 by | 29 comments | Lifehack, Lifestyle | Tags: , , ,

I’ve got health and fitness on the brain because of a fitness challenge I’m hosting in my own stuff, so I was thinking about ways to get some more fitness into my cubicle-bound day job. Here’s what I’ve got.

  • Rebuild Your Cube – Some offices are cool with cubicle mods, and others get crabby about it. If you’re lucky, try getting the folks in charge of cubicles to make your desk space (or part of it) into a standing configuration. You can always claim back pain and that kind of thing, but standing and fidgeting are a great way to burn more calories. It also prompts you to waste less time. I turned my computer at home into a standing configuration and found it helped me cut down on my superfluous surfing.
  • Set 25 Minute Timers – Sure, accuse me of being a lifehack Pavlov, but I think setting a timer is a great way to get you up and moving on a schedule. Try getting up and walking briskly around the building, outdoors, at least back and forth to the water cooler. We tend to process at peak capabilities for only 25-40 minutes at a stretch. Use this natural rhythm to your advantage, and for your fitness.
  • Stretch Periodically – No, don’t necessarily do full-on YOGA at your desk, but get up, stretch your hands over your head, roll your neck backwards and frontwards, give your eyes a break from the monitor, try bending at the waist and letting your back muscles unfurl a little. Give yourself every chance to remain flexible throughout the course of a day.
  • Walk at Lunch and in the Afternoon – Schedule in your calendar of choice a 20 or 30 minute walk both at lunch time and again somewhere in the afternoon. Sure, you’re doing this on company time, but it’s also going to help your productivity. If you can’t get away for that long, even a few brisk 10 minute walks will give you some health benefits.
  • Refill Your Water Bottle – Good health suggests drinking your bodyweight divided by two in ounces every day (a 150 pound person needs 75 ounces of fluid a day). Drinking water helps with flexibility of your tissue, recovery from exercise, filling your stomach a bit, processing fats, and drinking more water/fluid requires you to visit the bathroom more often, which will burn a fistful more calories.

Those are the top 5 that came to mind for me. What are your best office-side fitness tips? Comment liberally!

– Chris Brogan just started a 12 Week Fitness Challenge for one of his podcast projects. Check it out and sign up.

Chris Brogan writes about self-improvement and creativity at [chrisbrogan.com]

  • http://rmjacobsen.squarespace.com Roy Jacobsen

    I’m not trying to rain on the parade here, but the “drink more water” thing is, as far as I can see, a meme with no solid basis. Can you cite anything authoritative for that formula, or for the oft-cited “drink 8 glasses of water every day?”

    Granted, water is better for you than a highly sugared, caffieneated, artificially-flavored-and-colored drink in a can, or a triple-shot venti latte. But fluid is fluid, whether it’s water, juice, milk, etc. Everyone says “drink [x] amount of water a day,” but I’ve never heard of any solid research backing it up.

  • http://www.lifehack.org ChrisBrogan

    Though I said “water bottle” in the bullet, I said “drinking more water/fluid” hopefully pointing out that ALL fluids were now considered okay, according to a study cited early this year (couldn’t find it googling).

    Here’s what I’ve got:

    Snopes: http://www.snopes.com/medical/myths/8glasses.asp

    Woman’s Day: http://www.womansday.com/article.asp?section_id=4&article_id=6239

    Dr Colbert:
    http://www.drcolbert.com/healthtips.html

    Colorado State U:
    http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/columnha/ha0406.html

    I also didn’t cite the 8 ounces x 8 thing, because that’s been disproved. Mind you, I couldn’t in my googling easily place my hands on the ORIGINATING documents.

  • Raquel

    Adding to the “Water is good for you,” information, here is some relevant research. In short, it shows reduced risk of coronary heart disease with higher water intake. The risk of coronary heart disease *increases* with higher intake of fluids other than water.

    Summary that appeared in Men’s Health:
    http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1608/is_9_18/ai_90683768

    Complete study:
    http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/155/9/827

  • http://openoffice.blogs.com Solveig Haugland

    One thing I’ve had luck with is hitting the stairs. It’s more intense exercise than walking so takes less time, and it’s also fun to compete with myself to improve my personal record for getting to the ninth floor.

    Oh, and hi again, Roy! ;>

  • http://www.davidbrunelle.com David Brunelle

    I find always using the rest rooms, and break rooms on other floors to be a great way of getting some extra steps in. Also, avoid the elevator at all costs.

