Sitting is bad, but I must sit! Ideas for short office exercise breaks?

October 23, 2014 8:43 AM

I'm stuck in an desk chair in an office, and I'm looking for mini routines for 5 minute exercise breaks.

Strengthening exercises are easier to find, but I'm trying to find:
core/abs
balance
stretching (upper body/shoulders and hamstrings/legs)

Difficulty - I'll be wearing business/business casual clothes, so getting down on the floor is probably a no-go. Standing/sitting exercises best.

I already have one that is air squats, wall push ups, and good mornings as one set. Ideally, I'd come out of this with 4-6 mini breaks that I could try to check off each day.

(In my google searching, most of the balance stuff is oriented towards people with balance difficulty, so wasn't very challenging )

posted by mercredi to Health & Fitness (9 answers total)

As wall push-ups get easier, you can move to desk push-ups.
posted by Night_owl at 8:45 AM on October 23, 2014

Planks! It's one of the best core exercises on the go. As with pushups, you can start on a wall if you want. I know you said you'll be wearing a suit but it's an isometric exercise so you might find it doable anyway.

Lunges and squats are great too, depending on what you're wearing. I usually time those (starting at one minute and increasing by a minute as I improve day-to-day/week-to-week). Standing hamstring stretches would fit too. For both lower and upper body, there are some good suggestions on this list (PDF).
posted by futureisunwritten at 8:54 AM on October 23, 2014

Have you considered getting an exercise ball that you can swap out for a chair (temporarily or permanently). Good for core and will open up opportunities for more exercises that don't require getting on the floor.
posted by C'est la D.C. at 8:55 AM on October 23, 2014 [2 favorites]

You could get a rocking footrest, if nothing else. Your work may pay for it, as a work-related health benefit, like an ergonomic appropriate chair and desk height.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:20 AM on October 23, 2014

Get one of these balance discs. Stand on it on one foot (preferably shoeless) for balance and core. You can also sit on it on your chair as sort of a mini-exercise-ball thing for core and movement.
posted by brainmouse at 9:26 AM on October 23, 2014

Best answer: Sworkit's 'Around the Office' custom workout (takes into account suit clothing and appropriateness for the office, plus you can add/remove particular exercises if you want) - available from 5min sessions up.
posted by atlantica at 9:51 AM on October 23, 2014 [2 favorites]

When you're sitting in a chair, your hamstrings are constantly lengthened. So stretching them isn't a priority. Instead, you need to stretch your hip flexors and quadriceps. The standing quad stretch isn't the most efficient hip flexor/quad stretch but most of the really good ones require getting down on the floor.

For lots of detail, check out this series. It also has some info about setting up your desk. I generally agree with this series in thinking that during the day, movement is the most important thing. Just getting up and walking is the best thing you can do, and then supplement with more intense countermeasures in the right environment.
posted by pekala at 10:34 AM on October 23, 2014

Are you absolutely required to sit, or could you switch between sitting and standing? If you have a laptop or even just an adjustable monitor at work, this super portable StandStand desk accessory would allow you to switch up frequently and easily. Otherwise, things I've done:

1. "Walking meetings", whenever someone stops by to discuss something. People love the idea!

2. Resistance bands. Easily adaptable to different body parts (e.g. balancing) and honestly, the only thing that approaches the intensity of real exercise.
posted by rada at 10:55 AM on October 23, 2014 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Here is a reference on mobilizations. Ctrl+F to Appendix C - there's a list of sitting/standing mobilizations down there.
posted by crazycanuck at 12:36 PM on October 23, 2014