The Good Body At Work
Your universe of exercises, that make you strong!
All of our exercises are divided into body parts. Each body part has seven core exercises, which should be done in this sequence:
Warm-up » Coordination » Mobility » Stretching » Stability » Strength » Balance
The first exercises test your level. You should be aware of whether or not these exercises cause you additional pain. If that is the case, please consult your doctor, physical therapist or other specialist before you continue.
The exercises can be repeated multiple times for increased difficulty. The exercises labeled “strength or stability” can have multiple variations (A, B, C). Pick the one you like the best, or complete multiple versions for increased difficulty.
All exercises can be made without the use of physical aids, with a few exceptions where a chair or water bottle is used. There is no need to change to your gym clothes either, all our exercises can be done in the workplace. The only thing you need to do is to get started – right away!
Enjoy!
Team Howdy
Find your exercise
Frequency and repetition
- Each exercise should be repeated 3 times, before you move on to the next.
- Each body part has 7 core exercises, some with variations.
- We recommend that you do all exercises once per day. If you feel improvement, you may increase the frequency to two times per day. If you feel pain, consider doing the exercises every other day.
Motivation
It can be very difficult to motivate yourself. A good piece of advice is to find a colleague – a buddy – whom you can perform your exercises with. You do not need to work out together, but you can help each other and make sure you complete your individual exercises.
Feedback
Sometimes you need a professional, but often it may be enough to get feedback from a colleague. So why not get a colleague to give you feedback and help you complete your exercises?
Stretch and move
You do not need a guru to tell you how to do it. Just staying in motion and increasing your activity is vital and your body will thank you for it.
Daily movement
Think these exercises into your daily movements. When you get up from your table, rest your arms on the table and stretch your back! Animals are amazing at remembering this; but we humans forget, which is why we end up with pains in our body.
Give yourself a challenge; stretch your body as a part of that movement – all we ask is that you do this for 10 seconds every hour!
Moderate exercise
It is a good idea to be physically active outside of work hours and for at least 30 minutes every day. A rule of thumb to approaching “moderate exercise” is that you should feel slightly out of breath during the activity.
Suggestions to moderate exercise could be:
- Biking to and from work
- Doing gymnastics
- Weight lifting
- Various teamsports
Heavy exercise
To strengthen your endurance, bones and muscles, you should – at least twice a week – also complete a minimum of 20 minutes of heavy exercise per session. A rule of thumb to “heavy exercise” is that you should feel out of breath and only able to speak in short sentences.
Suggestions to heavy exercise could be:
- Running
- Swimming
- Teamsports with high intensity
- Interval training (cardio)
Remember: Pain does not necessarily mean you should stop being physically active. Actually, your body feels better, if you remember to stay active. It strengthens your muscles and joints and makes you stronger.
Finding an exercise-buddy is a great tip. You can keep each other active and help each other maintain interest. This could be one of your colleagues.