Sitting at your desk doesn't have to be all work and no play. Your busy schedule may not allow as much time for physical activity as you'd like, but you can use your time wisely by burning a few extra calories while you're at the office. Instead of saving the workout for the gym, find small ways to make your entire day active.
Fitness Ball
Swapping out your desk chair for a fitness ball may help you burn additional calories and make sitting at your desk more fun, according to MayoClinic.com. Sitting on a fitness ball will help you strengthen and tone the muscles in your core and improve your balance. If you're not keen on sitting on a ball all day, keep it under your desk and bring it out for only a few hours per day.
Chair Push-Ups
Use your desk chair to strengthen your arms when you have a break at work, recommends "O, the Oprah Magazine" in the article "10 Invisible Fitness Moves." Place your palms on top of the arm rests on your chair and place your elbows at a 90-degree angle. Push up on your arms to lift your butt off the chair, then release. Repeat for a total of 20 times, then do an additional two reps per day to tone your arm muscles.
Navel Crunch
"Fitness" magazine recommends the navel crunch to strengthen and tone your abdominal muscles. Roll your desk chair out a few inches and kneel on the floor in front of your desk with the seat of the chair facing you. Place your knees at about the width of your hips, then rest your elbows on the chair and bend towards the chair at your waist. Breathe in. As you breathe out, contract your belly button into your spine. Hold this position for 10 seconds as you breathe. Release, then repeat three times.
Tummy Tuck
According to professional belly dancer Raina in "O, the Oprah Magazine," tummy tucks are an abdominal-strengthening and toning exercise that you can perform at your desk. Sit in your chair and take a deep breath as you relax your ab muscles. As you exhale, pull your abs in as hard as possible and hold this position for five seconds. Exhale and release, then repeat eight times. Do two more sets of eight tummy tucks throughout the day to give your abdominal area more definition.
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