You might have read about how to stay fit at work a dozen times, but how often do you practice what others preach? How many healthy work lunches, office workouts and desk yoga asanas have you attempted lately? If you’re still grappling with how to practice fitness in the office, then take a look at these simple, yet effective, fitness habits. These habits are at the very root of a great work-fitness balance for many fitness enthusiasts. We begin with the popular habit of desk stretches. 

Avoid stiffness from hours of sitting – get stretching: 

Sitting is not a natural posture for the human body. Hours of sitting tightens and lengthens different lower body muscles in a state of perpetual contraction or extension. This means that muscle groups like the hamstrings, glutes, and quads weaken over time. This makes it even tougher for a person who sits for long hours to strengthen the lower body even with exercise. Long hours of sitting also affects your core, causing weak backs and protruding stomachs. The result – lower back pain, an unflattering slouch and a widened pelvic floor.

To avoid this stiffness and weakness:  Get off your chair, stand up and stretch your lower body muscles. Practise quad, hamstring and glute stretches. Add lower back and upper back stretches to the mix. Hold each stretch for 8-10 seconds. 

Avoid dehydration that causes unreasonable hunger pangs – get drinking: 

Most people drink water when eating or right after a meal. However, your body needs a constant supply of water, a few sips now and then, through the day. So keep a bottle of water with a small cup at your desk. 

Sip a cup of water every 45-60 minutes. You could include this with the desk stretches. Try this out for a few days and you’ll notice that you stop craving unhealthy snacks every few hours.

Sit straight – adjust your chair, desk, computer screen and keyboard: 

Do whatever it takes to avoid poor posture at work. Poor posture causes slouching, which leads to an entire chain of unhealthy outcomes. Slouching places strain on the wrong joints, primarily those around the thoracic and lumbar spines. This could be caused by a lower chair, a higher desk, a keyboard that doesn’t have elbow desk space around it, or a computer screen that’s either too close, too far, or too low. 

Ensure that your knees are at 90degrees with the floor. Your back should be straight. Your elbows should be placed on a support (desk or armchair), and your computer screen should be at eye level, i.e., so that you don’t need to bend to see the screen clearly.

Eliminate food that makes you feel uncomfortable:

This covers the entire gamut of advice regarding eating healthy at work. No matter how strong the attraction towards unhealthy junk food in the office canteen or friendly neighbourhood fast-food café, you do realise that certain foods just make you feel sick.

Fried, cheesy, greasy, fattening, salty, sugar-heavy food and drink; these are all foods that leave you bloated, gassy, stuffed and plain unhappy. This could also include lunch debacles like yogurt that warms up and continues to ferment, eventually making you feel bloated when you eat it. It could also include home-cooked food that’s not conducive to packing and storing, like ghee-heavy dal or cereal-loaded tiffins. Identify these foods and arrive at your work comfort foods through the process of elimination.

Be active – use your phone calls for brisk walks and off-the-chair time. 

This is the simplest stay-fit-at-work advice you’ll ever get. What it boils down to is just any excuse to get off your office chair. Got a phone call? Walk around or stand up. Have an informal gathering or meeting? Remain standing for the entire duration. Need to call a colleague? Walk over to his or her desk instead of using instant messaging. Need to re-fill you water bottle? Walk over to the water cooler instead of asking housekeeping to do the job.

Stretch, walk, do a couple of quick lunges, (maybe a couple of push ups, if you have a cubicle), but get active.

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Article Courtesy: http://healthmeup.com/