6 simple exercises you can do at your desk

Trevor Lagerway a contestant on Tropika Island of Treasure Curaça Picture: Supplied

Trevor Lagerway a contestant on Tropika Island of Treasure Curaça Picture: Supplied

Published May 13, 2020

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With restrictions having eased a little to now allow for the opportunity to walk outdoors – with a mask – between 6am-9am each day, there’s still a lot of people opting to play it safe and be responsible by staying indoors. 

If you’re one of those people choosing to remain under strict lockdown and only venturing outdoors for the essentials, there are still some simple and valuable exercises you can do from your desk at home that will keep you healthy, sane and safe.

If you’ve been tuning in to Tropika Island of Treasure Curaçao on Tuesdays at 19h30 on SABC3, you would be familiar with Trevor Lagerway who is paired up with Nadia Jaftha (aka: #TeamCoolRed). Trevor is an athlete, motivational speaker, MC and an entrepreneur at heart. Through The Lagerway, fitness is a big part of his life, so we asked him to share 6 simple wellness tips that you can do from your desk. 

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Try as often as possible to pull in your belly button while sitting at your desk to engage and strengthen your core. This will help support your back too.

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Every 15 or 20 minutes while sitting at your desk extend one leg at a time out in front of you and roll your ankles clockwise 5 times and anti-clockwise 5 times. Do this on both legs. This will help with blood circulation and loosen up tight ankles and feet.

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Every hour stand up and take a 1 minute walk; 30 seconds away from your desk and then the 30 seconds back to your desk, making sure you lunge back while twisting your upper body left and right as you lunge.

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Our feet take way more of a beating than we realise and so a massive release for the body is to roll the underneath of your feet with a hard ball (such as a golf ball). Not only is this therapeutic but it also has a lot of benefits to fascia release and feet tightness.

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Use the back of your chair for back stretches. Hands on the back of your chair with arms straight and head down to stretch through your thoracic spine.

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Make sure you have a big water bottle at your desk in clear sight (because out of site is out of mind). Consuming sufficient water throughout the day is vital to eliminate water retention and aid in fat loss. Our bodies are clever and the more we drink the more our bodies will acknowledge that and then not hold onto water but rather release it. Drinking lots of water also makes you get up from your chair to go to the toilet which is a (forced) good way to keep the body moving!

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