Keeping fit at work

Some of you might recall the Tufts Health Plan commercial chronicling the excuses a couple comes up with to avoid working out day after day. Excuses such as “My mom called” or “I forgot my ponytail holder” are funny both for their irrational reasoning and the fact that they are just so true.

Who hasn’t come up with a crazy reason not to workout? On days like these, when you just can’t muster the motivation to make your way to the gym, here are some simple exercises—that you can do without leaving work—to make you feel less guilty about being so lazy.

Turn your office chair into a piece of
gym equipment.

1. Wall sits: Stand and lean against your office wall; slowly crouch down into a sitting position (as if there were an imaginary chair). Your palms should rest on your thighs. Hold the position for 60 seconds; repeat three times.
2. Stairs: Next time you have to run an errand on another floor, take the stairs.  Do this several times per day.
3. Shoulder press: This is a good one to do while on one of those long conference calls. Bring a couple of 5 or 10 pound weights to work. While sitting at your desk, hold one in each hand and slowly raise them—meeting in the middle directly above your head. Do this 10 times for three reps.
4. Glut squeeze: While sitting in a chair, squeeze your gluts as tightly as you can and hold for 10 seconds; repeat three times, and do several sets per day.
5. Abs: Got a swivel chair? You’ve got an ab machine. Sitting up straight with your hands holding the edge of your desk and your feet flat on the floor, use your abs to twist your chair 45 degrees left, then back to the starting position; next twist 45 degrees right, and then return to resting position. Do 30 reps several times per day.