The 9-to-5 grind is how many of us bring home the bacon, but it’s not exactly great for our bodies. Whether you agree or disagree that sitting is the new smoking, it’s no secret that sitting and staring at a screen for the majority of the time you’re awake each day is not a healthy habit.
But no need to get down on yourself; read through our list to see 8 ways to get active during your workday!
1. Walking Meetings
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What could improve your daily meetings? Well, probably just about anything, so why not a walk? Deciding as an office to do walking meetings is a great way to get everybody more active during the work day, and the stimulus of being outdoors or in a new setting can even help generate better ideas. This is one of the best ways to get active during the workday because of all the potential benefits, so why not give it a shot? Ask your boss to make meetings on the move!
2. Modify Your Commute
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This one seems obvious, but there’s many different ways you can go about this. Biking or walking to work has obvious health benefits (in addition to saving you gas money!) and can give you a chance to clear your mind before work, but not everyone lives close enough to their office for that to be possible. Some other ways to change-up your travel include parking in a lot down the street to add a walk before and after work, choosing a route that involves walking up hills, or taking stairs instead of an escalator. Maybe try a new, 15 minute walk in every day? Have some fun with it, switching up how you go to work can make things more exciting and more healthy for you!
3. Use Phone Calls as a Call to Action
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If you work at a job that involves taking a lot of phone calls, use this to your advantage. Every time you get incoming call, use it as an alarm to do something active. This could mean walking around while you’re on the phone, standing up for the duration of the call, doing an active pose or stretch after you hang up, or anything else you can think of!
An active lifestyle is calling; will you pick up?
4. Get the whole office on board for a fun team challenge!
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Whether you do the traditional department vs. department weight loss challenge or something more team oriented like an office-wide work out program each day, a challenge for the whole team is not only easier to complete, it’s more fun! One of our favorite ideas is to pop in a fun workout video once each day and go through a workout as an office. You get to team build and improve activity across the whole company! Let’s get physical!
5. Try a Standing Desk
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Standing desks have been really catching on recently, and for good reason too. Opting for one of these desks can improve posture, circulation and strength, and some even think they can go as far as reducing risk of diabetes and cancer. An added benefit is that by standing while you work, you’re more likely to walk around your area rather than roll in a chair.
6. Take a Walk on your Lunch Break
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This is one of the most effective and easy ways to get active during your work day. Don’t plop down at your desk and eat that sandwich sitting down, grab food to go and take a walk! Enjoy the sights to see and the fresh air, or even walk around somewhere indoors like a mall. You can burn 200+ calories each day just by choosing to walk on break!
7. Replace your Desk Chair with an Exercise Ball
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You may think these look a little ridiculous, but there’s nothing ridiculous about the potential health benefits of sitting on an exercise ball! Swapping out your chair for one of these can improve stability and balance, and will improve your abs since your core is constantly being engaged. However, these considerably change posture and the pressure on discs in your spine, so make sure you’re aware of the potential drawbacks.
8. Drink More Water!
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Although drinking water isn’t necessarily being active, the two are very much hand-in-hand. You will be less likely to stay active if you don’t have enough water in your system, plus it helps keep your body in shape and lubricated to adapt to additional activities. Plus, drinking more water means more trips to both the cooler and the bathroom, providing more opportunities for walks! Pro-tip; mark off times on a reusable water bottle, so you know how much you should be drinking each hour (or buy one, like the ones shown here).