Finding time to exercise can be difficult, especially when you’re working long hours at your desk or attending meetings all day. The good news is that you can fit in a short workout without ever leaving your desk or office. How? Through our Jump Start Daily Dozen program.
The program is offered in partnership with the Michigan Institute for Human Performance, or MIHP. It consists of 12 easy exercises that are two minutes or less. Their names may sound like a combination of dance steps, yoga and football formations, but they’re all easy to do and can make you healthier. They are:
Prone sky reaches
Warrior II
Wall airplane
Triangle
STEMs (Sitting Thoracic Extension Movements)
Split squat with rotation
Side stepping
Plank
Heel-to-toe stepovers
Downward dog
Alternating shoulder press
Alternating pullbacks
Doing these exercises once a day can help strengthen your core and keep you limber while reducing stress and everyday aches. You can find videos and illustrated walkthroughs of the exercises at hap.org/dailydozen.
Another way to positively impact your health and burn more calories while working is to stand up instead of sitting at your desk. A 150-lb. person who stands for three hours during an eight-hour workday will burn about 100 extra calories. This adds up to about seven pounds a year.
Here are a few ways you can get on your feet at work:
- Hold stand-up meetings.
- Work at a desk that allows you to stand.
- When you’re on the phone, stand up and walk around your office.
- Walk over to a co-worker to discuss business matters instead of emailing or texting.
- Move your stapler, cell phone, pens, highlighters, reference books and other items that you grab all day to a different table so you have to walk to retrieve them.
If you have any health conditions that may restrict your ability to do these exercises, be sure to ask your doctor if they’re right for you.