Finding time to exercise
Do you feel like you never have time to hit the gym or set aside time to exercise? A little bit of exercise can go a long way if you make it a daily habit. A gap between meetings, a natural pause between tasks, or a lunch break is all excellent times to do an exercise or two. You’ll feel better, get stronger and maybe even focus better. Here are five office-friendly exercises you can do daily.
The following exercises can be performed with little time and space and do not require equipment.
1. Standing Leg Raises
Stand with your hands on your desk or chair. While keeping your trunk upright, lift your leg out to the side, keeping your toes pointed forward. Slowly lower your leg. Perform this movement 10-20x, then switch sides to strengthen the hips.
2. Abdominal Rocking
Draw your belly button in towards your spine and contract your abdominals without holding your breath. Slowly rock forward maintaining the abdominal muscle contraction through the entire motion. Use your abdominals to pull yourself back to the starting position. Repeat this but lean backward.
3. Shoulder Blade Squeezes
Sit upright with your shoulder blades drawn back and arms relaxed. Squeeze your shoulder blades together, hold for 3 seconds, and release. Repeat 10-20x.
4. Ankle Pumps
Sit with your heels on the ground and your toes pointed up. Quickly move your ankles up and down 20-30x. This increases blood flow in the legs.
5. Heel Raises
Stand up on your toes. Slowly lower your heels back down to the ground. Repeat 20x. For an extra challenge, perform this one on foot at a time.
Give these five office friendly exercises a try. As you see from the images, they are easy to do, even with limited space and time. If you are looking for additional exercises to add to your routine, schedule an appointment with any of our skilled Physical Therapists.