The Work at Home Workout

A Home Business Article Contributed by Alina Sandor

Work at Home and Stay Active

Just because working at home allows you to work in your peejays doesn't mean that you have the green light to be more lethargic. In fact, you can now be more active than you ever were with that desk job back in the corporate world. All you have to do is be crafty about the way you exercise and you'll still get plenty of work done.

Make Changes to Your Work at Home Office

To get more active and still get work done, you need to reevaluate your work at home office. Is everything within arm's reach so you never have to get out of your chair? Space things out. Move the printer to the other side of the room. Put the coffee maker back in the kitchen, then get up and go get a cup. Put your program CD's on the shelf farthest from your chair. You get the idea.

Now it is time to start working those muscles while getting some work done. Go out and buy a 62 inch yoga ball from your local sporting goods store and throw out your desk chair. Why? Sitting on a yoga ball works your muscles by simply sitting. This is called "active sitting". You can also get other products that make active sitting more challenging. Sitting on a yoga ball also improves your posture. No more tired back muscles at the end of the day.

It is also important to stretch while at your desk to keep fatigue from setting in. There are some great desk stretches at http://www.shelterpub.com/ fitness/ desk stretches/stretches graphic.html that you can download and print so that you can tape them up in your home office.

You can also read the book "Stretching At the Office" by Bob Anderson for more great ideas for stretching at your home office.

A Walk a Day If You Work at Home

We're not done yet. You also need to work on your cardiovascular, so take a thirty minuet break everyday and take a few laps around the neighborhood.

The act of walking will help your work because you will be getting fresh blood to the brain, making it work more efficiently. The fresh air will also stimulate your brain, as well as the rest of your body.

Take a pedometer along with you to help gage how well you are doing. Try to boost your steps a little more every day by walking a little faster each time, increasing your laps around the block. A healthy person should walk at least 10, 000 steps a day.

Make sure you swing your arms while you walk to get the blood flowing even more.

To keep you motivated to walking every day, keep your walking shoes and your pedometer by your desk. The sight of them will remind you to walk.

Who knows, after a few weeks you may even look forward to those times when you get out and enjoy the fresh air.

To learn more about walking go to http://walking.about.com/.