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Create Your Own Workday Fitness Routine

 
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Once the holidays are over and you’re back at work, you and everybody else will be ready to fulfill the most common New Year’s resolution of all time -- Exercise and Lose Weight!

This year, instead of falling back on your old habits by February, try some new ways for getting fit and staying that way all year long.

The great news about these tips is you can do them during the workday, so you can’t use that old excuse that you don’t have enough time.

Stretch before you start working. Combat stress by doing some tension-releasing stretches. Shirley Archer, author of Fitness 9 to 5: Easy Exercises for the Working Week (Chronicle Books), suggests, “Clasp hands behind back, raise arms and open up chest and shoulders. You'll help quell lower-back pain and activate abs.”

Eat a smart lunch. Amy Jamieson-Petonic, R.D., a spokeswoman in Cleveland for the American Dietetic Association advices the following: “Aim for 300 to 400 calories, with a ratio of three servings of carbs (together, the size of a tennis ball) to one serving of protein (smaller than a deck of cards). Carbs replenish energy, and protein helps muscles recover, so you can keep going strong all week!”

Take a walk. Use the second half of your lunch hour to take a walk around your building or a trail nearby. In winter, walk inside, take the stairs up and down and circle the inside of your building.

Don’t like walking alone? Grab a friend or several co-workers who also want to get fit. Diane Whaley, Ph.D., director of the Lifetime Physical Activity Program at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville says, "The positive peer pressure can get us to do things we might not normally feel like doing."

Drink plenty of water. Staying hydrated throughout the day is so important for all kinds of workplace ailments from headaches to an aching back. Drinking plain water can be boring, so get creative by adding fresh mint, rosemary, lemon and lime. Some people even add watermelon or oranges.

Nix the soda. Even diet soda isn’t good for you.

Check your urine to tell whether you’re drinking enough water. It looks like apple juice in the morning and if you’re drinking enough should look more like pale lemonade by afternoon (your urine, not your water).

Power up in the afternoon. A 200-calorie snack such as whole-wheat crackers with peanut butter, an apple with Greek yogurt, or a high-fiber power bar will wake you up from the afternoon sleepys and provide with energy to get you through the rest of the day.

An hour after your snack, take a power walk around the building to wake you up and refuel your brain.

Developing your own creative wellness routine will help you to not only get you through a stressful workday, but get you fit as well.

Sources:

AARP – Work – Keep Fit at Work. Web. 30, December, 2011
http://www.aarp.org/work/on-the-job/info-11-2011/keep-fit-at-work-wellness-program.html

Self – Fitness – More Ways to Stay Fit on the Job. Web. 30, December, 2011
http://www.self.com/fitness/2009/10/stay-fit-at-work-slideshow#slide=1

Reviewed December 30, 2011
by Michele Blacksberg RN
Edited by Jody Smith

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We value and respect our HERWriters' experiences, but everyone is different. Many of our writers are speaking from personal experience, and what's worked for them may not work for you. Their articles are not a substitute for medical advice, although we hope you can gain knowledge from their insight.

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