Exercise at Work: 10 Ideas for a Healthier You

Do you want to live a happier, healthier lifestyle? As life keeps getting busier and busier, daily exercise often falls by the wayside. The result is often a less active lifestyle which can harm your long-term health. In fact, eating healthy and getting regular exercise plays such a vital role in maintaining your health that it’s important to prioritize it. Exercise reduces your weight, manages your blood sugar and insulin levels, and reduces your risk of heart disease and other complications—among many other benefits. In this post, we will explore 10 easy ways to exercise at work that you can incorporate into your daily routine at home and work. 

10 Ways to Exercise at Work

1. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. This is a great workplace exercise to incorporate into your daily routine. Climbing stairs works a variety of leg muscles, can elevate your heart rate, and increase your blood flow. 
2. Park in the furthest parking space. Getting in more footsteps each day is an easy way to improve your overall health. When you arrive at work or are out and about running errands, it’s tempting to look for the closest parking spot to where you’re going. However, by simply parking farther away and walking, you can easily double or even triple your daily step count.
3. Sit less. Stand more. Sitting burns some calories, but standing burns two to three times more. If your job or daily routine involves a lot of sitting, consider buying or asking your company to buy you a standing desk. This easy step can improve your health and encourage you to live a more active lifestyle.
4. Take a walk. This is a great workplace exercise habit to incorporate into your daily routine. Whenever your schedule and the weather permit, consider taking a brief 10- to 15-minute walk outside. The fresh air, sun, and exercise will gradually increase your energy, mood, and health over time. 
5. Hit the gym. Many people find exercising alone to be boring and demoralizing. A gym is a great way to get a change of scenery and gain a sense of collaboration while exercising. Becoming part of a local gym and getting in two or three workouts per week will pay huge health dividends.
6. Gamify exercise. Another great way to encourage yourself to get more exercise is to make exercising fun. There are countless exercise games on the market today, from simple follow-along games to fully immersed VR experiences. These games are also a great way to get the family involved and encourage some friendly competition.
7. Exercise while you watch. Watching a webinar or taking an e-learning course at work? Consider investing in an inexpensive small weight set and working out while you watch. Or you could even use an exercise bike or treadmill. 
8. Stretch regularly. Speaking of watching a screen, you can also sit on the floor while watching and do stretches or yoga. It’s also a great idea to incorporate stretching into your wake-up and sleep routines. Stretching helps to keep you limber and flexible and can also increase your blood flow, encourage better breathing habits, and raise your heart rate.
9. Get outside. If you’re like the average American, you probably spend the majority of your time inside. The simple way to exercise at work is to get up and go outside. Simply walk around the office. It doesn’t have to be complicated to improve your overall mood, increase your energy, and burn calories. 
10. Find your particular exercise niche. One of the primary reasons why people let exercise habits slip is they get bored or other things in life push them out. Making exercise fun for you can be all that it takes to establish long-term healthy exercise habits. Go online and start looking up exercise ideas that sound fun to you.

Living a more active lifestyle doesn’t have to be complicated. Simply look for easy ways to exercise more in your daily routine, consider incorporating workplace exercises into your work life, and explore new ways to make exercising more enjoyable for you. The results will be a happier, healthier, and more fulfilling life.