Sitting at a desk for eight hours a day (or even more) might seem easy, but it can end up doing a lot of harm to your body. Being sedentary for so long each day isn’t healthy for anyone, but it often feels like you have no choice. If you work a desk job, you have no choice but to sit at your desk for most of the day. Fortunately, there are plenty of different ways to get some exercise right at your desk.
Desk exercises are great for anyone to do while they’re in the office, but you can also do them from your desk at home. As more people make the change to working from home, it’s important to remember to take breaks and desk exercises are a great way of taking a couple of minutes to recharge before you’re ready to get back to work.
If you’re looking to live a more active lifestyle, check out these 10 desk exercises you can do at home.
Walk In Place
One of the best ways to get some light exercise is to simply walk in place at your desk. Set a reminder for yourself to take a break every now and then to stand up at your desk and just walk in place, or maybe even run if you’re feeling up to it. This is even easier for those with standing desks, as you can squeeze this in while still doing work to stay active longer.
Lift Your Water Bottles
To get some arm workouts in at your desk, use water bottles as weights and spend some time lifting. By doing this, you can do whatever free weight exercises you prefer without having to leave your desk chair. You aren’t limited to just water bottles, either. If you take a look around your home, you’ll probably find multiple different objects you can use, like books or reams of paper.
Tricep Dips
Another great way to work out your arms is with tricep dips. If you have a steady desk or a chair without wheels, this is easy to do right from your workspace at home. All you have to do is place your hands on the seat of your chair with your fingers facing forward. Then, lower yourself down and make sure your elbows are facing back while doing it.
Seated Leg Raises
For seated leg raíses, you don’t even have to stop working to exercise. All you have to do for seated leg raises is stay seated and raise your legs out straight in front of you and then carefully lower them back down and repeat. You can do this one leg at a time or raise them both together.
Carpal Tunnel Stretches
When you’re seated for long periods of time, it’s important to mix some stretches into your desk workout. Carpal tunnel is something many people who work on a computer worry about developing, but doing a simple stretch can help prevent it and make you feel ready to get back to typing. Extend your arm out in front of you with your palm facing out and gently bend your wrist back until you feel a stretch in your forearm. Follow this up by doing the same stretch, but with your palm facing toward you.
Oblique Twists
You might not think that you can get an ab workout in while sitting down, but it is possible. If you have a desk chair that swivels, you can use that to quickly exercise your abs. While you lightly hold on to the edge of your desk and hover your feet slightly above the floor, use your abs muscles to turn your body from side to side.
Chair Squats
Chair squats are very similar to the regular squats you would do working out. First, stand up at your desk and place your weight on your heels. Next, lower down your lower body as if you were going to sit at your desk chair, but stop yourself so that you only hover slightly above it, then bring yourself back up and repeat. Of course, you could also do regular squats and many other variations at your desk.
Calf Raises
You can do calf raíces while taking a break from your work, while you’re on a call, or when doing your work like normal if you have a standing desk. All you have to do is stand up and raise yourself onto your toes so that you lift your heels off the floor and then gently lower yourself back down and repeat. You can also hold onto your desk or the back of your chair for support if you need it.
Seated Bicycle Crunches
Seated bicycle crunches are another great ab exercise to do from your desk. While you’re seated at your desk, bring your arms up behind your head and keep your feet planted flat on the ground. Next, bring one knee up and twist your body so that you bring the opposite elbow down to meet it and continue to switch sides.
Chest Stretch
Sometimes, the best thing you can do for yourself while working from home is just to take some time to stretch and breathe. To do a chest stretch at your desk, hold your hands together behind your back, pulling them as far back as you can, push your chest out and hold your head up high.
Schedule a Visit With a Physical Therapist
If working from home is causing you pain, it might be beneficial to see a physical therapist. Long hours working at a desk can lead to some serious problems that we can help prevent and treat at Cawley Physical Therapy. Schedule an appointment with us to get treatment for any pain you’ve experienced while working from home.
