Member Article

Promote a fitter workforce: Five desk exercises

Did you know that each year in the UK alone, an alarming 130 million working days are lost due to staff sickness, with businesses bearing the brunt and footing the bill? Research has proven that a lack of exercise is directly related to illness-related absenteeism as work. According to a study by the accountancy firm PwC, sick days are costing UK employers approximately £29 billion a year.

With such alarming statistics in mind, it is within every employer’s interest to promote a fitter, healthier workforce. In fact there is a big demand at present for companies to encourage staff to exercise and look after their health and wellbeing and consequently reap the benefits a more active set of employees brings to an organisation, such as greater productivity and less absenteeism.

Asides building a gym on your work premises, which of course requires a lot of money, resources and time, and making life for cyclist commuters easier by having bike sheds, showers and changing rooms installed at work, one fairly easy, costless and fun way to promote a fitter workforce is to encourage staff to do exercises at their desk.

Take a look at the following five exercises you can carry out at your desk regularly throughout the day in order to offset some of the negative consequences our sedentary office lifestyle has on our health.

Chair squats

As Time advises, Chair Squats are great for helping to tone your body whilst at work. Simply stand approximately six inches from your chair, lower yourself down until your bottom is at the edge of your chair and slowly stand up.

Repeat approximately 10 times.

Standing Calf Raises

To strengthen your calf muscles at your desk, stand with your feet together and slowly rise up to raise your calves. Hold for ten seconds then release. Repeat for ten.

The ‘Wooden Leg’

In its article titled ‘The 10 Best Exercises to do at Your Desk’, Forbes advises doing the ‘Wooden Leg’.

The ‘Wooden Leg’ is designed for strengthening the lower body. It involves sitting in your chair with one leg extended out in from of you. Hold the leg in the air for a couple of seconds, the raise it as high as possible, hold it again for two seconds and then slowly lower it to the floor. The exercise should be repeated for 15 times with each leg.

‘Magic Carpet Ride’

This ‘deskercise’ requires you to sit crossed legged on your chair. Aimed at developing upper body strength, you should position your hands on the arms of the chair and inhale, sucking in your gut and raising your body several inches above your chair. Hold in this position for 10 – 20 seconds, rest for 30 seconds and repeat five times.

The Thigh Strengthener

Cramped hamstrings can prove to be a catalyst for causing pain in the lower back. To help counter the risk of generating lower back pain by sitting at your desk all day, sit tall in in your desk, pull the abs in and straighten one leg forward, tightening your thigh muscles. Hold for ten seconds and the slowly release. Repeat ten times with each leg.

In order to really encourage the whole office to become involved in desk exercises like the ones mentioned above, why not make an exercise regime part of the daily routine in the office? Plan the ‘deskercises’ around regular breaks so they don’t interfere with work schedules.

Lunchtime walking/running clubs

You might want to organise group walks or runs at lunchtime, the perfect way for employees, and yourself, to let off steam, get some great exercise and embrace the afternoon’s work with much more zest and vigour!

If you do arrange to have a lunchtime running or walking club, you’ll obviously need the facilities for staff to change, shower and freshen up. Such clubs could work out much more cost-effective than building a company gym!

Not only will encouraging such exercising help keep staff fit and less prone to being absent due to sickness, but it will also create a fun, proactive and engaging distraction throughout the working day, helping boost staff morale and keep your team engaged, happy and focused.

This blog post was written by Hadyn Luke, contract manager for CMS Fitness Courses. CMS Fitness Courses (CMSFitness) are specialists in health and fitness training. Based in Huddersfield, CMSFitness offer a diverse range of high-quality personal training and fitness courses in the West Yorkshire region. CMS Fitness is recognised as a premium provider of health and fitness courses that offer a variety of commercial and government-funded training programmes for people of varying ages and backgrounds across Yorkshire.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by CMS Fitness Courses .