Exercising and training our bodies is key in the development and maintenance of a healthy body. A healthy body will aid you in preventing ageing, increasing strength, increasing energy and much more. We want our customers to have full access to the best ergonomic products available online but to also have the knowledge and tools required to be able to utilise these products and their own bodies the best they can.
Below we will discuss ways you can increase daily physical activity at home or in the office. No matter your age we should all be placing more importance on maintaining our bodies physical abilities given the rate new comforts and conveniences are thrown at us this day and age.
Personally, I love referring to Richard Branson’s view on exercise. The first time I heard him speak on the topic it just re-affirmed my bias towards healthy physical activity:
“I seriously doubt that I would have been as successful in my career (and happy in my personal life) if I hadn’t always placed importance on my health and fitness,”
“Make time for yourself. Exercise does not deplete my energy. Instead, it gives me energy and makes me feel like a young kid again,” he said. “Throughout my travels, I make time for physical activity, preferably a fun group exercise. Having fun with others makes exercise feel less like a burden and more social.” – Richard Branson
Do You Want To?
The first way we will discuss may seem like a belittling question and more of a step back. It is more the latter and the reason we are wanting to take a step back is to make sure that the motivation for doing something that will present tough new physical and mental challenges is legitimate and reliable enough to persist through the journey.
Has your exercise/physical activity taken a hit lately? Did it struggle to start or persist in the first place? Start again from the absolute beginning and don’t be afraid of admitting what you really want to get out of it. Whether it be having more energy for your kids or impressing the public at the beach the reasons for your motivation don’t matter but it’s effectiveness does. Remind yourself of why you are moving around/exercising more and your body may just forgive you.
Learn
What good is motivation if you don’t know how to utilise it? How long will it last if your exercise doesn’t reward it? Do you think losing weight is as simple as regular jogs?
Developing and maintaining your exercise plan, ideally, will be a lifelong journey and just like any other job or venture you take on in your life you will have to dedicate some mental energy towards understanding the topic. Skipping or taking this step lightly is detrimental towards motivation and increasing physical activity. If you have ever persisted with exercise and not gotten the expected results, this may be the step that you need to take a step back and focus on.
Whether it be consulting an accredited Personal Trainer or like myself picking up a few things from online forums and friends the benefits of educating yourself on any topic are obvious, so why is exercise any different?
You can learn why jogging alone isn’t the best tool for fat loss by looking into different types of exercises (resistance, cardiovascular) out there and their effects. You will avoid big traps and mistakes if you bring it back to the basics and respect this exciting field you are learning about.
The topic of Exercise and Health is vast and does require respect. You don’t have to dive into complex peer-reviewed studies but you will have to get your head around beginner programs/exercises initially and develop accordingly as your exercise journey continues. Another topic to delve into is food, simply because this ties in heavily with the energy/motivation aspect of physical activity. Bodybuilders will often say abdominals are built in the kitchen, perform some google searches and utilise and develop your learning within the exercise field, it’s actually a pretty interesting answer!
Do It
Why should you do it? Remember back to your first lesson and you will know why. Also, guess what, there is some good news! Once you are finished the feeling of accomplishment and endorphins make it all that better.
Furthermore, the more you improve at physical activity the easier it is to source these positive feelings simply because you will get better at training. It isn’t everyday you’ll be feeling the motivation to start your training but I can guarantee you the feeling afterwards will consistently be up there.
Do It Everywhere
For years I had just accepted that I’ll be sitting sedentary in an office sending off emails and writing blogs just like this one. Little did I know I had forgotten about my own lessons that I preach and let them fizzle off into the non-physical abyss of lazy thinking and acting.
It took myself getting a job at an online Furniture, which had its fingers deep in the ergonomic scene, to realise that like-minded individuals like myself had poured their passion into numerous products and ideas and created a large selection of options for persons concerned about physical activity and movement at the office.
I have my Personal Training qualifications and we were taught to, when screening clients, to mark office workers as having sedentary lifestyles regardless of their gym time. To me, it was a slight surprise, I knew the office lifestyle wasn’t ideal for the body but I do have to admit I did think my thrice a week sessions at the backyard gym would suffice in maintaining a healthy amount of physical activity.
Before you quit your job and make your grand exit in pursuit of physical fulfilment I would advise you to take a step back and revisit the start of the journey, do we want to? If yes, how are we going to learn the tricks of the trade?
Ergonomic Office Furniture
Not the first image you’d expect to see associated with ergonomics but history tells us of a few notable figures, including Napoleon Bonaparte, who utilised standing desks during their ventures.
Office ergonomics isn’t a new idea, it’s just been labelled and I feel we are only scraping at the surface of potential solutions to maintaining and servicing our bodies. My workplace is at the forefront and I’ve been a kid in a candy store learning about all the products that were developed, without my knowledge, to help an issue I was so worried about.
Sit & Stand Desks were the first ‘Aha’ moment. I had previously done some light research on the industry, to impress in the interview of course, but I had not familiarised myself with what was essentially one of the best sellers in office Ergonomics.
Here was a solution, that even came with numerous budget options (desktop risers), that caters to the sitting issue (sitting is the new smoking, recommendations for GP’s). This is just one example of a product that will increase your physical activity every day.
Standing or sitting for long periods of time can be detrimental to health and blood flow, make sure you have the tools and time to alternate between the two, or take it to the next level and purchase a spin bike.
I could go on and on about my excitement and new discoveries in ergonomics but I’ll leave that to the sales team. What myself and the others here aim to do is what was mentioned earlier. Give you the knowledge and tools required to increase your daily activity, if we exploit our bodies for all the health they can offer the benefits will extend far and wide.
While this article was broad and the tools mentioned can essentially be applied into any field of life see it as a reminder and a motivator. Even if you are passionate and accomplished with fitness you may still be missing out on efficient and quality solutions like I was and given up hope without realising.
Establish your motivation, learn how to utilise said motivation and apply it at home and the office, not one or the other.
If you’d like to browse our large range of Ergonomic Products click below. Do not hesitate in contacting our sales staff if you’d like to learn more about any of the mentioned products
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