In terms of exercise, walking and jogging are two options that will help to strengthen cardiovascular fitness and undo a lot of the damage done by working at a desk for long hours. Those are just the quick and obvious ones, though.
Strength training is also a very good idea though too. This will help you to reduce injury risk, will speed up your metabolism, and will actually make you feel sharper and more awake while you’re at work. What of this can you do sitting at your desk? Well, time to blow off the dust from those colorful, plastic handheld barbells sitting at the bottom of a forgotten closet!
The best type of strength training is “functional fitness.” This is strength training that is designed to help us reintroduce and regain some of the lost movement patterns that we were born with. Examples include things like the ability to squat down to the ground, or lift your arms over your head. Watch a young baby and you’ll see they can do these things with ease. As such, they move with more energy, and vigor, and they’re completely pain free! If you have spent the last 10 years working at a desk though, you are probably tight, restricted, and in pain, if you don’t do something to put a stop to it. These are easy, do them at your desk! The Japanese do these every morning as part of a government-sponsored radio program – and this trend is catching on in Europe as well.
Yoga, animal movements, and other types of “movement training” are also particularly good for keeping up with creeping body ache, even if they do make you look kind of silly. Stand by your desk and crane like a crane, scratch like a bear! Kettlebell training in many ways combines the benefits of strength training with those of mobility and movement training.
Different people will take to different types of training, so experiment and see what you enjoy most. Remember, you can do it out of sight in the morning, once the kids are gone. Exercising first thing in the morning is a brilliant option that will also help you to wake up feeling more productive and ready to tackle the day ahead – that’s the recommended time. Make use of those moments of calm you get!
Exercise itself actually stimulates the production of the feel good hormone serotonin, while also increasing the metabolism. Both these things can help you to be happier and more effective while working. Work off those working from home blues – and maybe pounds too!