Whether the COVID-19 pandemic threw a wrench in your well-oiled exercise routine or you lacked a routine to begin with, one thing is certain: with gyms closed and more work and family demands on your plate than ever before, fitting exercise into your daily schedule has become yet another impossible chore. You know it’s important but even when you have the time, the idea of continuing to stare into your laptop screen for a 30-minute exercise class after a long day of working from home is… less than appealing. The good news is: home work-out videos and online exercise classes aren’t your only options for staying fit.
In fact, there are plenty of ways you can incorporate informal exercise into your day, stimulating your physical and mental muscles, without setting any additional time aside — or even leaving your chair. With informal exercise, you build exercise into your daily routine simply by paying attention to your movement — any kind of movement —, all day long. It doesn’t have to be formal; it just has to be conscious.
To get you started, here are a few ideas on how you can incorporate mindful movement into your daily practice.
While walking around during the day:
Pay attention to your posture
Walk from your core
Sit and stand mindfully, engaging your quads, glutes, and biceps
While working:
Isometric exercises require you to contract and hold a position. That’s easy enough to do in your desk chair.
Sitting on a big, rubber balance ball — instead of a traditional office chair — makes you hold in your abs.
Walk and talk during conference calls. Bonus: it gets you away from your computer, reducing the temptation to multitask during calls.
Leg lifts are effective and easy to do from a desk chair. You might also look up Carrie Rezabek’s series of office workouts that you can do in no time. Try this:
Sit straight on a chair with your feet and legs together, abs engaged, and arms extended at shoulder level in front of you, palms down.
Draw your shoulder blades together to make them “kiss”; relax your shoulders. Do five reps.
Keeping your arms extended, make ten apple-size circles with your hands.
Do the combo eight times — or more!
While fidgeting:
Parents and teachers may once have urged you to sit still, but wiggling, tapping your toes, and otherwise fidgeting as much as possible at your desk is in fact good for your body.
In one recent study, college students who fidgeted showed healthier blood flow in their lower legs than those who didn’t. Even better, a 2008 study found that among office workers, those who frequently fidgeted burned as many as three hundred calories more each day than those who stayed still.
Living life from home doesn’t mean we have to live a sedentary lifestyle. By incorporating mindful movement into your day, you can effectively replace the informal exercise you used to get walking to the train every morning, or around the office, or while out running errands. Engage your body with intention and see how it changes the fabric of your day.