Geeks across the land are hard at work: sitting in their chairs waiting for the next World of Warcraft expansion to drop, relentlessly writing code for the next social software phenomenon or busy picking apart the “airtight” security on their neighbor’s Wi-Fi.
While slumping may have been the universally accepted geek posture and Twinkies the celebrated food of choice, a new breed of geek is evolving – the fit geek. The fit geek is getting strong; developing stamina for marathon raids, building muscle for extended dungeon runs and increasing mobility for all night coding sessions.
Geeks are bringing exercise to the chair and getting ripped – or maybe the chair is getting ripped – either way, geeks are getting fit. Listed below are five exercises that can be done from a chair or at least near a chair and a few suggestions on how to put them all together.
1. Skier Swing
Sit with your feet on the floor shoulder width apart. Stand up – that is, elevate yourself up out of the chair – no really, I will wait for you. Let your arms hang at their sides. While hinging at the hip, extend your arms behind you and bend forward. Keep your chest up and look straight ahead. Dig your heels into the floor, drive through your hips and extend your arms forward to chest height – it should resemble a skiing motion. If you do not know what skiing looks like then you need to get away from that chair more often. Who am I kidding here? Just look it up on the interwebs. This exercise will improve your hip mobility and strengthen your hamstrings. Bonus points for also working the core.
2. Chair Squat
Sit with your feet on the floor, shoulder width apart. Cross your arms over your chest and sit up straight. Rise from the chair – yep, you are standing again – but wait, it gets better. Push your hips back and slowly lower yourself back down on to the chair. Sit up straight, dig your heels in to the floor and quickly stand back up. Lower slowly, and rise quickly. This exercise will work your quadriceps, glutes and improve your balance. For extra fun, clasp your hands behind your head when you do this exercise – this will work your shoulders and core.
3. Isometric Push
Sit with your feet on the floor, shoulder width apart. Yep, just like the first two exercises. Now sit up straight. Place your hands together, palm-to-palm. Now push. Hard. Harder. Harder. There you go, nicely done! Hold each push for five seconds, if you dare.
4. Y-Pull
Y-Pull? Because it is good for you, that is why! This exercise can be done either sitting or standing. Extend your arms overhead and put your hands at the 10 and two positions on a clock. Point your thumbs towards the back of the room. Pull your shoulders back; now pull your shoulders down. Back and down. This exercise will strengthen your shoulders and back and improve your posture.
5. Hi-Lo Reach
Next up is the hi-lo reach. This exercise can also be done from a standing or sitting position. Start with your feet shoulder width apart. If you are standing, then slightly bend your knees. If you are sitting, then sit up straight. Extend your right arm out, up and across your body. Keep your midsection straight as you reach and rotate. Pull the right arm back and repeat with the left arm. As you continue, increase the speed and reach for points that are high, medium and low. This exercise will strengthen your core and back.
So what can you do with all these exercises? I am glad you asked. Here, are a few suggestions.
Perform each exercise 10 times. Rest 60 sixty seconds and repeat one or two more times.
Photo (c) lovetoknow.com
If you are not in to counting reps, then do each exercise for 30 seconds, rest 30 seconds, and then move on to the next exercise. Run through the circuit two to three times.
For something different, set a timer for three minutes. Perform three reps of each exercise as many times as you can in three minutes. If that is too easy, then increase the time to five minutes.
These workouts can be done once or twice during long sitting sessions – maybe even three times on the weekends!
There you have it; five exercises that you can do right from your chair, or at least standing near your chair. Now stand proud, stand straight and get geek fit before that next raid starts up!
John Rushworth runs Havoc Store – a UK based online fitness retailer.
Greetings from the Admin
Hi, I am Igor, a physical therapist and a health blogger from Serbia. I have many passions in my life and I`m here today to share two of them with you - internet and medicine. After spending years reading and learning, I decided to put those two together and try to influence other people`s lives. The result of that wonderful bond is this website. So please, enjoy your staying at HelpYourBack.net and if you like our articles please share them with your friends (you will see little share buttons below), help us grow and reach more people. Regards!
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