Hi Friends!
Today’s post is all about movement. When I first started working from home, I noticed that I’ve was doing an incredible amount of sitting. There were days when I was literally sitting in front of my computer for 4-5 hours at a time without moving once.
NOT GOOD.
We all know the dangers of sitting too much. Have you heard the phrase “sitting is the new smoking?” I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to get up and move as much as you can throughout the day. I understand it can be hard if you have a desk job, but you have to make the effort.
Make it a goal to get up and move at least once an hour.
I started setting an hourly alarm to remind myself to get up and take a break. I try to move around for at least 5 minutes every hour. Sometimes it’s emptying the dishwasher or changing the laundry. Sometimes it’s doing a mini workout. Here are some that I’ve been using to get myself moving during my breaks!
Use your desk chair (if it doesn’t have wheels), your desk or the edge of a table to do your dips!
If you don’t want to get down on the ground, do incline pushups using the edge of your desk or the wall.
You can pretty much stand in place to do this one! You only need a few square feet of space.
If you don’t have stairs, repeat the first three exercises three times through and go for a 2 minute walk.
- For the shoulder rolls, do 10 forwards the first time and 10 backwards the second time.
- For the forearm stretch, place your hands palms down on a desk or table with your fingers pointing towards you for 20 seconds.
- For the back arch, place your hands on your hips, fingers pointing backwards, arch your back and try to get your elbows to touch for 20 seconds.
- For the twists, stand up , put your hands on your hips and slows twist side to side for 20 seconds.
- For the neck rolls, slowly roll your head in a complete circle. Do five each direction.
Let’s chat:
What’s your favorite way to make sure you get up and move throughout the day?
Enjoy!
–Lindsay–
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I love these ideas!
Luckily, my job forces me to move ALL THE TIME. Even when all I wanna do is sit still for 2 minutes. Hahaha.
You win some, you lose some, I guess! 🙂
Also, when I saw your blog post title, I thought maybe there was going to be a mention of TRIPLETS. Hahhaa. Oh boy.
Clearly, I need to get me some rest.
And coffee…you need LOTS of coffee! 😉
haha love it!
Great ideas to keep moving throughout the day. I’m lucky that I teach a fitness class or two a day. That certainly gets me up off my butt and moving!
LOVE this idea. Perfect way to motivate myself to get up and go for a few minutes!
I love these. I make it a point not to stand at work. I teach so it’s usually not too bad since I’m supposed to be roaming and monitoring all the time.
I really like these and will definitely try out the quick stretching one today. I find I get so sucked into the flow of my work (sometimes!) that I really don’t want to break off though. Do you have any tricks for stopping yourself snoozing the timer to ‘just finish this bit’?
i allow myself one snooze if it really can’t wait 5 minutes. otherwise i just force myself. and if i have to skip an hour for some reason, i do double the next hour!
I need definitely to try these trainings. I sit the too many – and at university, and working at home at the computer. Thanks for a reminder, I will try one of trainings right now!
YES! This is great- Ever since working from home too, I have made it a point to get up and move around- I even built a standing desk (which the first attempt was a fail…my laptop fell through the box lol!) These 5 minute increments gives no one an excuse!
yes yes yes!! moving is SO important – no matter how long or how short!!
We used to do something similar that we would get up every hour and walk around for 5-10 minutes. It would make us so much more productive in the office. Honestly after an hour or so I just want to nap at my computer.
These are fantastic Lindsay! Most days I am up and moving when I sub, but there are definitely times I am not up enough, and could use these!
This is awesome! One of my favorite ways to make sure I keep moving throughout the day is to do Jess’ (from Blonde Ponytail) 100 challenge— 100 squats, 100 pushups, and 100 sit-ups by the end of the day! It gives me a goal and a motivation to get up for a study break! 🙂
ooh that’s a great idea!
This is a great idea! So very true! Even as an elite athlete I know I sit around too much, I try to keep moving about as much as I can, or I get stiff…..and I know that will only get worse with age! I
read that it doesnt matter how much you exercise, if you sit around all day, you are putting yourself at serious risk for many health related illnesses. I thought I was invincible due to all the miles I run….guess not! Your post is very important to combating our laziness! Thanks for sharing 🙂
exactly! it’s crazy to think that just exercising once a day isn’t enough anymore…it’s the other hours in the day we have to worry about sitting too much!
Ugh. I mostly move by emptying my bladder and refilling my water bottle. 😉 I could do the stretches in my office and walk around our office. I’m pinning these ideas for future reference!
Yes! I sit WAY too long at work. Love these ideas!
I’m glad you brought this to folks’ attention! I work a job where I sit for the majority of the day, but I make myself get up every hour to walk around our floor. A full circle around our floor, or walk downstairs to a different floor, walk around that, etc. It’s important to get up and move more!
I’m not sure if I can get away with doing these at work, but I am going to make it my goal today to get up from my desk at least once per hour (this shouldn’t be too tough since I have the smallest bladder in the world ;)). I am going to try some of these tonight, though, when I am watching tv!
woohoo! great idea!
I try to get up and move every hour. I just started taking a 10 minute walk around my school every morning as well. The weather is perfect, and I get some fresh air!
sounds like a win win!
I love all these ideas! I try to get up and go to my co-worker’s offices throughout the day instead of calling or emailing. I also work on a college campus, so when it’s nice out I recruit some walking buddies once or twice a day.
