7 Exercises You Can Do Without Having to Leave Your Desk

It’s very easy to use a hectic work schedule as an excuse to not do any daily exercises, even if you work out of a home office. But nobody is saying you need to leave the office to get in shape. There are plenty of exercises that you can do from the safety of your desk. For some of them, you don’t even need to leave your chair.

We at Bright Side care about your health and well-being, so we’re sharing these office-friendly exercises with you.

1. Desk pushups

• Place the palms of your hands on your desk, at about shoulder-width apart.
• Shuffle your feet away from your desk until you are slanted toward it.
• Slowly lower your chest down toward the desk while breathing in.
• Push yourself back up, similar to a regular push-up.
• ​​​​​​​Repeat as many times as you can.

2. Cat-cow stretch

• Just sit down in your chair.
• Hold your chin down with your elbows slowly squeezing in.
• Open up your chest and arms while keeping your head up high.
• Squeeze your shoulder blades, and do around 5 to 10 repetitions. Make sure to breathe while performing this exercise.

3. Water bottle weights

• Take 2 full bottles of water.
• Use them to perform arm exercises like bicep curls or boxer drills.
• For each exercise, perform around 10 to 30 repetitions.
• You can perform this exercise while sitting at your desk or standing up.

4. Seated leg raises

• Sit at your desk with good posture.
• Lift one of your legs up, keeping it in a straight line.
• Keep your legs straight so that your buttocks feel squeezed tight.
• Pulse your leg lightly.
• Perform around 10 and 20 repetitions, then switch legs and repeat on the other side.

5. Box jumps

This might only be appropriate for those who work from home, but it’s a good desk exercise nonetheless.

• Find a base that can maintain your weight, like a sturdy box or table. It should be low enough for you to jump on and something that you can walk off of.
• Stand behind the table, bending your knees and keeping your hips back.
• Jump in the air, keeping both feet on the base.
• Do not jump off your base, especially if you are a beginner; simply stand and walk off, one foot at a time.

6. Chair push-ups

This also might only be appropriate for those who work from home, but again, it’s a good desk exercise nonetheless.

• Sit up straight in your chair with your legs crossed, sucking in your tummy.
• Lift yourself up using the armrests. If you are a beginner, keep your feet on the ground. Once you get better, try lifting yourself up entirely.
• Hold this position for around 10 to 20 seconds.
• Do 5 reps.

7. Tricep dips

• Make sure your desk is safe enough to maintain your weight.
• Sit on the edge of your desk.
• Move your buttocks forward and bend your arms to dip and raise yourself.

What are some other ways that you know of to you keep yourself healthy at the office?