Five Quick Exercises You Can Do at Your Desk

In today's world, many people work long hours behind their desk at the office just to make ends meet. Stress, convenience foods, and a forced sedentary lifestyle can wreak havoc on your health and your waistline. There are, however, ways of combating the office-worker bulge. With these five simple exercises, you will be able to retain more muscle tone.

Exercise One - Side Stretches

To help whittle your waist and keep your spine aligned and supple, side stretches are excellent exercises to do at your desk. With your arms raised over your head or akimbo with your hands on your hips, lean gently over to each side as far as you can safely go. Please use caution if your chair is unstable or if it is on wheels. You can do this a few times on each side at several times through out the day.

Exercise Two - Arm Raises

In order to help protect against carpal tunnel syndrome, poor circulation, and weight gain, you should do arm raises several times a day. There are different methods of doing these simple exercises: raising your arms straight over your head, raising them to the sides, or even behind you. Each method works a different set of muscles, and all will temporarily increase your heart rate, keeping your metabolism revving.

Exercise Three - Butt Squeezes

The easiest exercise that you can do at your desk is butt squeezes. You can even do them while you are on the phone or typing up a report. Simply squeeze and release your buttocks muscles several times. This is the number one exercise that will help prevent "office chair spread" of your hindquarters.

Exercise Four - Leg Lifts

Of course, these are not the type of leg lifts that have you lying down on the floor and swinging your legs around. At your desk, you can easily straighten your knees and lift your legs out in front of you. You can also march with your feet in place. This will exercise the large muscles in your legs. For easy calf exercises, you can raise your feet up on the toes and lower them. Be sure to use your muscles when you do these exercises for maximum effect.

Exercise Five - Stress Relievers