5 Exercises You Can Do At Your Desk

According to the Mayo Clinic, strength training helps burn calories, reduce body fat, strengthen bones and increase stamina [source: Mayo Clinic]. And the good news is that you can use your own body weight to sneak in some strength training.

For example, according to Michael Roussell for Shape Up America!, you can try desk pushups. While standing, position yourself a few feet from your desk. Keep your feet together. Then, put your palms on the edge of your desk, about a shoulder width away from each other. Lower down to the edge of the desk, and push back to the starting position. As you increase your strength, see if you can do 15 reps in a row [source: Roussell].

Need another option? You can turn it around to work your triceps, as described by Courtney Myers for Forbes.com. Put your palms on the desk behind you. Again, keep your feet together. Start with your buttocks touching the desk, but then as you bend your elbows, come forward a bit. You are now in position. Dip down until your upper arms are parallel with the ground and then push back to the starting position [source: Myers].

You just learned a couple exercises for building up the strength in your arms. However, don't forget to work your legs and buttocks, too.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests incorporating squats into your strength regimen. This will help your buttocks, thighs and hips, which, in turn, will make it easier to climb the stairs or even just walk [source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]. To perform a squat in your office:

Now, keep that chair handy. You'll need it for the next exercise on our list.

If you're looking to work the abdomen portion of your core, you don't have to plop down on the floor of your office to fit in a stomach workout. (Who knows what lingers down there anyway?) Instead, look no further than your own desk chair.

Here's how it works. Sit down nice and tall in your chair -- make it a sturdy one without wheels, if possible. Push your shoulders back as if you are trying to appear as "professional" as possible. Move to your chair's edge and place your hands on the sides of the chair or on the armrests.

You are now in position. While keeping your back straight, lift your knees. Bring them up to your chest and then back down. You can let your legs go all the way to the floor during the exercise, or not allow them to touch the ground between reps to make it even more challenging. According to Erin Kurdyla for Self.com, one option is to try two sets of 12 [source: Gallo].

So far, you've learned some exercises to build strength. However, you can also get your heart pumping in your work space with a nice dose of aerobic exercise. Just make sure you have enough open space to not harm yourself. You may also want to wait until your cube mates step away, unless you welcome questions about what you are doing on the other side of the wall. Or, take the opposite approach and invite them to join in.

Jean Lawrence for WebMD suggests incorporating jump-rope simulation into your workday. This exercise is performed just as you would suspect -- pretend to jump-rope [source: Lawrence]. Clasp the imaginary ends of your rope and start jumping. You can jump from one foot to another, or hop with both legs at the same time.

Keep up your imaginary play and try some shadow boxing, which is pretending to box. Or go old-school with some tried-and-true jumping jacks.

For some reason, stretching seems to fall off of the radar. Maybe it just needs a new PR person to spread the word on why the exercise is so important. In fact, according to the Mayo Clinic, stretching not only helps your circulation, range of motion and flexibility, but it also has the power to relieve stress [source: Mayo Clinic]. That's why you should also add some stretching exercises into your day.

So what better stretching exercise to do at work than one that makes you look like an executive? Try the arms-behind-your-head stretch, or executive stretch, as described by the National Institutes of Health Office of Research Services Division of Occupational Health and Safety. Here's how to do it:

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