Stairs. Work nonstop hours at a desk? Take a mini break and do the stair master. You probably don’t have a stair master at work, but you can walk up and down the stairs a few times a day.
Squats at your desk. When no one is looking, do a few standing and sitting squats at your computer chair. Start off by standing up straight. As you’re bending down to sit, make sure your knees stay behind your toes and reach your butt back as far as you can. As you bend to sit, raise the arms straight up or towards the computer screen. This will help prevent added stress on the knees and work on the butt at the same time.
Calf raises. While you’re waiting at the copier or printer, do a few calf raises. Simply stand on your tip toes for 2-3 seconds and repeat 10-20 times.
Fist pumps. While rocking out to music at your desk, punch your fist into the air like Rocky. You should be alternating arms and continue this pattern for 60 seconds. This sounds easy but you would be surprised how quickly you can fatigue from this exercise.
Wall push-ups. Exactly like it sounds. Stand face first against the wall at about half of your arms’ length and start push-ups against the wall. Try to get 30 reps in. As you get stronger, you will be able to stand further away from the wall.
Shoulder shrugs at the desk. Raise shoulders to your ear and hold for 5 seconds. Easy exercise for most. To make it more challenging, hold something that is about 5 pounds in each hand and repeat.
Jumping jacks. My personal favorite for a great wake-up call is jumping jacks! Do them in intervals: 60 seconds of jumping jacks, then 60 seconds of rest. Repeat 5 times. This is a great way for beginners to slowly increase some cardio.
What are some of your ideas for great workouts at work? How do you add more activity into each day?