This one won't be half as witty as the first one, for obvious reasons. But let's jump right back in, shall we?
I'm back from Oregon and, dismayed at the weight gain from my four day vacation (plus four days of driving to and from said vacation), I decided to look around for some exercises to do at my desk so I could also plunge right back into writing. This is something I really should have looked up a loooooong time ago. After all, sitting on one's booty all day can cause headaches, heart troubles, back problems, weight gain and overall ill health. Who wants that?? None of it can be good for your creativity.
WebMD has an article on doing aerobic exercise in your office. There are three pages to this article, and the recommended exercises range from discreet at-your-desk activities to going for a walk. If you aren't worried about other people looking at you and thinking you're nuts, bust out some jumping jacks, run in place or pretend to jump rope. If the whole office will gawk at you because you happen to be in an office that is not in your own home, you can tighten your abs or buttocks, hold it, release, repeat. They also mention all sorts of exercises in between.
This article at About.com talks about isometric exercises, which are a sight more discreet than some of the other ones mentioned. One of the exercises simply has you grasp your hands, palms together, in front of your chest and push them together. This gets you a nice stretch and exercises your muscles. The rest of the exercises are similar, and all the ones I tried felt pretty darned good.
This page on Livestrong.com has a bunch of links to articles about various desk exercises. Some are geared toward specific parts of your body, while others are more overall varied exercises or target things like how to work on stress with activity at your desk or how to use a fitness ball.
Of course, you can also go for a walk, join a gym, dance your brains out or take the stairs/park farther away from your office. I know a good walk is my favorite, especially late at night when I don't have to worry about other people being out and about. It gets my creativity going, as well, maybe because I work through whatever is preying on my mind then move past it and empty everything out. I also like to jack up the music and bust lose, which my kids are young enough to be amused by. Give them a couple years and it will be a great source of embarrassment, at which time I will do it even more and be sure to do so in front of their friends, because...why else do we have kids but to embarrass them?? Riddle me that, Batman!I'll see you guys Wednesday with some pictures of the Oregon coast. In the meantime, I hope you get moving a little bit more and find an exercise you can live with doing at your desk. I'm going to try a few things, for sure. Time to get active!
Do you have any great exercises you do at your desk? Any favorite ways to get yourself moving or take a break from sitting and writing?
May you find your Muse.
*Both images courtesy of OCAL at clker.com
10 comments:
Welcome back!
I don't exercise at my desk but I do hit the gym four days a week.
My Monday is already flying by and its only 11:08 A.M.
Shelly
Writers have to get active on a regular basis or suffer the aches and pains of BIC (butt in chair).
I've got a couple of shoulder stretches, neck, leg, and back stretches I can do at my desk in my study. I walk most days with hubs (at least a mile and a quarter-our regular route).
My other way of staying fit is with weight training (not body-building)but using free weights and a cable machine. Sometimes I put the writing first, and try to get exercise later. Consistency of effort is the key to better writing and fitness. (This is the ideal - I backslide too)
One of the best things you can do, and it's fairly simple, too, is to set your desk up as a standing workstation. My wife does that at work, and she's been after me to do it for a while, too (but I really don't have the proper space to do that, right now).
Make sure you stop by my blog today. The first part of Shadow Spinner is available for free, which is part one of the Tib stuff you wanted from me.
Alex, thanks! Exercising at the gym is probably the best, by far. I may sign back up at the gym once both kids are in school.
Shelly, is that a good or a bad thing?
D.G., ah yes, BIC. I'm hoping to get into a regular yoga routine. I figure that's good for my back.
Andrew, you know, the Relax Your Back store sells standing desks now, too. I did see that and was thinking about it. They have some other great things, like very different chairs and such, to help with back issues.
I'll definitely be by. I just finished Charter Shorts and the Tib teaser on there.
Oh! I didn't know you had Charter Shorts. Well, the one that's up on the blog is Charter Shorts, so the only real reason to grab it, then, is that it's free. And, well, you know, I have commentary. heh
Oh, and, well, I'd love a rating and review (of both), you know, if you have time. :)
I don't exercise at my desk but I do run 4-5 times a week plus walk my dog as needed.
I walk to get a coffee quite often, but take a lap of the office to get to the kitchen so it feels more worthwhile. After reading stats about how sitting down for 8 hours a day does really bad things for your health I figured something had to be done. Thanks for the links too :)
Andrew, yes, I enjoyed Charter Shorts quite a bit. I'll post a review on each when I have a little breathing space.
Mshatch, that sounds like plenty of good exercise to me!
Jamie, yeah, I've been doing a lot of sitting, which cannot be good for my back. I have been working on being more physically active again, though. Sometimes it just falls to the wayside.
Reviews are awesome!
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