Staying Active while Seated

by Molly Rausch Certified Personal Trainer and Certified Athletic Trainer

Hello everyone! This week’s “Fitness Tip of the Week” is about staying active at your desk! We all know the importance of exercise and living a healthy lifestyle, yet many of us spend a majority of our days being inactive. Long days sitting for class or working at our desks increase the amount we sit more than ever before. On average, it has been reported that people sit almost 12 hours a day! Although exercising regularly helps, it can’t undo the effects of all that sitting. Our bodies are made to move, which is why physical inactivity causes serious health issues. Long periods of inactivity causes your metabolism to slow down leaving you feeling tired and makes it harder to burn off calories. Sitting is also the hardest position for your back to be in. Now, all this doesn’t mean you need to be doing an intense workout multiple times a day, but little things make a big difference.

Tips on Getting Active While Working from Home

Remember, little things throughout your day can make a huge difference. I know it’s not always possible, but try these times as often as you are able:

1. Get up and walk around every 30 minutes
   • You don’t have to go for long walk or anything. It’s breaking up the periods of sitting that is important! Get up, move around, refocus. That’s all you need to do.
2. Take the stairs
   • If you live in an apartment building or multilevel house, use those stairs to move more. You can use the stairs during your break to up the intensity before settling back at your desk.
3. Don’t get lunch at your desk
   • Tons of people are guilty of eating lunch/meals at their desk to get a little more work done. Breaking up your day a little to walk during lunch and/or bring it to a different location helps break up that sitting time a little bit more

Exercise to do at your desk

If you are really in a bind and are unable to get up and move more throughout your day, try a few of these exercises to get your body moving more frequently:

1. Stretch at your desk
   • There are a ton of chair yoga stretches that can easily be done at your desk. Doing spinal twists, pigeon stretch, chest and neck stretches, forward bend are all great ways to move a little without leaving your desk
2. Sit on an exercise ball
   • It can help with posture and engages your core more throughout the day. Stability exercises like bird dogs, back extensions, or bridges can then be done on that ball when you need a break from sitting. Just remember: no slouching!
3. Move those legs
   • Straight leg raises, toe towel crunches, and flutter kicks are all ways to get your legs moving without even standing up. Be creative and move those legs.

If you have any questions on this topic, please feel free to contact me at mrausch@healthworksfitness.com or comment below!