Five simple exercises you can do right at your desk
Don’t let a work day spent at a cubicle limit your activity. When you work in an office situation, you’re sitting a lot and it’s good to kind of get up and move around. The first exercise we did was the single leg squat. Take one foot, place it forward, keeping your chest high and your shoulders back, you’re going to sit the hips down and back to do a single leg squat.
Single leg squat
Tips: Use desk for support, Exhale on the way up
The next one we did was a leg extension with a quad set. So basically, it’s a quad squeeze. What Rachel is going to do, is with her feet flat, she’s going to take one leg and lift it up, and then she’s going to squeeze the quadricep. Then the leg comes back down. And up and squeeze, and back down.
Quad squeeze
Tips: Quad is on front of thigh, Don’t rest foot on ground, Perform 3 sets of 15
The next exercise that we did or performed was dips on the chair. Rachel’s going to hold on to the side of her chair. She’s going to lift the body up and back down. Keeping the chest high and the elbows in close. And back down. She’s going to work her tricep and the shoulder area when she’s doing this chair dip. Now, Rachel if you could, push your chair against the wall, and we’re going to do a more difficult version of this dip. She’s going to make sure she has a nice sturdy chair. She’s going to bring her hands to the edge of the chair. Keeping her head up and chest high, she’s going to dips again. Down and back up, so this version will be a little harder than the first one.
Chair dip
Modified version: Performed over seat of chair
More difficult version: Chair against wall
Tip: Legs can be bent or straight
Desk push up: Make sure your desk, for one, is nice and sturdy, doesn’t have wheels, sturdy enough to support your weight. Place your hands on the edge of the desk. She’s going to keep her head high, her back in alignment, and then her body is going to go down toward the desk, and back up. And notice that her hips and everything follow as she goes down and back up. This is going to work the chest, the shoulders, and the triceps.
Desk push ups
Tips: Body at 45 degree angle to floor, keep head in neutral position
The plié squat, the feet are slightly wider than hip-width, so that you can go into a deep squat. She is going to bring her feet wide, her toes are turned out, her chest high, her shoulder are back, and her abdominals are pulled tight—navel to spine. And she’s just going to drop down low and come back up. And you notice that she’s holding to the desk for support, just in case she needs it. Down and back up.
Plie squat
Tips: Feet wider than hips, Toes turned out, Down for 2-3 counts then back up
For those who struggle with being able to fit exercise in, desk exercises can give you that little time that you need to just fit it in real quick before you have to go to your next meeting.