I love your idea to set reminders, though, cause I’ll also go several hours without remembering to move. Luckily, I drink so much water and coffee that I have to go to the bathroom on the other side of the building constantly!
yep, the reminders definitely help me!
I practice inefficiency. Instead of trying to combine chores/carrying stuff around the house, I will walk one item at a time up or down the stairs throughout the day. It also helps that my laundry room is in the basement and the bedrooms and hamper are on the second floor. And there is no bathroom on my main level – drink enough water and you are forced to walk steps LOL.
brilliant inefficiency idea 🙂
I drink water throughout the day, so I either get up to refill or to head to the restroom. I also get two 15 minute breaks everyday. I use this time wisely and get outside and do a power walk. If it’s raining, I walk up and down the stair well. I also try not to email and call people in my office, instead I visit with them in their office. Lastly, sometimes I stand when I’m on a phone call. This is a good idea, I may do a post about this soon on my own blog. I didn’t realize how moveable I am until this comment.
yes! those are all great ideas!
I actually got a stand-up desk not too long ago! Still, I’m standing, not moving. Occasionally I bend over and stretch out my back, toss a leg up on my desk and stretch my hammy’s (when no one’s looking!), or I even do a few yoga poses.
love it!!
I love all of these ideas! This just proves there’s no excuse to get-up and move around! We all have 5 minutes to spare!!!
Great post Lindsay! I actually started doing these things as soon as I began working from home. It’s WAY too easy to sit all day and honestly I think it makes ‘brain fog’ after a while if you don’t get up and move! After working at a hospital and logging many miles and stair climbs per day, sitting is awful. Now if only there was a way to do burped without getting too sweaty or having to wear sweats….. 😉
Thanks for the additional moving ideas!
right?! that’s probably why i live in sweats 🙂
I’m a huge support of this! I created myself a stand up desk and make a point of moving every hour. If I’m home, its chores, if I’m at my work site, I go out to do some physical work or walk to the opposite end to talk to someone. Great post!
awesome job! chores are great for getting me moving 🙂
These are fantastic! I have a bunch of stuff like this hanging on my cube wall to do in between phone calls.
great idea!
At work I’ll do a lap around to get water to get extra steps in!
Lindsay,
Couldn’t have agreed with you MORE on the changes one goes through when working from home. I HATE to sit, and make myself get up at least every hour as well. I never knew I’d enjoy house chores so much either!:)
I have actually started working at my desk in the mornings over breakfast, then working out, and then going back to my desk to work through lunch. After that, I stand at my kitchen table ( a buffet style table or you could use a counter top), and I work standing up the rest of the day at the computer. It feels strange at first, but I actually prefer standing and working now, and it helps with posture.
These Move for 5 are SUCH fantastic ideas- thank you for sharing them! I know anyone can put their minds to being active while at home if they want it bad enough- thanks for motivating us!!:)
love the standing desk!
I love this – thanks for sharing! I used to sit in big teamrooms where this kind of thing was impossible, but now that I’m working from home (yayyyyy!), it’s definitely a goal to build in frequent breaks like this. Going to print a few of these out to have at my desk!
woohoo! Happy movement breaks!
I’m all about lunch runs, so that makes it fairly easy for me to get in my “active” time. Other things I can do is pour myself a small cup of water. If I want more, I have to get up, right?
exactly!
This is so great! I work from home right now too, and I definitely spend too much time sitting at my desk. These are some great ideas to get me moving around a little!
perfect ways to find movement everyday !
Chasing around my mobile baby is my favorite way to move around during the day! 😉
sounds wonderful to me 🙂
Wonderful ideas! I work at a computer all day so it’s easy to forget to get up and move a lot. I always have a water bottle on my desk, so at least I get up to go to the bathroom often. I like to go up and down a flight of stairs or do some squats when I get up.
i’m with ya on the frequent bathroom breaks!
I love these workout ideas!
Love this!!!
I used to work in a school office and the girl I worked with and I would set an alarm to go off every hour and do stuff like this – wall sits, pushups, crunches on a stability ball – just something to get us up and moving.
awesome! love that you did it together!
Love this! I sit all day, every day for work, and I really want to incorporate movement into my routine. I share an office, so I can’t stop what I’m doing and start planking (although that would be amazing), but I can do things like going up and down the stairs or doing lunges on my way to the bathroom. Sounds silly, but if it’ll help me be healthier, I’m in.
you go girl! lunge power 🙂
LOVE!!! This is so great for people that will take advantage of it!!! Keep moving if you can – break & get up from the desk * save your life! 🙂
I purposely only fill my water bottle half way every time I fill it (down the hall from my office) because it forces me to get up more to fill it.
brilliant idea!
Thank you for this! Some does I do find myself sitting in front of the computer for long periods of time. I plan on printing this out and pinning it up by my desk 🙂
awesome! hope they get you up and moving!
I always seem to need to pee 20 times a day so that helps make me get up and go for a walk at least once every 45 minutes. I also like taking a walk at lunch time and depending on where I am working I usually try and walk to work too.
Love all these tips to keep moving!
haha i feel ya girl!
This is perfect, it’s literally what I’ve been doing since working from home (not quite as easy in the office!) but sometimes I lose inspiration – will be pinning all these quickies! Thank you!
awesome! happy moving!