Five easy desk exercises to keep you healthy at work

WE’RE always being told that sitting at a desk all day is bad for our health.

It can sometimes be a challenge to build enough physical activity into your day, and from RSI to shoulder tension and tender low-backs (not to mention dry, tired eyes), too long slumped at your office computer can be a health hazard.

So how can you combat it?

Well, Currys PC World and Fitbit have teamed up with celebrity personal trainer James Stirling, aka London Fitness Guy, to create a 20-minute workout you can do at your desk.

Consisting of five ‘high-intensity’ exercises, all you need is a desk and chair (make sure it’s not a wheelie one that’s going to fly across the floor and leave you to come a cropper just as the CEO walks past!), and apparently, when a bunch of volunteers tried it, they burned on average 115.2 calories.

It targets a range of muscle groups too. Fancy giving it a go? File that report, put your coffee at a safe distance, nip to the loos and pop on some shorts and trainers, and get going…

1. Desk press-ups

Sculpt those upper-arms, shoulders and torsos with a set of these. Remember, with press-ups, good form is essential if you want to avoid injury, so aim for quality over quantity and build up gradually!

2. Chair splits

Take care with those wheelie chairs, people! Rope in your office buddy to hold it steady. We reckon this one’s much harder than it looks…

3. Tricep dips

Backs of arms often get overlooked. Some regular sets of these will soon remedy that.

4. Calf raises

Unless you have an appropriately-sized step next to your desk, this one probably technically isn’t quite a desk-side exercise. But nipping out to the stairwell could be part of the workout too, we suppose…

5. Shoulder presses

You don’t even have to stand up from your chair for this one. Bonus – it’ll remind you to drink more water, too.