I loved all of your tips for moving more at the office!
Here are some highlights from the comments you left on my morning post:
- From Mia: “About a year and a half ago I decided to start doing little work outs every time I go to the restroom. We have a single bathroom so that makes it easy. I am one who drinks a LOT of water so I’m in and out of the restroom a ton. I do 10 squats, lunges or wall push ups every single time. It has made a HUGE difference.”
- From Maureen: “I try to walk and see people rather than send an e-mail or call if time allows.”
- From Lauren: “I find myself walking around with my headset on conference calls and being more active when I’m already standing. Heels and standing don’t work so I always keep a pair of flats under my desk.”
- From Kelsey: “I have converted my bookshelf in my office into a standing desk that I used for a couple hours a day. I sit in my regular chair for a couple hours then sit on my stability ball for the rest of the time. It’s a good mix up.”
- From Laura: “I try to get up and get water or go to the bathroom every hour or so. We also have a few walking trails around work so a little after lunch I try to get out and walk for 10 minutes-even that little bit of time helps me get through the afternoon!”
- From Ashlee: “Try to drink one glass of water per hour. Then you probably go to the restroom more and have to get up more!”
- From Kristen: “I am 5’3″ and I realized that I can put two wooden crates (that you can get at many craft stores) on my normal desk, put my laptop on one, mouse pad on the other, and viola–standing desk for a total of $14!”
- From Nicole: “At my summer job, I end up sitting a lot. I hate the feeling of sitting too long as well!! So I have a little routine I do to get my blood flowing. Every hour or 30 minutes after 12 o’clock I do 20 squats, and 15 bicep curls on each arm with 5 lb weights.”
Thanks so much for sharing!
And just in case you’re in the market for a non-sedentary job, you might want to read this article that highlights 20 jobs that keep you moving. (To the always moving and standing nurses and teachers who commented on my morning post, you made that list!)
Work + Lunch
After typing up my morning blog post, I rushed out the door to work. The first half of my day included fitness assessments and personal training. Then it was time for lunch!
I reheated a bowl of chicken noodle soup that I made earlier this week. (I followed this recipe, but used macaroni noodles instead of egg noodles because that’s what we had in our pantry.)
Even though it’s five million degrees outside, I am always freezing when I work at the gym (unless I am teaching), so a hot lunch hit the spot.
Fortunately it didn’t warm me up too much because I had to head outside to teach water fitness in the afternoon. It was cloudy and drizzly throughout most of the class which was fine by me! Anything beats teaching in the intense sun! Luckily thunder and lightning held off and I was able to teach for the full 55 minutes.
And now I just arrived back at home and have to work with our accountant. Paaaarty!
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Love all the ideas…especially doing squats/lunges every time you go to the bathroom!
Awesome tips from everyone. I think it’s really important to get some movement in at least every few hours. I like the idea of doing squats. Hopefully no one would notice that;)
That water drinking tip totally cracks me up! That would definitely work for me, too, because I swear I have the smallest bladder known to man ;).
Hehe we are a lot alike..That was my tip and I must have the 2nd smallest bladder known to man 😉
Haha, too funny! It is good to hear that I am not the only person “suffering” from this! 😉
Same here! I actually get embarrassed by the amount of times that I say, “I’ll be right back, just going to the bathroom.” haha
I love all of these ideas!! So creative!
I love these tips! I can’t really do much when I’m at work other then getting small breaks but when I work at home, I make sure to use the time to my advantage!
That soup looks great, especially on a day like today! Here in Pennsylvania it was significantly cooler than it has been in quite awhile, so soup and hot coffee definitely are on deck for today!
These are some awesome tips! I definitely second the water drinking one–definitely forces you to get up often! Not to mention all the trips to refill your water bottle. 🙂
Those are some great tips! I work from home, so I always do a quick household chore every hour or so. And then of course, getting up for the bathroom happens allllll day. I also like to stand and stretch every 2 hours or so. It helps so much!
Mmmmm chicken noodle soup is so yummy!
Ive done bathroom workouts for a while now, glad I’m not the only one haha
Thanks for sharing all the tips! As a high school teacher I’m one of those in a sedentary job and in need of some of these tips to keep active in the week!
I love these suggestions! It pains me that I’m a desk job kids gal- and I always have to make a point to exercise at lunch… Otherwise I won’t make it through the day!
The soup looks fantastic!
