Office Workouts to Stay Fit On The Go

Many people find it challenging to stick to a fitness routine. Life has a way of derailing us from our healthy habits, even when we know they’re a priority. This is especially true for people who work long hours or travel frequently—sometimes it seems like there just aren’t enough hours in the day to fit in fitness.

If you’re faced with the challenge of staying fit at work and on the go, don’t despair. There are countless ways to incorporate exercise into everyday life, whether that’s from the comfort of your desk, car or hotel room. With so many adaptive fitness gear options in portable and travel sizes, you can maintain a fit lifestyle no matter where you are.

7 Ideas for Finding Fitness Anywhere

Most of us believe that exercise has to happen at a certain time and place. While keeping a workout schedule is important for developing the habit of exercising, it can also limit you. That’s because you can find opportunities to stay fit just about anywhere with bodyweight workouts, stretches and strengthening exercises.

When you’re on the go, you might not always have access to a gym, track or swimming pool, making it easy for fitness to fall by the wayside. But, travel-style fitness products are versatile, giving you the convenience of a workout at work and on the go. When it becomes part of your lifestyle, you can find fitness anywhere.

If you’re looking for ways to stay fit at work and on the go, consider these ideas for adding more physical activity to your daily life.

1. Schedule Fitness Breaks

Researchers have investigated the negative effects of a sedentary lifestyle. In fact, sitting is now called the new smoking—a poor lifestyle habit that leads to an increased risk of heart disease and diabetes.

According to most research on the subject, it’s critical to move your body briskly every 30-60 minutes to counter the effects of being seated. One of the simplest ways to stay fit at work and on the go is to just make time for it. Set a timer, add reminders in your phone and make movement a priority. The bottom line is to get up and move around—your body will thank you.

2. Try “Anywhere” Workouts

Incorporating fitness into your workday doesn’t have to be hard. Plan a desk workout you can do a couple of times per day and give yourself the equipment you need to make it happen—anywhere.

Keep small, versatile exercise equipment at your desk such as:

Resistance bands
Set of dumbbells
Medicine ball
Plastic footstool (for step-ups)

There are also tons of online workout videos you can follow. Many are just bodyweight exercises. If you’re traveling, you can pack travel-sized yoga mats, weights and resistance bands for “anywhere” workouts.

Here is a sample of exercises you can do at your desk or from virtually anywhere:

Push-ups from the floor or angled using a desk or table
Seated leg raises from your chair
Chair tricep dips
Wall squats
Step-ups from stairs or a footstool
Dumbbell arm raises

You can do many of these exercises without equipment, or you can improvise with items around you.

3. Swap Out Your Chair

A simple yet proven method of desk fitness, the exercise ball helps train core stability. Sitting on an exercise ball, or balancing ball as they’re sometimes called, encourages muscle contractions and improves strength. You can keep an exercise ball at your desk and swap between the ball and your chair regularly throughout the day.

Although using an exercise ball has benefits, it can also put added pressure on your lumbar spine. Be sure to take a break from the exercise ball every 30 minutes or so to prevent injury.

4. Fire Up Some Competition

Office fitness competitions have been cropping up with ideas for corporate wellness challenges. Many companies are distributing fitness tracking devices to their employees to encourage more physical activity among workers.

Office fitness challenges can take many forms, but a popular one is the 10,000 step challenge. If workers reach their goal of 10,000 steps per day for one month, they’re rewarded. This challenge is based on Harvard research that found that walking 30 minutes per day significantly reduces risks of heart disease and stroke.

5. Take the Stairs

If you work in a multi-story building, then you have one of the simplest fitness tools at your disposal—the stairs. During coffee and lunch breaks, walk (or run) up the stairs several times to get your heart rate up. Not only will this help you get in some cardio, it will also boost blood flow, helping you to focus longer and get more done.

Taking the stairs can even be incorporated into an office fitness challenge. Encourage your non-disabled co-workers to use the stairs instead of the elevator. Those who walked the most flights of stairs daily on average are the challenge winners.

6. Research the Area

If you’re on the go, research the surrounding area to find places for physical activity. Are there hiking trails or parks nearby? How about an aquatic center or track? Maybe there are some stairs you can use for cardio. Or perhaps your hotel has a gym or partners with a local fitness center for out-of-towners.

Staying fit while on the go may seem like a challenge, but when you consider all that’s available around you to keep you active, nothing is holding you back. Staying fit while on the go means shifting your mindset and looking for opportunities to incorporate fitness.

7. Walk More

Walking is one of the most natural forms of exercise. Many of us do a lot more walking than we may think, especially while traveling, making it easy to hit your 10,000 steps per day—as long as you’re intentional about it.

Going for a walk around the block, getting up from your desk and walking to the other side of the office, or parking farther away to get in more steps across the parking lot are all easy, yet overlooked, ways of getting in more exercise.

Support Your Fitness With Solutions From Relax The Back

When you commit to staying fit at work and on the go, you’ll notice positive results in your health and wellbeing. To complement your fitness regime, try ergonomic and therapeutic solutions from Relax The Back. Part of keeping your body in shape is improving mobility, flexibility and relaxation. Incorporating these total body wellness principles into your daily life, whether at work or on the go, is essential.

To support your on-the-go lifestyle, try our portable products from Relax The Back.

CoreStretch

Your core is the powerhouse of your body, and keeping it fit and strong is crucial to feeling good and preventing injuries. So many of our day-to-day movements come from the strength of our cores muscles. Weak or tight core muscles, including your glutes, contribute to chronic problems like back pain and sciatica pain.

CoreStretch is a versatile stretching and strengthening device that targets key muscle groups that rely on the strength and mobility of your core. Using the CoreStretch device, you can safely stretch your back, hips, legs and shoulders opening them up for greater flexibility. The CoreStretch device is adjustable and can be sized to fit your body, giving you deeper, more relaxing stretches. Keep a CoreStretch device at your desk or take it with you.

Staying fit at work and on the go is easy when you have the right tools and the right mindset. If you’re interested in adding more fitness to your daily life, choose Relax The Back for portable fitness and therapy devices that support total body wellness.

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