Want to keep fit and healthy at work?
Working a regular 9-5 job and juggling a hectic social life doesn’t give you much time to squeeze in exercise.
The issue is, maintaining a good work-life balance and keeping in shape helps keep you continue functioning and performing well in your career.
So, what’s the solution?
While I can’t magic up more hours in the day or work as a constant source of caffeine to keep you energised, I can give you some top tips to keep fit in the workplace.
Some conventional and others less so.
Either way, these solutions don’t chew into your working day and can make a major difference in the long-term.
Utilise your journey
If you’re one of the millions of people who commute to work via public transport, start using this time to get physical!
Where possible, swap a car, bus or train for a bike.
Or if you’re feeling brave, run to work.
If your workplace doesn’t have showers, run home instead.
Simply invest in a durable rucksack, get changed after work and run home with it on.
There are other little cheats you can implement into your daily routine too.
For example, if you do drive in, park right at the back of the car park so you have to walk further.
Or if you’re catching the tube or train, get off one stop early and walk the rest of the way.
Take the stairs
You’ll be surprised by how many calories you can burn by switching the elevator for a long walk up and down the stairs.
As the old adage goes ‘There is no elevator to success. You have to take the stairs.’
The same principle applies when you’re nipping out for lunch.
If all of the local eateries are in the centre of town, park your car at the top of the car park and take the steps.
Buddy up
Trying to motivate yourself to do exercise at lunch when some clown is doing a McDonald’s run is bloody impossible.
So, involve your pals with your new love of keeping fit.
Having someone there will allow you both to motivate each other.
Get outside and walk, go for a few lengths at the local swimming pool or pump some iron at the gym.
You could even go one step further and set-up a lunch club consisting of yoga, running and circuit classes.
(It may earn you a few extra brownie points with your boss too!)
Drink more H2O
Make a point of filling up your bottle every hour as it gets you up off your bum and it will encourage you to drink more water.
In turn, this will require you to take more toilet breaks (extra walking).
Drinking water has also been found to help keep people energised as well.
So, if you were struggling to incorporate an extra gym session or run at the end of the day, this should keep you focused.
Pro recruiter top tip
It’s all well and good doing your work exercises.
However, if you’re a sucker for the office biscuit tin, you’re going to undo all of your hard efforts.
Healthy eating is incredibly important if you want to swap flab for abs.
As we mentioned in our previous blog about being healthy at work, eating clean doesn’t have to be boring.
The SnackNation blog highlighted this with these cool insights:
- 39 Healthy Office Breakfast Ideas
- 121 Delicious Healthy Snacks For Every Type of Snacker
- 35 Quick and Healthy Breakfast Ideas For Busy People (Most take less than 5 minutes to prepare)
- 45 Healthier Office Party Snacks & Drinks
Implement exercise into your work successes and failures
Like challenges? Then why not up the ante?
Every time you fail to land a prospect, miss a phone call or make any other mishaps, do five press-ups, sit-ups or star jumps.
If you can get the rest of your team to buy into this idea, it can become a lot of fun.
Similarly, when something positive happens at work, you have the power to dish out these exercises.
It can do wonders for productivity as well – especially if you’re competitive.
The cynics among you might call this ‘punishment’, but I’d rather call it an incentive and a way of building work culture.
Desk exercises
Granted, no signs for originality here.
But desk exercises work and can make a difference when you’re trying to stay fit and active.
Some of my personal favourites include:
Seated leg lifts
Engage your muscles by straightening your legs, holding them when they’re in line with your hip for a few seconds and return.
Desk press-ups
With your feet flat on the ground and a gap from your desk, lean forward and put your hands on the edge of the desk. Keeping your body straight, lower yourself by slowly bending your elbows, then pushing back. This will engage your arms and core.
Bum clenches
Sit up straight at your desk, clench your bum for a few seconds and release. (These aren’t the best if you’ve had a few too many fizzy drinks before!)
Thigh squeezes
Sit up straight and place a ream of printer paper between your legs. Squeeze your knees and legs together, holding for up to a minute.
An early morning HIIT workout
A HIIT (high-intensity interval training) workout is one of the most effective ways to burn calories.
Not only does it work its magic during the workout, but you’ll also be shedding throughout the day.
In fact, morning exercise has been found to burn more calories than in the evening.
So, if you pair that with the lasting effects associated with HIIT workouts, you’re onto a winner.
The good news is that they can be done at home in around 15-20 minutes.
You don’t even have to bother using one of those dreadful ‘celebrity’ DVD ones, as you can find loads of different options on YouTube – including Joe Wicks.
Ultimately
The short time it takes to do one of these workouts makes these a lot more manageable if you’re in a rush in the morning.
So, cut the excuses and get those flabs turned into abs.
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