As I continue with my ongoing battle to avoid the Consulting 15, today I came across this little gem, titled The More You Sit, The Sooner You’ll Die. Basically, whether you get in a solid chunk of exercise at the beginning or end of the day is less important than how much you sit during the day. Yikes! I need a Trek Desk, stat!
I totally believe this from my own anecdotal evidence – when I was working for an airline, I only worked 40 hours/week but I didn’t do much working out (aside from weekend marathons). Now, I work 60-80 hours/week, and while I’m diligent about getting in two-a-day gym workouts (and even getting better about adding some weights to my cardio!), I’m still about 10 pounds heavier than I was a year ago.
For now, I think I’m going to start making it a point to take the stairs up one floor every time I refill my water bottle (every hour or so) or go to the restroom (TMI to post that frequency!). I also liked this little tip from LearnVest, which advocates jumping jacks in the bathroom stall. That might be too tough to do in my suit (plus I don’t want to be all out of breath and redfaced!), but I think a few leg lifts might energize me in that afternoon slump!
How do you keep moving during the day? Has anyone else noticed a change when switching from a job with short hours to a job with long hours (or vice versa)?
when I was consulting at CG a few years ago, I’d take the stairs when I could and park as far away as possible when driving into the office. I read that same article and now position myself differently at my desk and also get up every 30 minutes to walk around some…
we’re trying to ween ourselves off of our high heels addiction because we recently discovered how much less mobile we are without comfy shoes. And we’re starting to split up our meals into several mini-meals that require many more visits to the kitchen (with a required extra loop around the office first:)
Sometimes if I can spare 10 minutes, I’ll go outside and walk around the block. It’s not much, but I really think that moving just a little and getting some fresh air is sooooo helpful!
Bathroom exercising:
I do 25-50 standing push-ups at every potty break when at work – enough of an angle that I can feel it.
I also try to do 25-50 sit-ups at every potty break when at home where I have my choice of clean floors.
If I’m drinking as much water as I’m supposed to, I’m making plenty of trips to the john.
I also work in a facility full of stairs. I do at least one flight every time I need to go somewhere (bathroom, meeting, lunchroom, etc.)