Exercise at Work: How Often is it Happening?

Once upon a time, I worked as a personal trainer in a corporate fitness centre. When I applied for the job, I didn’t completely know what it was all about. So if like me, you aren’t too sure, I will explain. Basically, a company has a gym installed in their large and spacious corporate head office, that their staff can use for free. It was a pretty good set up and a great perk of working for the company. The idea behind it all, is that a healthier workforce that exercise more, can quite often mean a happier and more productive workforce. A free gym on site of where you work; you’d think it would be packed out wouldn’t you?

Wrong!

Don’t get me wrong, we had our lovely regular clients. They would use the gym regularly or have training sessions. I also taught classes like spin and circuits and they were always booked up. But for the number of people that worked on-site, it was quite shocking how many people never attended the gym. I couldn’t get my head around it. It was free. They could visit before starting work, before going home, or even on their lunch hour. They all worked flexitime, so could have a workout in the middle of the afternoon and just stay a little longer after work.

Some people it was just hard to motivate and some just didn’t like working out with their colleagues. Others just had the mindset that you have to already be fit to get to a gym. So it was a daily thing working with them to change their minds and get them to hit the gym. So I completely understand how hard it can be to exercise and stay fit, particularly now as I work from home as a freelancer, and can spend quite a lot of time sat at a desk. It certainly makes you want to have the best furniture at work, as you spend so much time at your desk.

A lot of places aren’t going to have an on-site gym for employees to use. There are things that can be done, though, to make sure you are more active as you go about your working life. Exercise important  for everyone, but particularly those of us that have desk-based jobs. I certainly need to step up my exercise game! One thing that gets people active, gets them moving and isn’t too sweaty or intense, is yoga. You can pitch it at any level, even for beginners, which I’m sure a lot of us are. I am a big fan of yoga and love it for the stretching and relaxation that it gives to me. Which for a corporate environment, can only be a good thing, right? You don’t need too much space for it and need very little in the way of equipment too.

You could try:

Mountain Pose

• Stand tall with feet together, shoulders relaxed and arms at your sides.
• Take a deep breath and raise your hands overhead, palms facing each other with arms straight. Reach up with your fingertips.

Downward Dog

• Start on all fours with hands directly under shoulders, knees under hips.
• Walk hands a little forward and spread fingers wide.
• Slowly press hips toward ceiling, bringing your body into an inverted V, pressing shoulders away from ears. Feet should be hip-width apart, knees slightly bent and hold.

Bridge Pose

• Lie on floor with knees bent and directly over heels.
• Place arms at sides. Breath out, then press feet into floor as you lift hips.
• Clasp hands under lower back and press arms down, lifting hips until thighs are parallel to floor, bringing chest toward chin. Hold for a minute.

Warrior

• Stand with legs quite far apart, turning your right foot out 90 degrees and your left foot in slightly.
• Bring your hands to your hips, then extend arms out to the sides, palms down.
• Bend right knee 90 degrees, keeping knee over ankle; gaze out over right hand. Hold for 60 seconds and then repeat on the other leg.

Would this be something you would consider doing at work or when you work from home?

*collaborative post