7 Easy Deskercises You Can Do At Work

When you’re working eight hours a day, five days a week, who has time to go to the gym? Lucky for you nine to fivers, deskercise is an easy and convenient way to get your blood pumping right at your office chair.

Why you should deskercise:

• to decrease stress
• to combat 9:00-5:00 boredom
• to help your concentration and subsequently increase productivity

The best part about deskercise? You can do it while you wait for your computer to boot up, a webpage to load, or if you have a few minutes before a meeting. Here are six easy deskercises anybody can do:

1. Book press. Pick up the heaviest book you have, raise it above your head, extending your arms, and then drop it back down on the desk. Good for your triceps.

2. Desk pushups. Keep your body at a 45 degree angle to your desk, with both hands on your desk, and do 12 to 15 pushups.

3. To work your chest and shoulders, place both hands on your chair arms and slowly lift your bottom off the chair. Lower yourself back down but stop short of the seat, hold for a few seconds. Do 15 times.

4. Stretching exercises. Sitting tall in your chair, stretch both arms over your head and reach for the sky. After 10 seconds, extend the right hand higher, then the left.

5. Roll your head to one side so that your right ear nearly touches your right shoulder. Using your hand, press your head a little lower and hold for ten seconds. Relax, and then repeat on the other side.

6. Sitting up straight, try to touch your shoulder blades together. Hold, and then relax.

7. Chair squat. Using your desk chair to gauge how far you are squatting, perform a squat with your arms extended horizontally in front of you. Squat as far as you can without touching the chair.

Deskercise or no deskercise, the most important thing is to keep yourself moving throughout the day. Try to get up from your desk as much as possible and stretch when you’re starting to feel cramped and sore.