For millions of people, going to work means a dull, stationery corporate environment, where people spend a lot of the day sitting down and looking at a computer screen. For this reason, it can be really hard to maintain wellness and wellbeing at work, especially when breaks often consist of nothing more than nipping outside for a quick cigarette or strolling across the office to a vending machine or coffee machine.
All kinds of health problems can arise from these types of working conditions, including carpel tunnel syndrome caused by too much typing, vision loss caused by staring at a screen all day long, and the repercussions can be even more serious than that, including obesity and heart disease caused by the sedentary lifestyle that office work often entails.
It is possible to incorporate a little fitness into your day at work, however, if you just make some small changes.
For example, you could start by getting up a little earlier, driving to the office five or ten minutes earlier and then parking a bit further away. You’ll burn off a few calories this way and also give your limbs a good stretch and tone, whilst enjoying the benefits of the fresh air.
When you get to the office, don’t be tempted to take the elevator, and opt instead for the stairs. Walking up stairs is an unrivalled way to burn off calories and tone up the muscles in your legs. Instead of walking across the room during your break, you could also challenge yourself to go out and walk up and down a couple of flights of stairs – this could be done by using a bathroom on a different floor, for example.
Map out your day so that you do little bits of exercise at regular intervals, too – such as doing ten push ups at 10am, or a few crunches before your lunch, or some simple stretches halfway through the afternoon, to keep the blood flowing.