Why should I have a go?
According to the latest available figures, 48% of the Irish population ‘seldom’ or ‘never’ exercise. Our sedentary modern lifestyles seriously threaten our long-term health, but we’ve put together a simple office workout to ensure your desk job doesn’t cost you your fitness.
Our simple 5-minute office workout will do wonders for your circulation and get your heart working a little bit harder. Exercise is a vital part of a healthy lifestyle and even a brief workout can reap benefits.
What does the workout involve?
We’ve included cardio exercises like step aerobics and jumping jacks which focus on strengthening your heart. Step aerobics focus on toning your calves and quadriceps, while the benefits of jumping jacks extend to your shoulders, hips and core muscles. Keeping a good level of cardiovascular fitness is important for good cognitive function, and will help protect you against neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.
The exercises focusing on your legs are designed to improve your mobility and performing them regularly can protect against injury in later life. One-legged squats and leg lifts both target hip flexor muscles which are important to movement. Swap your uncomfortable swivel chair for the office wall chair pose, which will help strengthen your glutes and quadriceps.
By practising our upper body and arm exercises, you may become aware of muscles you never knew you had. Incline desk push-ups cover your triceps, rotator-cuff, and pectoral muscles, while desk chair shrugs will strengthen your serratus anterior (the sides of your abdomen). Building muscle mass can help you burn calories but is also important for maintaining good mobility.
So, do your health a favour and give this short series of exercises a go. Take it slowly, get your colleagues involved, and have fun!
Still need persuading?
Irish people spend an average of 5.3 hours sitting down each day. But prolonged sitting down has been shown to increase your risk of serious health problems like heart disease, diabetes and an early death.
HSE has put together a ‘sitting calculator’ to help you find out how much time you’re spending seated and let you know your relative health risk. Have a look at your figure and see what else you can do over at getirelandactive.ie.
