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Ask Slashdot: How To Stay Fit In the Office?

Posted by Soulskill on from the five-pushups-for-every-non-work-related-pageload dept.

Kochnekov writes "This week I started my first co-op job as a chemical engineering student. I work in an R&D lab, but in between daily tasks there is a lot of downtime, which I spend at my desk, staring at my computer. I know Slashdot is used mostly by IT professionals and desk jockeys, so chances are you've all encountered the draining effects of sedentary office life: joint and back pain, weight gain, heart health risks, etc. What are some ways to counteract the negative health effects of a desk job, both during and after work?"

6 of 372 comments (clear)

  1. Excercise and diet by DrLang21 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Seriously. Regardless of what your working situation is, it's as simple exercise and diet. Take your lunch to work and be active on weekends. This makes a huge difference. If you're lucky enough to have a gym at work, use it.

    --
    I see the glass as full with a FoS of 2.
    1. Re:Excercise and diet by TheRealMindChild · · Score: 4, Informative

      Why do you even need a gym? Or wait for the weekends? Instead of standing around the water cooler, do as many pushups as you can when you have 30 seconds. Do the same before every urination break (you'll work really hard really fast). You will spend literally minutes a day, yet be in better shape than the 99%.

      --

      "When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back!" -- Cave Johnson
    2. Re:Excercise and diet by Jeremi · · Score: 4, Informative

      Because then you look like a weirdo in your office. Geeks a lot of times have issues feeling awkward. This won't help.

      The flip side of that coin is that if you're a geek, people already think you're weird, so you don't have much to lose there.

      --


      I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
  2. Simple exercises by Nerdfest · · Score: 4, Informative

    Push-ups, sit-ups, plank, and jogging. There are also lots of stretching exercises that you can do during the day.

  3. Cycling to and from work by blind+biker · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's tons of fun and it's healthy. Best of all, the time you spend on your bike going to and from work, is your own time, you don't feel like it's yet more of your life sacrificed on the altar of your employer.

    --
    "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
  4. Re:Enroll in Martial Arts by IdolizingStewie · · Score: 4, Informative

    For the record, back when I took it, my TaeKwonDo instructor made it very clear that it was going to be worth very little in a real fight. I'd almost argue it has a negative effect, because you condition yourself to aim for the most ineffective spots. The Jujitsu (weeping style and Brazilian style) he taught us when he got bored might be a little more helpful, but was still conditioned at getting yourself free long enough to run.