Contributed by: Healthians Team
Introduction
With ‘work from office‘ back in motion, regular workouts can feel like a challenge.
If this transition has landed you in a no-time-or-energy-for-exercise rut, rest assured — you’re for sure not alone.
Here are some quick and easy tips you can incorporate into your daily routine to help you get back on track as you return to pre-pandemic normalcy.
Stay active
After spending a period of time out of an exercise routine, it’s important to gradually work back up to that same intensity.
Keep active while working at a desk by taking regular breaks from sitting. Sitting in one place for a long time can make your body stiff and cause neck and back pain.
Stretch your body a bit after every 30 minutes of work. Get up every few minutes to walk around the office.
Make the effort to squeeze a few steps by parking your vehicle at a distance. Walk up to a co-worker to chat about an upcoming project.
Move around in a safe environment while talking on the phone.
Just making sure you aren’t sitting for extended periods of time can add up to cumulative health benefits.
Take the stairs
Take the stairs whenever and wherever possible, instead of using the elevator. This is one of the simplest cardio workouts with several health advantages.
It is a quick and easy way to break out of that sedentary lifestyle caused by the pandemic. Every step that you climb and descend adds more physical activity and movement to your everyday life.
As an added bonus, it improves your cardiovascular fitness — and, thus, cardiovascular health over the long term.
Decades of research have shown that stair climbing, burns more calories per minute than slower-paced jogging.
Maintain a regular workout schedule
With offices opening up, your normal schedule has flipped upside down.
For most people, who had been the most active before the pandemic, scheduling workouts during weekdays may now seem difficult.
Make smart use of your weekends to give your body some much-needed exercise. Even a 15-minute workout during the weekend is better than no workout.
According to a recent study, “weekend warriors,” or people who exercise once or twice a week, have a 40% lower risk of dying from chronic illnesses than those who live a sedentary lifestyle.
Stick to a healthy diet
There are other ways to stay fit and healthy when you sit at a desk all day. Start by making minor dietary adjustments, in tandem with your hectic work life.
In the cramped confines of the office, it’s critical to gorge on foods that not only keep you hydrated but are also low in calories and easy on the stomach.
Do not binge on junk food and unhealthy snacks like chips, crackers, biscuits, and namkeens.
Opt for a low-calorie food like salad, omelette, etc. in the office canteen. Include more fruits, such as apples, oranges, and grapes to the snacking alternatives to help with thirst-quenching, bloating, and fulfilling cravings.
Get home-cooked food to your office and stay hydrated in your air-conditioned offices.
Manage stress
This can be a time when the transition from a sedentary lifestyle toward normalcy can seem taxing.
The added stress of going to work, re-establishing routines and schedules, avoiding traffic, and returning to in-person interactions can push you beyond your ability to cope.
It is crucial to come up with healthy ways to help manage it since unwelcomed stress can have a negative impact on our health, affecting our eating habits and lowering our willingness to be active throughout the day.
Prioritizing sleep, eating good meals, drinking lots of water, and minimising alcohol consumption may all aid in stress reduction and overall fitness.
Final thoughts
One thing we can all agree on when assessing the pandemic is that it has been emotionally very taxing.
It is important to concentrate on your sense of well-being, mood, energy, and cognitive functioning to ensure a well-planned return to normalcy.
While it’s good to see the world getting back on its feet, caution against the pandemic cannot be thrown into the wind, especially with new Covid-19 variants popping in many parts of the world.
If you happen to notice the symptoms of Covid-19, go for an RT-PCR test.
