This week’s TIP#5 was to Stretch or exercise at your desk.

I set myself a challenge. For every hour I spent hunched over a desk or computer, I had to do a back exercise. You can find loads of exercises to suit you, here’s the link I used for my challenge: 33 Smart Ways to exercise at your desk

This had great ways to be active at work, and made me giggle several times.

One exercise I’d recommend is this one:

Standing with feet shoulder-width apart, press up onto the tippy toes, pause at the top, then lower back down. Repeat for three sets of 12-15 reps, or until the printing, faxing, or scanning is done. Ready to level up? Try raising only one leg at a time.

When you’re concentrated on tippy toe exercising you don’t get quite as annoyed when the printer takes forever. It passes the time and relaxes the muscles, and works out your calves after extended sitting time.

The easiest way to make sure you’re getting your stretches and exercises in every hour, is to set a reminder on your phone. These short study breaks are recommended for better memory when you’re cramming. It also made me aware of how long I’d been working for, and set limits on how much I should attempt to do per day.

Another fun exercise that will keeps eyes off you at the library, is this one:

Believe it or not, some deskercises can be kept under wraps, and this isometric glutes exercise is one of them. To start toning, simply squeeze the buttocks, hold for 5-10 seconds, and release. Repeat until the agenda wraps up or the glutes tire. The results will be uplifting in more ways than one.

This one really relaxes you, try tensing all your muscles for 5-10 seconds then relaxing and you’ll see just how tensed up you were before.

Overall this tip is about reducing the effect of long period of sitting, and your muscles will thank you for it tomorrow.