Do you know that there are ways to keep your body fit and healthy from your office desk without even going to the gym?

There are office exercises and simple office workouts that you can do from your desk without moving a lot or taking up too much space. Most Malaysians already bid farewell to their work-from-home lifestyle and are starting to go to the office day-to-day. Imagine the long hours spent sitting at a desk for five days a week and most weeks of the year. Then, you spend the next few hours of a day going back and forth to the office sitting in the car. 

The limited mobility could cost our body in the long run, without even realizing it. Factors such as weight gain, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and other chronic conditions can be caused by this issue. An article by Forbes indicates that people who sit all day have a 40% increased risk of dying.

Although working diligently is not entirely a bad thing, it’s a good idea to take some simple steps to improve your health at work. Starting off with simply moving around like stretching at your desk. However, this is just one of the other office workouts that you can try. 

If you are looking for other types of office exercises that you want to do, scroll down for more:

1. Arm Circles

This requires you to stand up. Don’t worry about your officemates looking at you, thinking “What is up with them?”. Your health matters and you should prioritize that over people’s vague opinions. When you stand up straight, stand with feet shoulder-width apart. Then lift both of your arms extended straight out to sides at shoulder height. Slowly move your arms in small backward circles up to 20 times. Switch directions and repeat.

2. Wall Push-Ups

If you are too shy to do this in public, then find an empty meeting room or head to the pantry when there’s no one there. This is like the modified wall version of desk push-ups. Stand a few steps away from a wall and gently lean towards it. Place your hands flat and wider than your shoulders. Lower yourself down towards the wall, maintain a straight posture and push back up until your arms are straight (but not locked). Imagine you are doing vertical push-ups.

3. Calf Raises

Stand up and take a few steps away from your office chair, which you can hold it for support. Raise your heels off the floor until you stand on your toes. Then, slowly lower yourself down. Do this for 3 sets of 10. This can help loosen up your legs after sitting down for too long.

4. Torso Twists

If you have a chair that can rotate 360 degrees then this is a great chance to try this office workout. Use your chair to twirl to your advantage with this oblique abs fix. Sit upright and with your feet hovering above the floor, hold onto the edge of your desk to lock your upper body position. Then swivel the chair from side to side.

Even if you don’t have a swivel office chair, you can just use your body and twist it side to side until you feel a stretchy sensation. Do this 15 times.

5. Triceps Stretch

This is one of the simplest office exercises. Raise one arm and bend it so your other hand can reach the elbow. Then pull the elbow towards your head. Hold for two to three deep breaths. Repeat the steps with the other hand. This type of office workouts help to ease out the tension on your shoulders.

6. Neck Rolls

Another one of the simple office workouts that you can easily do; Neck rolls! If your neck becomes too stiff after looking at the computer screen for too long, try this. Slowly roll your head in a circular motion on one side for 10 seconds. Then repeat the same move towards a different direction. Perform this exercise three times in each direction.

7. Hamstring Stretch

With both of your feet on the ground while sitting, extend one leg outward. Then bend your body to reach your toes. It’s okay if you don’t have the flexibility to do so, but it’s better if you can as this helps to loosen your backbone. Hold for three breaths on both legs.

8. Wrists and Finger Stretch

Working at the office mostly has us focusing on so many tasks especially that includes a lot of typing and texting. That’s when our wrists and fingers can get stiff or tired at certain times. Stretching them is so important. Stand up and place down both of your hands on the desk with palms down and fingers facing your body. To deeply intensify this stretch is to lean forward. Hold it until you can feel your fingers are starting to relax.

After trying out the office exercises, you can also try to have a healthy lifestyle during your off days.

Eat well, have a balanced diet and do regular workouts that involve your whole body. Sometimes when you work too much, you tend to forget to eat or skip lunch. Even other times you end up eating fast foods which have a lot of grease and lack of nutrients. Exercises can be tedious to do, so it’s important you can at least have some mobility towards your body.

If you think of ways to have Korean glass skin, you can check out this article. This includes steps that can make your skin flawless and glowing.