About a year ago, I picked up a set of Perfect Pushups, those rotating pushup handle things you see advertised on TV. I try to do a set of 10 each hour while I'm at work. Co-workers looked at me askance at first -- probaby still do. I've cited the studies warning about the health risks of sitting at your desk too long. Nevertheless, I try to be discreet.
I still work out most days after work. But the push-ups get me out of my chair during the day, don't take more than a minute to do a set, and give brain and body a little charge.
I recommend something like the Perfect Pushup -- besides all the reasons in their commercials -- because they help overcome the psychological ickiness of putting your hands on the floor (even if it is no dirtier than your keyboard.) With all the effort corporations are giving to getting their employees to walk 15 minutes a day to bring down health insurance costs, I think the Perfect Pushup makers are fools not to promote this sort of office usage for their product.
I used to do something similar. Luckily, I had a cube at the end that faced a wall. After I started feeling some wrist pains I set up a keyboard-timer, a program that was part of Gnome that locked the screen after a given interval of continuous activity. I set it to 2 minutes every 30 minutes that didn't include at least a 1 minute break from typing. During my 2 minute break I had enough time to do a set of push-ups and a set of sit-ups and would alternately go refill my water and go to the restroom. I think it ended up being akin to the Pomodoro technique because I found myself working harder and really getting into the zone to beat the timer.
I also had a period where I bought a new car and started driving to work. I put on about 15 pounds over two months. I realized this and went back to biking to and from work. For me, bicycle commuting is the best way to get exercise because it doesn't feel like wasted time when I would just be sitting in traffic anyway. It can be a bit of a hassle, but I get to comfort myself with monetary savings and benefiting the environment.
Bikes are awesome. I just moved from a college town to a big city for summer internship and I'm toying with the idea of buying a second hand bike for the duration (cheaper than public transit?) but this city doesn't have the same ubiquitous bike-rack infrastructure as the college town, so I'm not sure where I'd park it...
I still work out most days after work. But the push-ups get me out of my chair during the day, don't take more than a minute to do a set, and give brain and body a little charge.
I recommend something like the Perfect Pushup -- besides all the reasons in their commercials -- because they help overcome the psychological ickiness of putting your hands on the floor (even if it is no dirtier than your keyboard.) With all the effort corporations are giving to getting their employees to walk 15 minutes a day to bring down health insurance costs, I think the Perfect Pushup makers are fools not to promote this sort of office usage for their product.