iTrainer Blog - Fitness Advice, Personal Training, Weight Loss, MP3 Fitness - The MP3 Personal Trainer on Your iPod - 5 Things (That Are Quiet) You Can Do In Your Cube or Office to Improve Your Health

Unfortunately, spending time sitting in a chair and hunched over a computer is no way to keep yourself in shape. The same goes for an office. Here’s a few discreet ways around this problem which faces lots an’ lots of us daily. They’re quiet and will have a very small impact on your time at work.

1) Push-ups: Pushups are one of the best ways to strengthen your chest, shoulders, arms, abdomen and lower back. That’s half of your body. I’ve been told many times that if you only have time to do one thing and you want a workout, then do push-ups.
- Lie face down.
- Place your hands on either side of your shoulders, with your thumbs at the middle of your chest with you feet about shoulder width apart.
- Push yourself up off of the floor. Pause for a moment at the top and then exhale as you lower your body back down.
- Bring your chest about two inches from the floor, not all the way back down.
- Repeat.

2) Stretch: The benefits of a good stretch are many. It can improv your posture and help promote muscle symmetry. Basically, if you sit slumped in an office chair all day working at a computer you can significantly add to the natural slumping fo the shoulders that occurs with age. This is just one example of many, but you get the idea. Stretching also feels good and promotes a short term increase in circulation and alertness simpley because you are moving. There’s a great primer here on how to stretch effectively and safely in your cube or office.

3) Drink Some Water: Try and always have water near you to drink. Most people don’t know what they’re missing because they walk around dehydrated all the time and they become normalized to operating in this condition. If you’re hydrated you can think clearer, your skin will look and feel better and your mood will generally improve. Skip the soda machine and bring a water bottle to work.

4) Sit on an Exercise Ball Instead of a Chair: This will look silly, but it will also provide your core with a great “passive” sort of workout throughout the day. You see, lots of little muscles we rarely use will get used in order to keep you balanced while you work. It’s not even something you’d notice if you weren’t looking for it, but it’s there. Improved core strength is great for many reasons. It improves your balance as well as helps protect all your important bits in your torso when you’re doing strenuous activities like playing a sport.

5) Sit-ups: Oh, man doing sit-ups sucks. The reason it sucks is because you’re working a part of your body that rarely gets attention. Doing Sit-ups will help strengthen your abs which can ease back pain. Having nice abs or maybe, just not having that beer gut, can go a long way to help getting you laid as well. (And the health bennies of that are numerous.)

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