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Article Series: Exercise & Fitness
What Are The Most Effective Ways
To Exercise & Get Into Shape?
Do
You Need a Five-Minute Fitness Routine?
Everyone has those days: the phone is ringing
off the hook, your contribution for the quarterly report has
disappeared off your desk and you were in such a hurry this
morning you left your diet-friendly lunch at home. When you
have a day like that, exercise is usually one of the last things
you want to think about, but getting active, even just for
five minutes, can vastly improve your mood and your body at
the same time! Do yourself (and everyone else) a favor and
squeeze in five minutes of fitness – you’ll be glad you did!
Step
outside the building and take a brisk walk around the parking
lot. Getting out of a stressful atmosphere and to a
place where you can think is a huge part of calming your mind
and emotions. While you exercise your cardiovascular system
and muscles by walking fast, the excess tension in your system
gets worked out so you return to work feeling relaxed and refreshed.
Ride
the elevator to the bottom floor and then climb the stairs
back up to your floor. If your building is four floors or shorter,
repeat this. If your office building has no stairs, consider
buying an inexpensive workout step and keeping it in your office.
The exertion of step climbing helps work out stress and emotion.
Stand
about two feet away from your desk, bend at the waist
and place your hands on the edge of the desk to help support
your body. Hold for thirty seconds and then stand up straight
and take several deep breaths. Repeat twice more. Stretching
out your back like this help release tension in the spine and
shoulders.
Keep
a can of tennis balls in a desk drawer and bring two
of them out when the atmosphere is tense. Take one tennis ball
in each hand and squeeze as hard as you can for eight seconds.
Release and relax; then repeat several more times. This helps
condition the forearms and increase hand strength as well.
Tennis balls can also double as massagers for your feet and
back – all this for about three dollars!
Keep
a set of resistance bands in your office and take a break
to work with them. If you are feeling irritated, take the band
with the highest resistance and use it for lateral raises (place
one end of the band under your foot and hold the other end
in your hand at about waist height; lift the band straight
out to the side).
Challenge
a co-worker to a speed-walking contest in the parking
lot (you may want to switch to flat shoes). Take the stairs
down to the lot and see who can walk the perimeter the fastest
without actually running. Not only is this good exercise but
it is good for a few laughs as well.
Invest
in a set of dumbbells to keep at the office. A set
with five weights ranging from three to ten pounds is fairly
inexpensive and typically comes with its own storage rack.
Do some strength building exercises for the arms and back or,
if you have a lot of angry energy to work out, use the heaviest
weight and do as many bicep curls as possible until your energy
wears out. You may not be able to perform more than one or
two correctly but it might prevent you from snapping at an
unfortunate co-worker.
Take
some time out to do stretching. Stretches are a tremendous
tool to use against tension and stiffness in the joint and
can help you break through the mid-afternoon slump in your
energy. If you keep a yoga mat in your office, use that to
perform some of the prone stretches (with your door closed!).
Make
full use of your office by turning the very walls you’re
your own workout equipment: stand about eighteen inches away
from the wall or door, place your hands on the surface at about
shoulder height, and do vertical push-ups. Challenge yourself
by moving farther away or changing the position of your hands
on the wall. You may even want to try doing one-handed push-ups
vertically – it can be a great introduction to doing the real
thing.
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SolveYourProblem.com : 2005
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