Inter-Office Odyssey

12 Stretches You Can (and Should!) Do At Your Desk

 

It's been proven that regular stretching offers improved circulation, better posture, enhanced coordination and stress relief. And if you just spare 3 minutes each hour to work on in-your-seat stretches, you can end each workday feeling better than the last.

If you need a guide, check out this printable PDF from Shelter Online. It features 12 illustrated stretches designed to refresh your wrists, arms, shoulders and neck.

 

Eat Healthy Supper Challenge

 

The third MHA employee health seminar, Eat Healthy Supper Challenge, is set for Wednesday, May 26, at 11:30 a.m. in the MHA Dining Room. Bring your sandwich and MHA will provide healthy sides, beverages, and desserts. (You may even win a door prize!)

8 Healthy Office Snacks

Don't get caught in front of the vending machine again. Pack these eight healthy snacks (each less than 200 calories) to keep you feeling full and satisfied throughout the work day.

8 Ways You Can Stay Healthy at Work

You can protect yourself and others by following these key action steps.

1. Maintain a healthy lifestyle through rest, diet, exercise, and relaxation.

2. Wash your hands frequently with soap and water for 20 seconds or use an alcohol-based hand cleaner if soap and water are not available. Be sure to wash your hands after coughing, sneezing, or blowing your nose.

3. Avoid touching your nose, mouth, and eyes. Germs spread this way.

4. Cover your coughs and sneezes with a tissue, or cough and sneeze into your elbow. Dispose of tissues in no-touch trash receptacles.

5. Keep frequently touched common surfaces clean, such as telephones, computer keyboards, doorknobs, etc.

6. Do not use other workers’ phones, desks, offices, or other work tools and equipment. If you need to use a co-worker’s phone, desk, or other equipment, clean it first.

7. Don’t spread the flu! If you are sick with flu-like illness, stay home. Symptoms of flu include fever (100 degrees Fahrenheit or 38 degrees Celsius) or chills and cough or sore throat. In addition, symptoms of flu can include runny nose, body aches, headache, tiredness, diarrhea, or vomiting. CDC recommends that sick workers stay home if they are sick with flu-like illness until at least 24 hours after they are free of fever without the use of fever-reducing medicines.

8. Get vaccinated against seasonal flu when vaccine is available in your area. If you are at higher risk for 2009 H1N1 flu complications you should receive the 2009 H1N1 flu vaccine when it becomes available. People at higher risk for 2009 H1N1 flu complications include pregnant women and people with chronic medical conditions (such as asthma, heart disease, or diabetes). For more information about priority groups for vaccination, visit www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/vaccination/acip.htm.

For more information, visit www.flu.gov.

Stair Crazy

Exercise daily but you still get winded climbing our stairs at work? Not to worry. Judging from the heavy huffing we often hear on the second floor, you're not alone.

No matter how fit you are, working on a vertical plane of motion (versus a horizontal surface like walking or running) poses a greater physical challenge - unless you specifically train to climb stairs. To feel less winded, add some incline to your cardio workout. Swap the elliptical for the Stairmaster. Or just head for the hills on your walk or jog sometimes.

Or just climb the stairs over and over all during your lunch hour every day as training. Your choice. ;)

Avoiding RSI

Taraneh Razavi, M.D., a staff physician at Google (a place that probably knows a lot about repetitive stress injuries), recently wrote an article on Google's staff blog about avoiding RSI. There are some good resources and tips any of us who sit in front of the computer all day could steal.

Research shows that injuries decrease and productivity increases when employers encourage stretch breaks and stress the importance of ergonomics. See for example this one at at Ergonomics Now.

Here are a few tips:

-- Breaks should be taken every 30-45 minutes for at least 5 minutes. If you need assistance there are free downloadable timers that will help remind you to do so.
-- Stretch your arms, hands, neck, and back during breaks. This yoga site demonstrates some exercises. Other sites are listed below.
-- Maintain posture alignment. Don't slouch on the couch with the laptop.
-- Work stations should be reviewed initially and with each office move. Adjust your chair, monitor, keyboard, mouse, laptop. Alternate keyboards and mice periodically.
--Shift your gaze from the computer screen to the distance. And don't forget to blink!
--Limit non-essential computer use. This may be heresy -- but do give the surfing, gaming, emailing, and text messaging a rest.
-- If pain occurs or persists, see your doctor, who may recommend wrist brace, ice packs, anti-inflammatory medication such as ibuprofen, cortisone injections, physical therapy, and most importantly, rest to allow healing. Don't procrastinate in addressing your symptoms -- the sooner you tend to them, the better off you are.

Read the article for more resources and tips, if you are interested. I've just excerpted a small bit of it.

How to Exercise Your Eyes

Staring at a computer screen all day isn’t easy on your peepers. So while your computer’s rebooting or taking its time copying files or compiling code, use the downtime to help out your eyeballs. Ehow outlines how to do simple strain-relieving eye exercises.

[ via Lifehacker ]

The Office of the Future?

No time to exercise? Soon, you might be able to do it in the comfort of your own cubicle.

Imagine that you could go to work each day and get that minimum 30 minutes of exercise on all days...while getting your work done. Sound impossible? According to a Mayo Clinic researcher, it's not. In fact, it may be the wave of the future.

James Levine, M.D. and his colleagues in the NEAT (Non-exercise Activity Thermogenesis) lab at Mayo Clinic have pioneered an "Office of the Future" - a fully functioning office that bears a marked resemblance to a gym (complete with treadmills that serve as both desks and computer platforms and a two-lane walking track that serves as a meeting room).

For more on the Office of the Future, visit the Walking While Working site.

MHA Goes Red

MHA recently held a Go Red Breakfast on Friday, Feb. 3...Go Red Day. Employees who contributed $5 to the American Heart Association enjoyed a heart-healthy breakfast (and got to wear jeans on Friday too). A good time was held by all - and we raised over $150 for the American Heart Association's Mississippi chapter.

To see all of the pictures from the Go Red Breakfast, click here.

Step Away from the Cheese Ball...

Need help staving off the holiday pounds? Peer pressure always works. The folks behind the brand new www.PeerTrainer.com are betting on it.

It's a FREE weight loss management site fueled by the scorn of others. Join a group of up to four people and share with them everything about your diet and exercise regime (including online calorie counters, daily logs and customized communities). The prospect of snarky comments after you report eating the rest of the leftover cheese ball in the break room just may force you to shape up.

(And it beats daily weigh-ins and counting Weight Watcher points, I guess.) Peer Trainer is now ramping up efforts to be part of corporate wellness programs too.