How much time do you spend at work? If you’re like most people including myself, you probably spend more waking hours on the job than you do at home. With this in mind, I came up with several easy and practical ways you can incorporate fitness and nutrition into your work space and ultimately keep you healthier while at work.

 
1. Make A “Health” Drawer: Your filing spaces are your friends. Most cubes have lots of little drawers. Make one of them a “health” drawer. Add a ziplock bag or two with healthy non-perishable snacks in it (maybe dried veggies), a few bags of herbal, non-caffeinated tea (switch over from coffee midday to help you sleep better at night), and a travel-size hand-sanitizing gel for use regularly when there’s a cold going around the office (did you know most colds are transmitted through shared objects like doorknobs?). A decorative canvas bag can store an extra pair of athletic shoes in case you can take a 10 minute walk or stretch break over lunch.

2. Drink Plenty Of Water: Drinking water is very important. It can help you recover from a cold more quickly (though it doesn’t “cure” it), replenish lost fluids after exercise, and assist in weight loss (many people think they are hungry when they are actually thirsty, so make sure to take a drink before diving for the candy machine). Keep a four-cup bottle or thermos near the computer and replenish daily. Don’t overdo though – excess water can dilute important minerals and vitamins in your blood stream.

3. Spend some time outside: Get out of the office and see the sun, even if it’s just for a minute. Even better, use your lunch hour to take a stroll around the block or head to the gym.

4. Pack your lunch: Don’t leave your lunch up to the fast food joint around the corner. Pack a healthy lunch ahead of time, and you’ll know that your lunch is good for you.

5. Clean your desk: Ban bacteria from your desk by wiping down surfaces like your keyboard and telephone on a regular basis.

6. Cut down on coffee consumption: Don’t put yourself on an energy roller coaster-avoid using caffeine as a way to get energy throughout the day, and use water and healthy food instead.

7. Get Blood Back To Your Brain: When you sit in a cube in front of a computer or on the phone for hours at a time, gravity pulls your blood towards your feet. It pools in your feet, ankles, and fanny; if you’re ever noticed your feet looking puffy towards the end of the day, the puffiness may be a side-effect of having blood spending so much time down there! Our arm and leg muscles function as “pumps” to get blood back to the heart. If you’ve got a shelf in your high in your cube, keep daily useables (paperclips, stapler) there; getting up regularly will remind you to stretch. While standing lift your legs up at the knee, one at a time, to help get blood flowing. Someone wrote into me with a great idea...she kept a postcard pinned up towards the very top of her cube wall – and kept an ever-growing collection of postcards that she exchanged every day in the afternoon. The new postcard each day perked her up, and it gave her a reminder to get up and stretch several times a day.

8. Take charge of your computer and phone: Make sure to take breaks from the keyboard at least once an hour. Use a wrist support at your computer when you are typing or browsing, Your forearm, wrist, and hand should be on a level, not making a V. The Harvard RSI action group suggests some exercises to help prevent repetitive stress injuries (http://www.rsi.deas.harvard.edu/). If you spend a lot of time on the phone and can’t use a speaker phone, don’t hold the phone by crunching your shoulder against your ear. Instead, invest in or ask for a headset or shoulder support for your receiver.

9. Take the stairs : many people rely too heavily on elevators, even when they only work on the first or second floor. If this is you, then walk up the stairs. If you do not need take the stairs, then you can still use them as part of your office fitness plan. Once every hour, get up, and take a stroll. Grab a piece of paper, people will think that you are on important businesses. Avoid walking to the canteen though.

10. Stress Balls: Simple but effective. Squeeze a stress ball repeatedly for a minute in each hand. Aim to form a tight fist each time. This will increase forearm strength and joint strength in the hands. Gets the blood flowing too, good for heavy keyboard users.

Make sure to let me know if you have any other tips for staying heatlhy on the job, send me an email at www.brookegriffin.com

Brooke Griffin
Fitness Universe Champion
www.brookegriffin.com