    If you’re going down a floor or two every time you have to use the bathroom (and if you’re drinking lots of water it will be often) you’ll get to burn plenty of extra calories throughout the day.

  • EmilyH

    I get up and walk once an hour or so for five minutes (depending on how busy I am). It gets me away from the computer. Also, my office has stairs and no elevator, which helps.

  • http://rmjacobsen.squarespace.com Roy Jacobsen

    Hey Solveig,
    Fancy meeting you here!

    Just to continue my wet-blanket routine, here’s something on the dangers of too much water:
    “…drinking too much water during periods of exertion can flush your body of sodium and lead to hyponatremia, or “water intoxication” — a condition where the sodium-starved brain swells against the skull until nausea, weakness, seizures and in extreme cases coma and death ensue. And potassium deficiency (hypokalemia) is even worse.

    Don’t think it doesn’t happen. In 2002, a pair of female runners perished of the syndrome following marathon races because they drank too much liquid during their runs. And according to a recent Associated Press article, officials at last year’s Houston Marathon cut in half the number of water stops along the way. Why? Because the past few years have seen a DRAMATIC INCREASE in the number of hyponatremia cases trickling into medical tents at the finish line. According to the piece, runners were incensed at the decision — yet fewer of them ended up with the condition this year than in years past.” (http://www.realhealthnews.com/dailydose/dd200501/dd20050121.html)

    In short, don’t get carried away with the water.

  • http://www.chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan…

    Good point. All you marathonners, keep your potassium and sodium levels up.

    The rest of you desk-bound folks, drink NO MORE THAN your bodyweight divided by two in ounces (or some similar amount) of FLUID (coffee / sodee pop / water / diet lemonade).

  • Megan

    Okay, now I’m confused. Of the 4 articles Chris listed above, 2 (Snopes and Colorado State U) say drinking 8 x 8 glasses of water (or fluid) is a myth and most healthy adults don’t need that much water. However, in the Woman’s Day and Dr Colbert articles, they suggest the “half body weight in pounds = ounces to drink”. If I’m 150 pounds, that means I should be drinking 75 ounces of fluid, which is more than the 8×8=64 ounces of water that Snopes and CSU are saying NOT to drink.

  • http://www.chrisbrogan.com ChrisBrogan

    But because I weigh around 250, I need more like 128 ounces. So your weight just so happens to match the recommendation, but that’s the rub: the 8×8 recommendation was an average based on the average weight of a female in their 30s or some such.

    bodyweight/2 makes it scalable.

  • hundredflowers

    the whole drinking water thing is reccommended by a lot of occupational health folks because being hydrated is healthy, yes, but also its a hack to combat getting stuck at your desk for too long.

    your bladder acts as a natural, free alarm clock that gets you up and away from your desk on a little walk on a regular basis.

  • http://thecontemporarytaoist.blogspot.com Moose

    I do ‘hand-yoga’ to combat mouse-itis (sore mouse hand) and a little stretching to stay awake. Roll the shoulders, stretch your arms, roll the neck, put my ankles behind my ears … kidding :)

    Be careful with the neck rolling.

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  • Brian Emerson

    Just another suggestion to add on to the cubicle workout-try using bands with handles. Place them under the chair and do military presses, ab curls, lateral arm raises, etc. It’s a great way to build some strength. Good Luck!

  • silvara

    hi there. one of the things that i do in the office is squats or plies every 1 hour. Around 10 to start off. Also desk pushups are somewhat good. But it depends on the type of desk one has. I have found this to help alot with the leg muscles. Good luck!!

  • Mark Girven

    I have joined an online gym which streams aerobic and stretching exercise to your PC. There are some good stretching classes there which I have used at work.It may be of use to you
    http://www.e-gymonline.com

  • http://fitnessblogonline.com/ Erin

    Water reduces the risk of kidney stones, maintains skin healthy, help digestion and carries essential nutrients to our body cells. Drinking at least eight glasses of water daily should be a regular part of our daily life.

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  • http://www.goldflaxseed.com flixter

    I like this deskside fitness routine. Now there is really no excuse not to do some stretching or brisk walking despite a full time deskjob. Probably taking flaxseed

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  • http://www.centralpennbusiness.com/ CPBJ

    I have used some of these tips and they worked pretty well for me. I am glad I stumbled onto this

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  • Fred

    How about using a treadmill desk all day? I found the TrekDesk to be the most interesting product in this category. Found it at http://www.trekdesk.com. Keep active and get your work done at the same time.

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  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=539475143 Anisa Palmer

    Love this info…