Sign In
Highlighting workout recommendations that can be done during your lunch break to attain full-body benefits, minus the perspiration.
Sneaking in a heavy midday workout during your lunch break can be a dreadful task, particularly as it involves having to take a shower after your workout and rush back to the office. And if time is on your side, awesome. But if isn’t, not to worry. Here are 5 lunch break exercises that provide a rush of endorphins, whilst keeping your sweat glands dry!
Stairway to Optimal Fitness
Not sexy but does the trick, stair-climbing is an unconventional workout that strengthens your lower body with every step. Take advantage of the fact that most office buildings have stairwells which, more often than not, is unused. Aim to climb for at least 5-10 minutes, gradually building momentum as you progress. Doing so will allow you to strengthen and build the muscles in your glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings and calves. Additionally, this exercise enables you to burn approximately 15 calories for every 100 steps taken, as well as get your heart rate up. For an additional challenge, skip alternate steps during your ascent to optimal fitness!
Walking Your Way to Good Health
The easiest and most accessible activity to do, walking as a form of exercise allows you to step out of the office, soak up the benefits of the sun on your skin (not too much though otherwise you might break a sweat!), as well as indulge in some fresh air. As walking involves total body movement, it boasts a variety of health benefits which include reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke, reducing body fat, stronger bones, improved balance, increase in muscular strength and endurance, as well as a strengthening of cardiovascular and pulmonary fitness. Aim for at least 30 minutes of walking during your lunch break daily, and try to pick spots that are out of the sun to maintain dryness.
Meditation and Stretching Promotes Overall Well-Being
A quick, meditative yoga routine during the lunch hour provides for a variety of health benefits without having to break into a sweat. A yoga workout will not only help in reducing stress-inducing cortisol, but can also strengthen your core, boost your immunity system, improve posture and give you an energy pump for the second half of the day. Some seat-friendly yoga stretches that can be done include seated cat pose, which aids in creating more flexibility and facilitates deeper breathing; seated spinal twist, which decreases stiffness and increases flexibility in the back, and seated hip stretch, which releases tension and increases blood circulation in your lower body.
Hardly Moving, Still Building
Who would’ve thought it would be possible to strengthen your muscles and gain fitness with minimal movement? Enter the isometric hold, a great way to switch up how you do resistance training without sweating profusely. Additionally, holding a single position for a while will teach your body to maintain proper strength, whilst building more of it in your ligaments and tendons. Some exercise holds that can be done include a static lunge, a wall sit or variations of plank-hold exercises. Sign us up already!
Stretching Towards a Better Body
While the general perception is that stretching is not considered to be an actual workout, it does play an important role in muscle building and fitness improvement. Therefore, use your lunch break to stretch the muscles in your body, which as time progresses, builds stamina, improves mobility and enables your body to build muscle. Some of the stretches that you can quickly incorporate during your lunch break include spinal twists, chest openers, neck rolls and calf stretches. Keeping fit never felt easier!
Although we might not always have the luxury of maximising an entire hour each day purely for the sake of fitness, a few minutes spent performing a variety of movements will eventually sculpt out a better you. And you’re gonna want to commit to something this easy especially when it can be done without having to shower after!
References:
Walking for good health
https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/walking-for-good-health
7 No-Sweat Workouts for Your Lunch Break Slideshow
https://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/slideshow.asp?show=113
Lunch Break Workouts Won’t Leave You Sweaty at the Office
https://www.cheatsheet.com/health-fitness/midday-workout-moves-wont-leave-you-sweaty.html/
