Working 9-5 at an office and feeling stuck to your chair? Use your office time as an opportunity to tone up! These desk exercises are discrete enough to squeeze into your workday. Tried and tested by your coach!
1. 3-Second Butt Builder
Each time you sit down, stand back up before your butt actually hits the chair. The average person who works in an office stands up and sits back down on a chair at least 50 times a day. That’s 50 squats, and each one only takes three seconds!
2. Killer Thigh Squeeze
You’ll need a small ball with you for this exercise. Keep one with you at your workplace so that you can do this move at any time.
1. Sitting at your desk, place a small ball between your legs at knee-level.
2. Squeeze into the ball, and hold the squeeze for 5 seconds.
3. Repeat at least 50 times a day.
4. If you’re sitting in a cubicle or in an open space where people can see you squeezing rapidly, then just hold the squeeze for 1 minute, or until it burns, and repeat throughout the day.
3. Goodbye Love Handles
All it takes to lose those love handles is 5 minutes a day. Yes, you can even do it in your workplace! Here’s how:
1. Sit in the center of a chair with your feet resting flat on the floor. You must sit comfortably and have the entire length of your thighs resting on the chair.
2. Grab a book, a bottle, or anything that weighs a couple of pounds which you can handle with two hands.
3. Keep your back straight and your abs tight, but not totally sucked in.
4. Lift the object you’re holding to breast level and slowly rotate your upper body at waist level from right to left and from left to right.
5. Your head should follow the move. Hold the position on each side of the rotation for a count of 2, or until your boss pops in!
6. Start with a light weight, then slowly increase the weight and time as you feel more comfortable with the move. Work your way up to 2 minutes in the morning and 3 minutes in the afternoon.
4. Standing Push-Ups
Every time you go to the restroom at work, take a moment to tone your triceps.
1. Stand in front of a wall with your arms straight out at eye level.
2. Place your palms on the wall and bend at the elbows to do 20 standing push-ups; push your body back from the wall harder each time, moving slowly and maintaining control.
3. Increase the difficulty of this exercise by keeping your fingers off the wall, or by working on only one arm at a time.
5. Office Abs
An easy way to work your abs at the computer!
1. Sit in your office chair with your back straight.
2. Raise your feet off the ground (knees should be bent) in order to keep your balance and work your abs.
3. Once you feel that your abs are working, hold the position for 30 seconds.
6. Glorious Glutes
Spending long hours on the phone with clients or colleagues? Maximize your phone time by squeezing your glutes all conversation long – and go for the burn! When it’s bikini season again you’ll be grateful you did.
7. Carved Calves
Each time you stand up from your office chair, bend your leg at the knee, raise your calf, and squeeze it as hard as you can for 2 seconds. If you do this every time you stand up, you’re guaranteed to get nicely shaped calves within a month or two!
Yes, you can sit on a Swiss Ball at your desk instead of a chair! This will help maintain a strong back and prevent further back injuries.
When on the phone, if you cannot walk, lunge or move around in your cubicle or lean back on the ball while talking to your client. This will help you work your abs. Remember to breathe correctly though; you don’t want your client to hear you huffing and puffing :)!
You can also sit on the ball like on a horse and squeeze the ball to work your inner thighs. This is a great exercise for having long, lean, un-flabby legs.
Don’t talk on the phone much? No problem, you can still do crunches. Every hour or so, lean back to a 45-degree angle and do 30 crunches. Keep your back flat. Do not arch your back or you may create unnecessary strain.
And now, the fun part (that is, if you can allow yourself to do it depending on where you work): bounce up and down as long as you possibly can. This will help pick up your blood and lymph circulation and improve your breathing pattern – not to mention the fact that you will have a blast in this “back-to-childhood” exercise. This is also a good way to release toxic emotions.
Voilà! Your 8-hour day at the office is now an 8-hour opportunity to tone up!
Tags: abs calves desk job discrete exercises exercise fitness glutes lebootcamp love handles office office job push-ups swiss ball thighs tone up Valerie Orsoni work out workout
Leave a Reply