At the Quill Group the firm has been participating in the Global Corporate Challenge.  The main focus of this event is to provide some friendly competition between team members on who can do the most steps over a 100 days.  At the moment I am personally in the middle of the group with an average of 12,079 steps per day, 477 KM walked and 145,740KM on the bike.  However, the biggest drain on my daily average is the days at work where no exercise happens.  I think my daily average would be around 4,000 to 5,000 steps.  Now this is because I spend so much time sitting on my gluteus maximus typing and talking away.  So it got me think what I can do to try and get some exercise while sitting. Here are some little exercises that I have been doing:

Set a calendar alert for yourself as a reminder to stand for one to three minutes every half hour. Better yet, mix things up with various stretches to ease the tension from sitting. Here are five ideas you can do right at your workstation.  There are plenty of other exercises that you might find useful as well but this article could go on forever

Stretch your Shoulders out

  • Place one hand under your opposite elbow.
  • Lift your elbow and stretch it across your chest while keeping the rest of your body still.
  • Hold for 15 to 30 seconds.
  • Repeat with the other arm.

Lift those Legs

  • Sitting in your chair, hold on to the armrests, engage your core, and extend both of your legs off the ground.
  • Alternate between flexing and pointing your toes five times.
  • Release your legs and repeat until you feel the burn-even in your abs!

Talk to the Hand

  • Extend one arm out in front of you with your palm facing outward (like you’re saying, “talk to the hand”).
  • Use your other hand to pull your fingers back toward you and hold for five breaths.
  • Next, point your fingers toward the ground, push your fingers toward you, and hold.
  • Repeat with the other hand.

The Bobblehead

  • Face straight ahead and tilt your head towards your ear, making sure not to move your shoulder.
  • Hold the stretch for 15-30 seconds, then return your head to the starting position and relax.
  • Repeat on the other side.

 Do the Twist

  • Sit up straight and place your right hand on the back of your chair.
  • Twist your body to the right and hold
  • Now, do the same on the left side and hold.