Work Break Workouts

In addition to doing stairs, I also try to do mini workouts during the day on my breaks.  This week, I tried two new ones:

1) Pure Barre Workout – http://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/isometric-exercises

2) Women’s Health Mag Ab Workout – http://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/isometric-exercises

The Pure Barre workout was perfect for the office.  Very doable in a cramped space and in work clothes, even a dress or skirt and blouse.  That doesn’t mean it was a low-key workout, though.  It was surprisingly challenging!  The small, concentrated moves quickly grew tiring; I could definitely feel it and was somewhat relieved when I finished up each exericse.  This one is going to become part of my regular repertoire.

I was excited about the Ab workout because many of the exercises use a stability ball, and I sit on one as my office chair.  I didn’t have a medicine ball in the office, so I had to improvise with a door stop (that a friend had made for me) as my hand-held weight.  Yowsa!  This workout was SUPER tough!  I couldn’t get through half the moves.  Plus, it was hard to do them in the narrow confines of my business crib while wearing a dress and pantyhose.  In fact, I was pretty discouraged after doing the workout yesterday, and I’d basically decided that I could only do this one at home.  Interestingly enough, today, some of my ab muscles are sore; I can feel that the exercises – that I did manage to do – worked.  That made me smile.   I think with a little tweaking, I’ll be able to do this routine here at work, too.

Breaks at work are so important, particularly breaks for movement if you are in a sedentary job.  If you can make the most of those breaks by getting in a workout, you’re way ahead of the game.  Try every possible workout you can and be open to customizing them for your ability and surroundings.