My office is always cold. So I am still in the mood for soup during lunch but after my evening run I can barely tolerate a hot supper for a few hours at least.
I like the bathroom workout idea! Just don’t workout too long…people will wonder what’s going on in there! LOL
I do it VERY fast for that reason lol 😉
Ooh have fun with the accountant. Those are always good times! 😉
um…I am an accountant. Numbers are fun 🙂
These ideas can be viewed good and bad…they are positive…but i’m sure tons of obsessive/orthorexic people will “take this too far” (if you know what I mean). I think simply standing up every 45 mins -60 mins to stretch is most important. Also remember that standing can be equally problematic as sitting (back, knees, everything) as I know from college years as a retail/grocery store clerk (achy back and feet)…I guess people have to just try and do their best.
I am very sedentary 🙁 But…you do what you can do. Sometimes too its not possible to do anything (meetings and patient consults that could be hours long, etc).
P.S. A.J. Jacobs in that book would squat to eat lunch sometimes. See? Standing, sitting, everything – all can be problematic. Hard to win!
Those are great tips! I work on a college campus, so I can take advantage of the pretty scenery and take walks a couple times a day, which helps a ton!
That soup looks so yummy!!!
These are some great ideas! I always try to make sure when I have a chance to get up and walk around that I take it! Always important to walk as much as possible!
love these tips! thanks for posting
love the tips!
I think i’ll start doing some squats in the bathroom!
These are wonderful tips, especially Mia’s. I’m going to make a point to do that!
One of my exercise science professors in undergrad used to set alarms while she was in her office for every 30-45 minutes, to remind her to get up and do something. I think she’d either walk around or do a mini workout in her office or just stretch. I remember because another professor mentioned how annoying the alarm was but how it was great that she got exercise in during the day!
I’ve gotten really good at changing and showering really fast to fit in a quick workout in an hour lunch!
So excited to see occupational therapy to make the list of jobs that keep you moving. I am an OT and work in a hospital. I don’t sit at all and I am constantly lifting people and equipment but I do love my job and I like the fact that I am always moving. I don’t think I could handle a desk job.
I actually wrote a post about this today! I am fortunate enough to have a workplace focused on workplace wellness–enjoy! I also worked at the Pentagon, creating a Sit to Stand program for them and would love to talk about it if you have questions 🙂
http://thesecretlifecoachofdc.wordpress.com/2013/07/25/treadmill-desk-debut/
Love the mini bathroom workout idea haha!
Stand up desk are a great way to stay “on it” – You can do little squats and stuff every 30 minutes too if you really feel like it. Regardless it’s always important to get up from sitting down every 30 to 40 minutes!
Loving these tips! I’m still in school currently but I always try to drink lots of ice water during and between classes to rev up my metabolism. I also due mini stretches while I’m sitting at my desk 🙂
For people out there with office jobs you should definitely look into bed risers! Also if you that isn’t high enough you can normally just put your monitor on some reams of paper to get it to the right height!
Great tips! Thanks for posting this! It helps to hear ideas from other people.
These are such great tips! I’m deff. going to try Mia’s restroom exercises!
Such awesome tips. I just got my first real life job out of college, and it requires me to sit all day. I always go for a 20 min walk on my lunch break (I only get 30 minutes so I eat super fast!), and try to just walk around the office to do little things as much as I can. I do 10-15 mins yoga in the morning, and then by the time I get home at night I am exhausted but at the same time totally ready for a kick butt workout or loooong walk or run. It’s an interesting parallel!
I love this list! So many great ideas. I’ll definitely be borrowing a couple of these to incorporate more movement in during my day. It can be hard on your body when you have an office job and I think little bursts of exercise during the day will definitely help to ward off tension.
Love the tips. I’m one who drinks so much water, i’m headed to the bathroom every hour. I’m going to incorporate the squats, lunges & wall push ups now!
I listened to this interesting TED talk this morning that reminded me of this topic! http://on.ted.com/Nilofer
These are all great ideas!
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Lol love the idea of the workout in the toilet! I go to the bathroom a lot as I drink so much water I may just give it a go.
I love the idea of doing something small when going to the bathroom! We have a single bathroom as well and I pee constantly!
The drinking water idea is so funny! I definitely do wind up moving more when I hydrate. 🙂
Along the same lines, I work in a little bit of an extra walk by going to the farthest water fountain from my lab to fill up my water bottle. That extra few minutes of walking makes a difference!