{"id":77,"date":"2010-06-23T13:10:18","date_gmt":"2010-06-23T12:10:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.forestsoftware.co.uk\/blog\/?p=77"},"modified":"2024-05-07T14:43:26","modified_gmt":"2024-05-07T13:43:26","slug":"keeping-fit-in-an-office-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.forestsoftware.co.uk\/blog\/2010\/06\/keeping-fit-in-an-office-job\/","title":{"rendered":"Keeping fit in an Office Job"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 4<\/span> minutes : <\/span><\/span>

All of us that work in an office know how hard it can be to keep fit and exercise as often as we should.\u00a0 This article aims at giving a few tips that will make it easier to get that little bit of exercise and keep fitter while you are at work.\u00a0 None of the tips will involve massive changes to your work routine (we are not suggesting that you go to the gym at lunchtime for example).<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Walk up and down the stairs rather than take the lift<\/strong>.\n
    \"\"
    Photo by Dillon Shook<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    If you work in an office with a lift then you might want to consider walking up the stairs to your office (of course if you work on the 30th floor then this might not seem like a good idea so why not get out a couple of floors early and use the stairs for those last couple of floors).<\/li>\n

  2. Eat healthily at work<\/strong>.
    \nAs we point out on our page about     eating well at work<\/a> there are many ways that you can improve your diet while at work – resist that temptation to eat a bar of chocolate and try some fruit, nuts or even a granola bar for example.<\/li>\n
  3. Walk to the next bus stop, station or park further away.<\/strong>
    \nIf you catch the bus home from work why not walk to the next stop, or if you use the underground in London or other places why not walk to the next station.\u00a0 If you drive to work then try parking further away in the car park or further down the road.\u00a0 It may not be much of a distance but if you can add a 20-30 minute brisk walk into your daily routine it will help.\u00a0 The author used to do this when working in London, he would walk to a bus stop further down the route in the morning and the evening and this meant that he was getting some much needed exercise.<\/li>\n
  4. Get enough sleep<\/strong>
    \nAlthough this is not something you can do in an office try to get a good nights’ sleep, save the late night movies or computer games for the week-ends.\u00a0 Many people report that an 8 hours sleep refreshes them and keep them going through the day.\u00a0 While on the subject of sleep, try to wind down at the end of the day, if you go to bed with your mind buzzing it will take you some time to settle down, try some listening to some relaxing music, read a good book or just end the day with a gentle wind down, maybe even going for a gentle walk round the block.<\/li>\n
  5. Take regular breaks<\/strong>
    \nIf you, like me, find that you have been sitting at your computer for hours try to break this habit – set an alarm on your system so that once an hour (or once every 90 minutes) you\u00a0are reminded to get up and walk – stretch your legs by getting a drink, going to the loo or even getting up and walking to the window to take a look outside.\u00a0 This helps the muscles by making them move and also helps you eyes as you are not focusing on the same thing all the time.\u00a0Your breaks do not have to be for a long time, just a minute or two is all it needs.<\/li>\n
  6. Reduce the caffeine intake<\/strong>
    \nHaving just suggested that you take a break and get\u00a0 drink the author would like to suggest that you reduce your caffeine intake, so if you are getting a drink try drinking water or even herbal tea.\u00a0 Caffeine in tea and coffee stimulates the nervous system and makes you feel alert, however this stops the body from relaxing and is addictive (which is why you get headaches at week-ends and holidays if you drink a lot of coffee during the week and not at week-ends).<\/li>\n
  7. Check your chair<\/strong>
    \nOffices in the UK have a     duty of care<\/a>\u00a0to make sure that the chairs and equipment is not adversely affecting their clients health.\u00a0 If you are getting back-aches after sitting in your chair for some time try to adjust it to see if it makes any difference.\u00a0 If not, and it is at the right height, then talk to your employer about the possibility of a backrest, a cushion or even a new chair.<\/li>\n
  8. Exercise at your desk
    \n<\/strong>While sitting at your desk there are several exercises that you can do – for example rotate your foot, stretch your arms, roll your shoulders and move your head.\u00a0 You can even exercise your eyes by covering one eye with a hand and looking up, down, left and right.\u00a0 None of these exercises will take more than a few seconds but they are all using muscles that then not to be used while sitting at a desk.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    As you can see, none of the tips above will take a lot of effort, but taken together they will help keep you fitter and healthier in\u00a0your office, meaning that you will be able to do more when you get home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Reading Time: <\/span> 4<\/span> minutes : <\/span><\/span>All of us that work in an office know how hard it can be to keep fit and exercise as often as we should.\u00a0 This article aims at giving a few tips that will make it easier to get that little bit of exercise and keep fitter while you are at work.\u00a0 None of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6],"tags":[16],"class_list":["post-77","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-advice","category-general","tag-personal-development"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forestsoftware.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forestsoftware.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forestsoftware.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forestsoftware.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forestsoftware.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.forestsoftware.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forestsoftware.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forestsoftware.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forestsoftware.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}