We know you work hard both at and outside of the gym. Whether you’re in sales, marketing, IT, customer service, or any other industry that puts you at a desk, you know that you don’t have to have to do manual labor to be a hard-working professional. You might also know that sitting for eight or more hours every day can have a negative impact on your physical well-being.
We are here to help you live as healthy of a life as you can. That means providing you with any relevant tips inside or outside of the gym! We won’t pretend to know everything, but we do know that there are some things you can do to combat what they call “desk job body.” Keep reading to learn more!
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Effects of “Desk Job Body”
Posture
Depending on your chair, you could be suffering from posture-worsening effects every day and not even realize it. Sitting for too long in any way isn’t ideal, and the problem only gets exacerbated if you are hunched over or leaning back too much. Poor posture can lead to long-term effects like back pain and spinal issues.
Lack of movement
This feels obvious, but it should be said. When you move only your fingers for most of your work hours, the rest of your body can lag behind. Not that we recommend running a mile during your shift, but getting up to move every so often is universally recommended to help fight desk job body. We will expand more on this on the following pages.
Vision
Whether you work at a desk or not, you probably spend some of each day looking at some variation of a screen. If you do have a desk job, you probably have a minimum of nine or ten hours of screen time every single day. This puts significant strain on your eyes. One way to fight this that doesn’t involve any sort of physical changes is investing in blue light lenses. These are glasses that help block blue light that radiates from your screen. This type of light can have adverse effects on your eyes over long periods of time.
5 Tips for Fighting Desk Job Body
Get up
About once an hour, you should get up and move around, even for just a minute or two. This will keep your muscles fairly loose and adding a slightly brisk walk to the bathroom will help elevate your heart rate ever so slightly. It’s also a good idea to stretch periodically, especially your back muscles.
Standing desk
Try asking your boss about a standing desk. You’ve probably seen these or have used one before. All a standing desk is is an elevated work surface that gives you the option to stand and work when you want to. With a standing desk comes a tall desk chair so you don’t need to worry about standing for eight hours if you don’t want to! This is a great option for easing the strain on your back caused by sitting poorly.
Desk elliptical
Perhaps the best way to keep yourself moving is by investing in some sort of desk elliptical or desk bike. We won’t pretend products like this are cheap, because they aren’t always, but they are certainly worthwhile investments if you want to avoid being a desk potato. Desk ellipticals, specifically, conveniently and inconspicuously fit under your desk and give your legs as much movement as they need.
Exercise after or before
This goes for anyone in any line of work, but it’s especially important to work out if you spend most of your day sitting. Find at least 30 minutes (preferably one hour) of time to get to the gym or to exercise at home somehow. If you regularly exercise and get plenty of cardio work combined with weight training, you can more or less counteract the effects your body experiences from sitting all day.
Commit to less screen time
Screentime is almost unavoidable, but it can be managed. Too much stimulation can make your brain work overtime and cause sleeping troubles, which, in turn, can impact your physical health too. Sleep is arguably the most important part of your day (night?) and without restful sleep, your body will not be able to function as well as it can. If you have found yourself overstimulated, try limiting your screen time at home and you might find relief sooner than you think.
At-Work Exercises You Can Do
We don’t expect you to do push-ups in the breakroom, but there are subtle exercises and stretches you can do at the office. Here are some easy ones:
Back twists Standing quad pull
Lunges Knee-to-chest
Neck stretch
Squat stretch