Exercises you can do at your desk

Many of us feel that we ‘have no time’ for exercise. We’re working longer hours and juggling the many aspects of home and family life. But have you ever considered working out while you’re at work?

You don’t have to be at the gym to get a good pump! You can get in a quick workout at your desk without getting up off your seat. There are many exercises that you can do at work to get in some much-needed movement throughout the day. While many of them won’t get you to an Olympic level of fitness, they will help you build some muscle strength while providing a much needed boost of energy.

Here are the best things you can try at work to boost your fitness in between calls, meetings or errands. They can easily be adapted to the office, dorms, home, or wherever your desk is.

Body weight squats

This is a great exercise to get your quads, hamstrings and glutes working. It will help to improve the blood flow to your lower body while you’re sitting at work.

1. Stand up off your chair with your feet hip-width apart.
2. Slowly lower yourself down to the chair, keeping a stable base.
3. Lightly touch the chair with your glutes before returning to a standing position.

Incline push ups

To target your upper body muscles, you can try doing some incline push ups against your chair, desk or bed. Make sure to use a stable surface.

1. Place both hands on the chair, desk, or bed shoulder-width apart.
2. Extend your legs out straight behind you so that most of your weight is resting on your hands and wrists.
3. Lower your torso down towards your hands.
4. Pause for a second before squeezing your chest and triceps to push yourself back up to the start position.

Tricep dips

If you’re wanting to get your triceps working even harder after the incline push ups, try some tricep dips.

1. Place a chair without rollers against a sturdy wall.
2. Put your hands on the edge of your chair, and extend your legs out in front of you. You can keep them bent for added support, or straighten them out for more of a challenge.
3. Slowly lower yourself down until your elbows bend at 90 degrees. If you have limited shoulder or elbow mobility, lower yourself down to wherever feels most comfortable.
4. Squeeze your triceps to push yourself back up to the starting position.

Seated leg extension

This is one that you can do while sitting in your chair. It’s great for getting your quadriceps fired up.

Sit up straight, and slowly raise your feet up off the floor directly in front of you until your legs are straight (or nearly straight). Slowly lower back down to complete one repetition. You can also choose to hold your legs straight for a longer period of time for more of a challenge, before lowering them back down. Try holding for 10 seconds and build from there.

Alongside the above exercises, you can also perform several stretches that will release any muscle tightness in the body. Stretching will enhance the mobility and flexibility around your joints too. Try stretching your neck, triceps, glutes, side abs and calves.