Healthy Habits: The Vital Workout You Can Squeeze Right In The Middle Of Your Work Day

By Theresa Roemer, CEO of Theresa Roemer, LLC and 1999 U.S. Open Title holder for Body Building

We need to be leaders, visionaries, innovators, creative geniuses, entrepreneurs, employee-preneurs, and get it all done with a smile while putting in long hours at the office. But how do you muster up all the necessary energy to be so fabulous when you sit at a desk hour after hour, often bogged down by meetings and paperwork, or worse, sitting in front of a computer screen?  Exercise is the key, and by getting the blood pumping and pushing all those positive endorphins to the brain, you will literally turn your body engine over as if you had another eight hours sleep, refreshed and rebooted.  It’s vital to your success and health and the thing is, it needs to happen in the middle of the day, when you need it most.  Here is how you squeeze a bizersize smack in to the middle of your work day without skipping a beat. 

1.      Sit up straight at your desk engaging your core muscles. If your upper and lower abs are working, its like doing light crunches as opposed to sitting hunched over, which means no muscles are engaged and they are literally like Jello. 

2.      While up and straight, squeeze your glute muscles, pulsing up and down in your seat. These are mini-squats in your chair. Do three reps of ten each, you should feel the burn. 

3.      Alternate your glute squeeze, one side and then the next, rapid-fire for two minutes straight.

4.      Work your clave muscles by toggling your back and forth (up on your toes and then in a flex), in sync. Put emphasis on the stretch forward and back, feel the muscles on the backs of your legs push and pull. Do three reps of ten. 

5.      If you have a chair with arms, lift your body up doing arm push-ups and hold your body weight up just two inches from the chair for 10-20 seconds before releasing. You can also pulse in place doing three reps of ten. This is great for the lateral muscles in your arms. 

6.      Leave your desk and go for a brisk 10-minute walk anywhere you feel comfortable. This could be up and down a set of stairs in your building, or around the block. As long as the walk is brisk and your heart rate goes up, you’ve achieved the goal. 

7.      If you have an office or can hop in to a private conference room, just 60 seconds of jumping jacks will do wonders for your heart and brain. 

8.      If you have a private space, do 5-10 pushups, or hold a plank for 10-20 seconds. This will strengthen your core and improve your overall strength, while also speed up your heart rate.

9.      Stand about three feet from a wall, facing the wall, and place your hands on the wall shoulder width apart, chest high. Lean forward and do push-ups off the wall, three reps of ten.

Do any one of the above, or a combination of any of them each day and you will notice a difference in your attitude, performance, and overall strength.