Work out at work, top 10 exercises to do in your office

Beating the struggle to get fit and stay healthy doesn’t mean you always need to visit the gym, run around the park or get on your bike and complete a cross country tour.

You can get fit and stay healthy while you are at work whether in an office, factory or workshop. Here are 10 ideas to get yourself fit and stay healthy while at work:

Exercise in the office, use the stairs

1. Use the stairs rather than the elevator (lift in the UK). I've seen people take the elevator just to go up one floor, you probably have too. Be different, take the stairs.

2. If you’re in the elevator alone and it has railings, view them as parallel bars and lift your self several times (do several repetitions) to strengthen your arm muscles.

3. Get up from your chair, walk over and speak to that colleague you were just about to email.

4. Rather than have lunch at your desk, when the weather is agreeable, take a walk outside and find a bench where you can sit and eat. You’ll also find this can give you a fresh perspective on a problem you might have had trouble with tackling.

5. Make it your goal to never stay chained to your desk for more than two hours.

6. Perform straight leg lifts from the chair, or knee lifts. Sit in the chair, extend your legs and lift them up to a 45 degree angle (or a little lower.) For knee lifts, bring your butt to the edge of the chair, squeeze your knees together and try to touch them to your chest. This last exercise is probably best done while your colleagues aren't around

7. How about stretch exercises? You can do these, without fear of embarrassment. Stretch the arms in an attempt to touch the ceiling. Stretch your leg out in front while sitting so they are at right angles to your body. While doing this exercise try to stretch your feet too so they are nearly parallel with the floor.

Exercise in the office, take in gym equipment

8. If you have a liberal work environment, why not bring into your office a Floor Pedal Exerciser. These are inexpensive machines you can buy for under US $50. The more sophisticated machines come with a digital display to monitor your progress.

If your bosses don’t mind, you could put the exerciser on the desk and use it to exercise your arm muscles. Who knows, you could be the one that starts an office craze with these machines.

9. One unobtrusive exercise you can do is glutial squeezes or butt muscle squeezes while sitting in your chair. The benefit is that no one will notice. Squeeze your gluteals, otherwise known as the muscles that make up your butt, as tight as you can and hold for 10 seconds.

Release your contraction and rest for five seconds before repeating the sequence for 10 repetitions. The benefits from this exercise can help you with another exercise, climbing stairs. Without strong butt muscles, you may find your body tires easily after climbing a few flights of stairs.

10. If you have your own office, or you are one of the first to arrive or last to leave why not use the isolation to do a few pushups. You can also use your office chair if it has arm rests to push yourself up from the seat. Choose to do it in full view of your colleagues or, discreetly.

Working in a non manual job still gives you plenty of opportunities to beat the struggle to get fit and stay healthy.