Burning calories at your desk

At the dawn of time dinosaurs roamed the earth.

Later came humans who learned to hunt, gather and farm.

And then came….the cubicle. And man and woman were told “you will sit in this cubicle all day long and not move and do work. We will give you telephones with which you will call other humans rather than walking to them and chairs that roll so you never have to get out of them. And you will like it.”

I think we all know humans were not meant to sit all day in cubicles but when it comes down to it sometimes the bills have to be paid my friends and that’s how it gets done. For those of us lucky enough to have a job and are also concerned about fitness and caloric burn here are some of the ideas I’ve compiled.  

Here are the ones you may already know but hopefully this can be a reminder.

• Give yourself a few extra minutes so you can park farther away and walk.
• Take the stairs if you can.
• Work out on your lunch break if a gym is near by or even just take a walk. Walking may not burn 700 calories in an hour but it burns a few and you aren't sitting at your desk eating.
• Instead of calling, get out of your chair and go talk to the person. This not only builds relationships but burns a few more calories.
• If you need to use the rest room use it on another floor and take the stairs back to your desk.
• Wear a pedometer. Just being aware might help you take a few more steps and burn a few more calories.
• Don’t lean back in your chair. Sit up straight and tall. You’d be surprised how something so simple is harder than it sounds.


Stressed out? Take a minute to go to the restroom. Just sit in a stall and breathe. It can be for even a minute. Try and focus on positive things or just your inhale and exhale. (I tend to only do this if the bathroom is empty or if I know when someone walks in they won’t recognize my shoes and think I’m weird doing all this heavy breathing.)

If you are feeling adventurous and can brave the looks from coworkers here are a few that I have read about and would love to try.

• Try a mini pedal exerciser for under your desk. Don’t laugh, but I just won one of these for $17 bucks on ebay. If I can just figure out how to stop my rolly chair from rolling without being too conspicuous.

• Have an at-desk exercise routine you do each day at your desk. You can even wear ankle weights under your pants to increase resistance.

   o Elevate each leg 30 seconds. 5 reps per side.
   o Seated calf raises.
   o Sit up straight and pull your abs in.
   o Bicycles. Sit up straight in your chair, contract abs and lift your legs in the air. Pedal them slowly like you are riding a bike.
   o Heel touches. There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home. Sit up straight in your chair, contract abs and lift your legs in the air and touch your heels together.
   o Flutter kicks with your legs. Sit up straight in your chair, contract abs and lift your legs in the air and flutter them like you are swimming.
   o Butt squeeze. (I’m sure you can figure this one out.) Sit up straight, contract your abs and squeeze your butt. Hold for as long as you can. Release and repeat.

• If you can, stand at your desk rather than sit. This isn’t an option for me but it sure would be nice once and a while.• Sit on an exercise ball instead of a chair.