How To: Stay Fit at Work

Say you work long hours or just don’t have enough time to dedicate to exercising, whether as a medical professional,  a nurse or a doctor. You are often on call for very long shifts. If you’re not super careful, a busy work schedule makes for a very unhealthy and unfit lifestyle. Guess what? You can be fit. This may sound crazy but you should try getting a little workout done while at work. While you work towards bettering the health of your patients you should remember to ensure that you are healthy too.

Here are a few simple tips to help you stay fit on the job:

• The most basic way to stay healthy at work is eating healthy lunches. Your daily diet plays a major role, not only in weight gain, but the overall nutrition of your body and in your ability to carry out certain activities.
• Use the stairs as much as possible so that you can get a few extra minutes of exercise.
• Stay active. Don’t sit behind your desk all day. Get up from the desk as often as possible and take a walk, even if you just walk around the office. As a nurse or doctor you may already be doing a lot of walking, just keep at it. The key to these simple techniques is that doing multiple rounds of these same activities adds up to a lot of workout minutes for the week.
• Take your calls on a portable headset so that you can walk around while you talk. Set an alarm for every 15 minutes and try to stand every time it goes off.
• If you have your own office, you will better be able to do minor exercise practices without worrying about being seen by your colleagues. One easy move is to stand up without using your hands. Doing this over and over is similar to the squat routine.
• Loosen your hands with air circles. Clench both fist and stretch your hands outward from your side. Make circles in the air with the movement of your hand in both the clockwise and anticlockwise direction.

Hey, don’t sacrifice your fitness for a 40 hour work week when there are so many options available to you. Try a few simple techniques at your desk or workplace and enjoy the changes that you will feel within yourself. Remember that you want to fit into your scrubs for as long as possible, and you want to look great while wearing it!