Keeping Fit While You Work

Most of us go to our work place 5 days a week at least and spend 8 to 9 hours there; this article is aimed at those of us who spend those 8 - 9 hours at a computer or desk, just sitting. What can we do to help our fitness while we work?

After a very short time you find yourself slumped down in your chair - your back curved, most likely your legs if not crossed at the knees will be crossed at the feet. Your tummy will be relaxed and bulging out as it wasn't intended to be. Even if you have no tummy, most of us sit with the abdominal muscles relaxed. To make things worse your shoulders are probably hunched over and slightly tensed upwards. This happens after a very short time sitting at a desk. With this posture your body will become very tired, your productivity will decrease and basically you'll feel lethargic.

There are a few things we can do to correct this:

When you sit at your desk, try to sit up tall, push your shoulders down, pull your chair in and push your bottom to the back of the chair so that your back and your legs are supported.

Sit with your feet on the floor (both of them) and if you are vertically challenged like me, get a foot rest so that you can have both feet flat in front of you.

If you are working at a computer most of the day, make sure the monitor is at the correct height. It should be placed so that you do not need to tilt your head either up or down. Your eyes should be level with the top half of the monitor.

Now for the big one! Your tummy muscles are your core muscles and you should make a conscious effort to hold your tummy in, and this is how to do it. Sit down; now pull your tummy in as hard as you can and hold. Now slowly release halfway then a little more to about 30%. This is the position you should try to maintain most of the time. If you practice this you will increase your core strength. You will have better posture and a flatter tummy and believe it or not, "no sit ups required". This is the hardest thing to do all day, but make an effort to think about it every hour or so. Eventually your body will do it naturally. While you are getting in the swing of it put a reminder in your calendar to pop up and remind you on the hour.

I know that we all get busy sometimes and forget to get up to have breaks, but you are not helping yourself by doing that. Get up, walk around the desk and go get a drink of water. This will get your circulation going as sitting will sometimes make your blood pool in your legs. There are health issues with this (Blood clots more common in middle age workers) and while you are up, do a couple of simple stretches. Stretch your arms in front of you as far as you can, then to the back, remembering to keep the shoulders down. Don't let them creep up. Stand with your legs at hip width and do gently twists from one side to the other, keeping your hips facing the front.

If you feel silly and you think your workmates will have a go at you if you start stretching, try this - sit up straight, push your shoulders down and hold them for the count 5, then release them. Do that 6 times and now push them back and hold for the count of 5, doing it 6 times. To get your legs going again, sit tall, hold you tummy in, feet flat on the floor and now raise your heels of the floor and stretch up, keeping toes on the floor, hold for the count of 5 and put heels back to floor, doing it 6 times. Now do the opposite, keeping your heels on the floor, pull your toes back and hold for the count of 5. Release them back to the floor and do this 6 times.

Don't forget to give your neck at bit of a stretch. Hold shoulders down, keep your head straight and now gently roll it to one side. If you are rolling to the left, make sure that your right shoulder does not come up. Hold it down and keep the stretch going for the count of 5 and release slowly, doing 6 to each side. To give your wrist and hands a bit of a break, get a stress ball and give it a half a dozen squeezes every so often. Do some wrist rotations holding your arm still and rotate your hands in each direction.

During your lunch break take a walk or go up and down the stair well. Many big companies now realise the importance of exercise and have added gyms to the workplace. "We just have to use them"! My recommendation would be that you earned points if you used the gym and a number of points entitled you to some sort of reward. Encourage staff to be fit as in the end the company benefits' with greater productivity. Healthier staff means less sick days and a happy environment!

Teresa owns a leading car rental website. She knows the importance of keeping healthy and fit even when you are working. http://www.webbcarr.com

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