Stress Busting Quickie

By: Martin Paolo A. Laporga

Many people suffer health problems at a young age due to stress, fast food and a sedentary life. At the age of nineteen, I was diagnosed with arthritis (inflammation of the joints). I continued my sedentary lifestyle for some time.  At age 20, I was diagnosed with gout (usually characterized by recurrent attacks of acute inflammatory arthritis), hypertension and liver failure. I realized that to live longer I have to change my lifestyle into an active one. But the problem is I don’t’ have enough time to do exercises. Being a student, I have a duty to study and most of the time; I also have other responsibilities and commitments. There are, however, ways of coping with the lack of time. With simple exercises, you will be able to retain more muscle tone while burning calories.

People usually spend a long time either sitting down or standing up. There are simple exercises that can be done while standing up or sitting down but burn less calories than the usual workout. It is also used to maintain good muscle tone. These exercises include simple stretches to lifting and rotating.

A great exercise to do is the side stretch. You do it with your arms raised over your head or place it on your hips and then lean gently over to each side as far as you can. Be careful when doing this because it could your chair unstable. Repeat this multiple times a day to improve flexibility. It is also beneficial in reducing your waist line and aligning the spine.

 You can also do the arm stretch. It is very simple, just raise your hand and extend it as much as possible. There are different methods of doing these simple exercises; either you raise your arms straight over your head or raising them to the sides and to the back. 

Leg lifts is also a great way to go. At your desk, you can easily straighten your knees and lift your legs out in front of you. You can also march with your feet in place. This will exercise the large muscles in your legs. For easy calf exercises, you can raise your feet up on the toes and lower them.

 There are other simple exercises like gently stretching your neck or rotating your head in a circular motion. It helps in reducing stress on the neck and the upper back. Exercising at your desk only takes a few minutes. It will do your body and mind a world of good.

Each method works on different sets of muscles and all will temporarily increase your heart rate thus keeping your metabolism revving. These exercises help protect against carpal tunnel syndrome, poor circulation, and weight gain. Carpal tunnel syndrome occurs when the median nerve, which runs from the forearm into the palm of the hand, becomes pressed or squeezed at the wrist. Symptoms usually start gradually, with frequent burning, tingling, or itching numbness in the palm of the hand. It is often the result of pressing your arm on desk for a long time, clicking on a mouse for hours and a combination of other factors that increase pressure on the median nerve and tendons.

Walking is one of the best forms of exercise because it contributes many benefits to the body. One of the fundamental health benefits of walking is it helps control weight, blood sugar, and cholesterol levels. Good exercise for the legs like walking could reduce the recurrence of pain in the joints. A brisk walk can burn one hundred calories per mile. Doing it with a balanced diet should help in maintaining body weight. Walking should begin at a slow pace then gradually increasing the speed to prevent possible sprain or injury. Walking around for ten to fifteen minutes per day or one and a half hours per week is helpful for your body.

Walking up and down the stairs is also a good exercise. You can burn about 300 calories for 30 minutes of walking the stairs. One main advantage of this exercise is that there are stairs everywhere that you can use. It is also very convenient because it needs no sports equipment. Climbing stairs will exercise your leg muscles, particularly your quadriceps (front of the thighs), and your buttocks and also your abs. In addition, it also builds bone strength. It is important that you do this at a pace that you are comfortable in. Climbing stairs should be done in about 5 to 30 minutes a day to maximize results and lessen stress levels.

Remember that there is no quick shortcut in getting a healthy body. Doing these exercises may look easy but maintaining good health is not an easy task. However, it becomes an impossible task if you choose to live a sedentary life style. This is something that requires discipline and hard work. Don’t always sit around and let your body rust and get useless.  Always remember that you are the only one who can control how old you feel. The longer you do exercise, the easier they become and the best part is, you actually start to enjoy them. It’s about the attitude. It is about time to show your body that you mean business.