5 exercises you can do in between calls and emails

Are you finding yourself sitting at your desk all day ? Here are some tips to help you keep active in between calls and meetings.

It’s so easy to work for long periods without a break. You may feel you are being productive, but working in this way is counterproductive as it can lead to stress and exhaustion (not to mention the negative effects that prolonged sitting can have on the body over time). 

Try to manage your day like this:

• Break work into 60-minute blocks

• Take a 3-5-minute breaks

• Make every 4th break a longer one.

Some of you may recognise this method as a variation of the Pomodoro Technique, a time-management method developed by Francesco Cirillo. When taking the 3-5 minute break, you can get up and make a cup of coffee and then performing the following stretches and exercises to refresh my mind and body and work on my flexibility and strength:

• Shoulder rotation [3 sets of 10 with 1 minute rest in between]

• Quad stretch [20s on each leg]

• Tree pose with reach [ 30s on each leg]

• Chair Tricep dips [3 sets of 10 with 1 minute rest in between]

• Chest Expansions [3 sets of 10 with 1 minute rest in between]

 There are many more exercises you could do depending on the space you have, for example neck stretches, planks, lunges, single let squats and balancing on one leg (while waiting for the kettle to boil).