Workplace Fitness: How to Stay Active Without Leaving the Office

You don’t need a gym to stay active during the workday. Movement can happen at your desk, in a hallway, or between meetings.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg did push-ups in the Supreme Court gym well into her 80s. Steve Jobs held some of his most important meetings on foot, walking laps instead of sitting in a conference room. Jimmy Kimmel put a treadmill desk in his office and dropped 20 pounds. These aren’t people with extra hours in the day. They’re people who figured out how to build movement into the workday they already had.

You don’t always need a gym membership, a personal trainer, or a lunch hour to spare. Workplace fitness can be as simple as a 10-minute bodyweight circuit, a walking meeting, or a piece of active furniture that keeps your body engaged while you work. The key is weaving movement into your existing routine rather than treating exercise as something separate from your job.

7 ways to stay active at the office

1. Desk push-ups

Place your hands on the edge of your desk, step back, and knock out 10 to 15 push-ups. It takes 30 seconds, works your chest, shoulders, and core, and you don’t even have to get on the floor. RBG’s trainer Bryant Johnson confirmed she did full push-ups (not the modified kind) as part of her regular workout routine. If a Supreme Court Justice could fit them in between oral arguments, you can fit them in between emails.

2. Chair squats

Stand up from your chair, lower yourself back down until you almost touch the seat, then stand back up. Do 15 reps. This activates your glutes and quads, the largest muscles in your body, and directly counteracts the deactivation that comes from prolonged sitting. Ginsburg’s workout actually included one-legged squats on a BOSU ball, so regular chair squats are practically a warm-up by comparison.

3. Walking meetings

We touched on this specifically on Day 8, but it deserves a repeat. Steve Jobs was famous for conducting meetings on foot. Mark Zuckerberg reportedly closed the deal to acquire WhatsApp during a series of long walks. Barack Obama ended many of his working days walking laps around the South Lawn with his chief of staff. Studies have found that walking boosts creative output by an average of 60 percent. So the next time you have a one-on-one or a brainstorm that doesn’t require a screen, take it outside or down the hallway. You might solve the problem on your feet.

4. Standing calf raises

While standing at your desk or waiting for the coffee machine, rise up on your toes and lower back down. Do 20 reps. This improves circulation in your lower legs, which tends to pool when you’re sitting all day. It’s quiet, invisible to coworkers, and requires zero equipment. You could do a set during every coffee refill and never once disrupt a conversation.

5. Active sitting options

If your office allows them, try a balance ball, a wobble stool, or an active sitting cushion for portions of your day. These engage your core muscles while you work by introducing gentle instability. They’re not meant to replace your task chair entirely. Think of them as a supplement for variety, the workplace equivalent of switching from sitting on the couch to sitting on the floor. A little instability goes a long way toward keeping your body alert.

6. Treadmill desks and under-desk bikes

Jimmy Kimmel started using a treadmill desk in 2012 after reading that prolonged sitting could shave years off your life. Al Roker has one in his office as part of his fitness routine, which helped him lose around 130 pounds and keep it off. You don’t have to walk for hours. Even a slow stroll during a conference call or a podcast gets your legs moving and your blood circulating without breaking your focus. Under-desk bikes and ellipticals are even more low-profile if you’d rather stay seated.

7. Stair climbing and movement breaks

If your building has stairs, use them intentionally. Walk up and down two flights during a break for a quick cardiovascular boost. Climbing stairs elevates your heart rate faster than almost any other office-based activity. And set a recurring reminder to stand, stretch, and move for two to three minutes every hour. This can be as simple as the stretching routine from Day 9, a quick walk to the break room, or a few bodyweight exercises at your desk. Small doses of movement throughout the day add up to major benefits by the time you head home.

Trilogie is a commercial office furniture dealership and workplace design firm helping businesses integrate movement and active furniture into their commercial office environments.