I have a nightly home exercise I’m pretty content with, consisting of push ups, crunches, sit ups, leg lifts, lunges, and squats. When I’m at work, though, I have a short “break” routine. Every thirty minutes that I’m seated at the desk, I get up, go outside so that I’m in the sun, and do a series of full body stretches. Neck, shoulders, arms, wrists, hands, chest/back, spine, obliques, stomach, hips, thighs, knees, legs, ankles (listing those off, I just realized I need to start stretching my feet as well). Then, I do a set of ten squats and return to my desk where I do ten push ups using my chair’s armrests, raising myself off the seat with my feet on the floor. In all, it takes about five minutes.
The only thing I can’t really work on at the office is my core. Legs and arms I can get but nothing for core muscles. Any suggestions for something simple I can do around the office to keep my core as energized as the rest of me? Besides getting down on the dirty floor for a set of crunches.
I’m noticing that your evening routine has three abdominal exercises and zero back exercises—you might want to consider adding back bridges or supermans to balance your core. I would recommend skipping crunches and situps—they’re bad for your back/posture and they’re ineffective at developing abdominal strength or endurance. Instead, I’d recommend planks, since they strengthen the abdominal muscles while emphasizing good posture. The hanging leg raise is also a great ab exercise, since it works the whole abdominal chain without loading the back.
Your evening workout also only has an upper body push motion (pushups) which is neglecting your pulling muscles. I would recommend adding rows or chinups to balance out the joint. Joint strength imbalance is responsible for many injuries that people experience, and it’s very common to be stronger at pushing than pulling due to the higher status of push exercises in Western culture.
For the office routine, planks get my recommendation again. If you want to invest a bit of money, the ab wheel can be used for rollouts which are extremely effective. That shouldn’t have you touching the floor too much if you put some padding under your knees.
I see. My thought at the time was “Push up for arms, sit ups/crunches for back, leg lifts for abdomen/legs, lunges/squats for the legs themselves.” However, I have been worrying about the pressure on my back, so I’ll definitely consider replacing the sit ups/crunch.
I would like to exercise more pulling muscles to balance things out, but my central problem is a lack of sturdy places to exercise from. I’ve nothing that can support my weight while also being the proper height to pull against. Any suggestions of household ways of getting in more pulling exercises? I’ve considered buying a chin up bar (I would also like to do more hanging stretches to keep my back fit) but lacking that, any other options?
Hmm, got ya. I’ll give planks a try at home and see if I can find a way to implement them at work. If I miss my core at work, it’s not as big a loss as missing it in my actual work out.
Edited: Right after typing my response, I went outside to do my five minute stretches and realized that my work is surrounded by sturdy poles cemented in the parking lot. At the very least, I can work my pulling muscles a little at work on my breaks by doing short sets of pulls against these.
Without knowing your environment, it’s hard to say how I’d improvise pulls. You can set your feet up on a chair and do inverted rows against a table. A chinup bar is a great investment for this, as the chinup is one of the best upper body exercises available.
Actually, I have a pair of ten pound weights in my room I use during my evening routines. I know there is a name for this type of weight lift, but what about letting the weight hang and lifting it towards my chest? Making the pulling effort come from lifting it against gravity rather than lifting myself. Sure, it won’t be much of a work out, but I can at least keep the muscles engaged and work them.
Hopefully I can upgrade soon. I’ve had those dumbbells since probably ninth grade! Anyway, thanks for all the info and the link. I’ve already worked out a list of exercises by body part. Time to put it to work!
Look into plate loaded dumbbell sets. I’ve got a pair of 14″ screw lock handles that can accommodate up to 125lbs each (using 25lb plates), and it took me a long time to grow out of them.
I have a nightly home exercise I’m pretty content with, consisting of push ups, crunches, sit ups, leg lifts, lunges, and squats. When I’m at work, though, I have a short “break” routine. Every thirty minutes that I’m seated at the desk, I get up, go outside so that I’m in the sun, and do a series of full body stretches. Neck, shoulders, arms, wrists, hands, chest/back, spine, obliques, stomach, hips, thighs, knees, legs, ankles (listing those off, I just realized I need to start stretching my feet as well). Then, I do a set of ten squats and return to my desk where I do ten push ups using my chair’s armrests, raising myself off the seat with my feet on the floor. In all, it takes about five minutes.
The only thing I can’t really work on at the office is my core. Legs and arms I can get but nothing for core muscles. Any suggestions for something simple I can do around the office to keep my core as energized as the rest of me? Besides getting down on the dirty floor for a set of crunches.
I’m noticing that your evening routine has three abdominal exercises and zero back exercises—you might want to consider adding back bridges or supermans to balance your core. I would recommend skipping crunches and situps—they’re bad for your back/posture and they’re ineffective at developing abdominal strength or endurance. Instead, I’d recommend planks, since they strengthen the abdominal muscles while emphasizing good posture. The hanging leg raise is also a great ab exercise, since it works the whole abdominal chain without loading the back.
Your evening workout also only has an upper body push motion (pushups) which is neglecting your pulling muscles. I would recommend adding rows or chinups to balance out the joint. Joint strength imbalance is responsible for many injuries that people experience, and it’s very common to be stronger at pushing than pulling due to the higher status of push exercises in Western culture.
For the office routine, planks get my recommendation again. If you want to invest a bit of money, the ab wheel can be used for rollouts which are extremely effective. That shouldn’t have you touching the floor too much if you put some padding under your knees.
I see. My thought at the time was “Push up for arms, sit ups/crunches for back, leg lifts for abdomen/legs, lunges/squats for the legs themselves.” However, I have been worrying about the pressure on my back, so I’ll definitely consider replacing the sit ups/crunch.
I would like to exercise more pulling muscles to balance things out, but my central problem is a lack of sturdy places to exercise from. I’ve nothing that can support my weight while also being the proper height to pull against. Any suggestions of household ways of getting in more pulling exercises? I’ve considered buying a chin up bar (I would also like to do more hanging stretches to keep my back fit) but lacking that, any other options?
Hmm, got ya. I’ll give planks a try at home and see if I can find a way to implement them at work. If I miss my core at work, it’s not as big a loss as missing it in my actual work out.
Edited: Right after typing my response, I went outside to do my five minute stretches and realized that my work is surrounded by sturdy poles cemented in the parking lot. At the very least, I can work my pulling muscles a little at work on my breaks by doing short sets of pulls against these.
Without knowing your environment, it’s hard to say how I’d improvise pulls. You can set your feet up on a chair and do inverted rows against a table. A chinup bar is a great investment for this, as the chinup is one of the best upper body exercises available.
Actually, I have a pair of ten pound weights in my room I use during my evening routines. I know there is a name for this type of weight lift, but what about letting the weight hang and lifting it towards my chest? Making the pulling effort come from lifting it against gravity rather than lifting myself. Sure, it won’t be much of a work out, but I can at least keep the muscles engaged and work them.
Those are called dumbbell rows, and they’re a great exercise. 10lbs is awfully light for that motion, but it is better than nothing.
Hopefully I can upgrade soon. I’ve had those dumbbells since probably ninth grade! Anyway, thanks for all the info and the link. I’ve already worked out a list of exercises by body part. Time to put it to work!
Look into plate loaded dumbbell sets. I’ve got a pair of 14″ screw lock handles that can accommodate up to 125lbs each (using 25lb plates), and it took me a long time to grow out of them.
I think I’ll do just that. Thanks again!