Stay healthy while busy at work

I was so amused when I saw a colleague doing some exercises at her desk a few days ago.  Looking at her, at first, I thought she was looking for something underneath her table, but again I saw some movements and I thought it was very funny. I moved closer to her office and stood there to take a look.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

I was so amused when I saw a colleague doing some exercises at her desk a few days ago.  Looking at her, at first, I thought she was looking for something underneath her table, but again I saw some movements and I thought it was very funny. I moved closer to her office and stood there to take a look.She did not buge, she continued doing her thing until she finished and looked up at me, smiled and explained. It so happens that we are now so busy at our work places, that we start work early and finish very late, making it almost impossible for one to move from one workstation to the other.Some people, do not even go for lunch, but instead opt to have their lunch on their desks. This according to health experts is very dangerous. We are endangering our lives without knowing it.Did you know? Four hours of inactivity can seriously send your metabolism levels to an all time low. If you think that a 30 minute walk every day is enough cardio activity in a week to maintain your metabolism, you are wrong! Yes, I was surprised too when my colleague said this.The mathematics of this is that when you perform any cardio activity, it elevates your metabolism rate for a span of time, but not the entire day. Because, the rest of the day you are sitting on your chair without much activity. So, the short distances you walk from your house to get to the office is not enough.What you need to do to keep yourself from piling on the weight is that, you need to keep your metabolism rate high all day long. For that, you need to break the no physical activity routine from 9 to 5 by exercising while sitting at your desk!It might sound funny, but it is doable.Stretching your body is very important. When you get to the office, make a habit of standing up at least every other hour. While doing this, it is important to rotate you neck and stretch every muscle in it. Shoulders too should be rotated backward and forward.Hands and legs are the most overworked, the hands are typing or writing the whole day. Putting them together in front of you, make a grip and stretch them can do wonders. The ankles should be rotated in clockwise and anti-clockwise directions so that they do not stiff out in the same position the whole day.Some people might be shy in doing these at work place, but if you can; just stand in front of your computer, push your chair keep your feet apart in alignment with your shoulders, place your hands parallel to the floor, take a deep breath and suck your stomach in, rise on your heels while you continue to breath. Bend your knees slowly as you squat towards the chair behind you. Just before you are almost about to sit on the chair, stop. Hold for 10 seconds and feel the contraction in your hamstrings. Now, exhale as you go back to the standing position, repeat this ten times.There are so many other small exercises that one can do in the office, which do not require a lot of movement. It should be known that sitting at your desk for more than 23 hours a week puts you at a higher risk of a heart disease than your counterparts who sit for less than 11 hours a week. Break that body rhythm of inactivity with office exercises while sitting at your desk for a healthier you.