Desk Jockey Workout: 8 Ways to Stay in Shape at the Office | The Art of Manliness

Desk Jockey Workout: 8 Ways to Stay in Shape at the Office | The Art of Manliness.

The Art of Manliness posted a great article about how desk jockey’s could create simple workouts or life changes to stay in shape at the office.  Their ideas include to:

1. Make Getting to Your Office a Challenge
2. Take the Stairs. While You’re At It, Run Up Them
3. Get a Standing Desk
4. Maintain Good Posture Throughout the Day
5. Do 10 Push-Ups and 10 Squats Every Time You Take a Bathroom/Coffee Break
6. Get Up and Walk Outside for 15 Minutes Every 45 Minutes
7. Perform 15 Dips When Leaving for and Returning from Lunch
8. Perform 30-Second Grok Squats Throughout the Day

But, how feasible are each of these?  If you have a long commute or small parking lot it will be hard to make your commute a challenge. Perhaps your office is a single floor, so no stairs.  Maybe your job has you seated so much that you forget to maintain good posture.  Perhaps you are a bit shy and don’t want to do too many exercises around your coworkers.  Maybe it takes 30 minutes to get down your sky scraper to walk outside.  Anyways, here are a few additional ideas and ways you can support your efforts to perform these office workouts.

1. My office has no stairs: Try some heel lifts at your desk.  It does not take much space or effort, but stand up and lift your heels.  Space them out and go slow enough to feel the burn in your calves.

2. My parking lot is small: Pretend you are on a phone call and take a few laps outside around your office building before going inside.  Carry a backpack or bag, even if you don’t need to just to add some weight to your workout.

3. My office is too small for push-ups: Try taking a stack of books and lifting them up like you are doing curls.

4. My office is too small for a standing desk: Check out the Ninja Standing Desk.  It is portable and can hang over your door or hang on hooks placed in drywall.

5. I am too ADD to remember to walk: Try EyeLeo on your Windows computer or Coffee Break on your Apple.  Or, know your office smokers and follow them every time you see them head for the door.

6. It rains too much to walk outside: Take laps around the office or get an elliptical trainer for your desk, like the Stamina 55-1610 InMotion E1000 Elliptical Trainer.

7. My job is computer intensive: So your job keeps you at your desk a lot?  If you need to call someone in the office, ditch the phone, get up and instead walk to their office.  You can use all the breaks you can get.

There are other things you can do too, like make it a point to walk to lunch of they are within walking distance, or join an office walking group.  I know around DC there are non-profit groups that organize walking contests between local businesses.  Anyways, check out the full article at the artofmanliness.com.