Power Through | Quick Work From Home Fitness Tips

These quick work-from-home fitness tips will help break up the monotony of sitting for long periods when you work from home. Incorporating quick fitness breaks can help you power through long days. Creating a schedule that has short breaks built-in will help you stay on track and feel better throughout the day.

Stand up. Take some time to stretch a little bit. A study published in Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice deemed sitting too much to be a health hazard (1). It’s been associated with various negative health outcomes including, diabetes and heart disease. Dr. Edward R. Laskowski recommends that people take a break from sitting every 30 minutes or try a standing desk to help reduce the amount of time they spend sitting in a day.

But when you are right in the middle of a project or trying hard to finish up an assignment, it’s easy to work through the day without realizing or feeling the effects of sitting too long.

Quick Tips to Increase Energy

You need to take a break from work. Yes, you could easily push through and maybe get the log out earlier by skipping your break, but it could take a toll on you over time. Working from home is not a competition or a race it’s all about balance. Balancing home/work life and balancing your time.

If you are struggling to break us sitting time, try setting a timer on an app to motivate you to get up an move around every 30 minutes or so. UC San Diego Health has a great video with some basic stretches that is UNDER 1 MINUTE! A quick minute break is a great way to help break up the monotony of sitting and could encourage you to develop a longer routine eventually.

Studio Jibby has a great 5-minute Break At Work Stretch routine that is easy to follow and very relaxing.

Yoga with Christina has a 10 minute Office Yoga routine that you could do in your chair.

If you want a little more movement during your break you could go for a brisk walk, create your routine with maybe some jumping jacks and squats.

BodyFit by Amy has a 5 minute Low Impact Work Break routine that incorporates stretching and movement to help work out some of the kinks from sitting for long periods.

You could create a YouTube playlist with your favorite quick workout videos so they are easy to find throughout the day.

Not only will these movements help improve posture and your overall physical well being but they will also help break up the day. You’ll feel more energized and ready to continue with your workday.

A study published in BMC Public Health revealed that high levels of fitness improve cognitive function. Several other studies have also revealed the benefits of exercise on brain function. These short periods of movement are worth working into your day.

Mind and Body Fitness

We know that the body and mind are connected in a very special way. Just as taking care of our physical bodies has a positive impact on our minds – taking care of our minds also improves our physical well-being.

One way to take care of our minds is to meditate. There have been many studies that have found meditation to have positive long-term changes in brain activity. Even short-term mindful meditation practice has been found to improve mood and emotional regularity.

A study published in Frontiers in Psychology used forms of meditation that some people might not be familiar with to study its effects on cognition. Preksha Dhyāna is a Jain meditation that is meant to purify emotions and the conscious mind. This study used Mahapran dhvani (buzzing bee sound meditation) and leśyā dhyāna (color meditation) practices to guide students to focus on certain stimuli. This study showed that combining various meditation practices among college students improved their attention, short-term memory, and overall well-being.

One of the biggest obstacles in meditation is the inability to initially quiet the mind. It’s something that is said often. We can’t sit for long, the mind wanders, and there is too much stress to try and meditate. If you are one of the many people who struggle with meditation, look for forms of meditation that you can connect with. Maybe the popular mindful meditation is not the right fit for you.

Perhaps trying mantra meditation, movement meditation, progressive relaxation, or visualization meditation might work best. It’s certainly worth exploring to try and receive some of the benefits from meditation. There are many resources to find meditations that might work for you.

• The Chopra Center Meditation offers free 21-day meditation programs several times a year. These are guided meditations with mantras and inspirational readings.

• Siddhi Yoga just introduced a FREE 30-day meditation challenge, taught by Sandeep Solanki. The course format uses video instruction. There are lessons to follow each day ranging from just over 10 minutes to under 30 minutes in length. The lessons begin with breath awareness and build up to work on various topics such as forgiveness, gratitude, healing, and abundance.

There are also hundreds of meditation videos on YouTube ranging from just a few minutes to over an hour. Taking time out of a busy day to rest your mind and reconnect with yourself is an important way to cope with stress and rejuvenate the mind.

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Do you have a routine for self-care that helps cut through the daily work from a home grind? What works best for you? Leave a comment or visit us on social media and let us know!