20 Office Exercises We Do in Secret

Are you one of the millions of people with a desk job? While you may seem busy working away, the inactivity your body faces by sitting down all day is actually doing it harm without you even realising it. Too much sitting leads to hip and other joint problems, heart issues, muscle degeneration and more. Our bodies were designed for movement. This is why it is so important to get up and get moving at regular intervals throughout the day. You don’t have to go out and run a marathon at lunch! You only need small exercises you can do right at your desk to get the muscles moving and blood pumping. Here are 20 of our favourite “deskercises” here at Matter Solutions.

1. Rubberneck – This is a good stretch to start out with first. Sit up straight and tall. Tip your head to the right to bring the right ear to the shoulder and back up to centre. Do the same to the left.

2. Seated toy soldier – Raise your right arm to chest level. As you do, raise the left leg out straight. Alternate with left arm and right leg raised. Do this a few times as a good stretch and warm up.

3. Twinkle toes – Simply tap your toes, alternating between the left and right foot. Start slow and speed up. For a bigger challenge, use a small trashcan to use your toes to tap the edges, having to lift your left more.

4. Wall sit – With your back supported against a wall, bend your knees into a seated position. Hold it for 20-30 seconds. For an even greater push, put your right ankle on your left knee or vice versa.

5. Desk squat – Push that office chair out of the way and get ready for squats! Stand with your feet just slightly wider than hip distance apart. Bend the knees to go down as far as you feel comfortable and come back up. Repeat for 4 to 6 reps.

6. Triceps dips – Using a non-rolling chair or the end of a desk, keep feet firmly planted onto the floor as you grip the edges to dips your body towards the ground and lift back up. Repeat 8-10 times.

7. Curls – Using a heavy desk object such as a stapler or even a full water bottle, keep your elbow and upper arm still. Start with the arm bent at 90 degrees. Lower the lower arm and curl back up. Alternatively, you can move the lower arm up before lowering back to the starting position.

8. Walk/run in place – It’s as easy as it sounds! Stand up and move those arms and legs as if you were going somewhere in a hurry. Do it in 30-45 second intervals, 3-5 times. This will get the heart pumping.

9. Push-ups – This classic exercise doesn’t need to be done on the floor if that puts you off. Do them against a wall if you prefer. Do 3 sets of 10 reps each.

10. Calf raises – This will work those calf muscles. Stand behind a chair or in front of a desk for support as you lift your heels off the ground as your toes support you and slowly lower them back down. Try 3 sets of 10 reps.

11. Glute squeeze – Work out that backside with this isometric move. Simply squeeze those glutes for 10-20 seconds and release.

12. Lunges – Starting from a standing position, move one leg forward and lower the knee of the back leg towards the floor and slowly come back up. Alternate. You can do this stationary or lunge your way towards the coffee machine.

13. Take the stairs – Skip the lift. The stairs will help the blood flow and work those muscles.

14. Office genie – Whilst sitting down in your sturdy chair, raise your legs into a criss-cross position and use your arms to lift your body up as if you were a floating genie for 20 seconds. Make sure you have a super durable chair though!

15. Shoulder shrugs – Lift both shoulders towards the ears and hold for 15 seconds before relaxing again. Repeat 15 times.

16. Swivel chair obliques – Get those obliques twisted with a swivel office chair. Keeping feet firmly planted on the floor, twist the torso to the left then the right for 15 rounds.

17. Standing crunches – With a nice and tall posture drawing your belly button towards the spine, slightly tilt your pelvis and shoulders forward as a standing crunch. Repeat 15-20 times.

18. Office wanderer – Instead of picking up the phone to talk to a co-worker, get up and walk to them for a face-to-face chat. A simple yet effective thing in helping eliminate being sedentary.

19. Leg raises – This is easy to do under the desk without anyone knowing. Simply lift the legs either together or alternatively straight then back down without touching the floor. Add a weight bag for an added challenge.

20. Fist pump – End the day with a mini celebration in the form of a fist pump! Alternating hands, move those arms up into a fist pump into the air above your head. Do this 20 times.

Things don’t stop when you’re off to do office exercises, so there’s no need to use that as an excuse not to do them, especially when you use Matter Solutions. We’ll take care of your digital marketing needs from website design to SEO and social media marketing. Find out more about our services and how we can help your business stay productive on our page.