Try the office workout your boss won’t realise you’re doing

Whether you cycle to work or fit in a lunchtime gym session, finding the time around life commitments can be a struggle.

Telus Health (formerly LifeWorks), an employee health and well-being solutions company, surveyed 2,000 UK employees and the results of its Mental Health Index revealed that 25 per cent of workers cite motivation and/or no energy as the barrier to exercising ­regularly, while 10 per cent of workers say that cost is the biggest barrier to exercising regularly.

However, there’s a growing body of research that shows that working up a sweat isn’t necessary when combatting the evils of sitting. You don’t have to be wearing Lycra, nor do you need any fancy or expensive gear.

A key finding of a study by Columbia University, published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, was that a five-minute light walk every half-hour was the only strategy that reduced blood-sugar levels substantially, compared with sitting down all day. In particular, five-minute walks every half-hour reduced the blood-sugar spike after eating by almost 60 per cent.

Anji Gopal, of BackCare Foundation, recalls what it was like working in an office in her 20s in her previous career in finance.

“When I worked in an office, I was young and there were many times I would push through when working and focusing on something. It’s when you stand up to put your coat on that you realise your back or neck are a bit stuffy. That’s what happens when you’re immersed in a project.”

Now, as an osteopath and yoga teacher who works both privately and for the NHS, she works with patients, students and teacher trainees on a daily basis, using yoga as a practical and gentle way to improve health.

She has delivered lectures to groups of doctors who look puzzled when she asks them to raise their arms above their heads. “One said, ‘I haven’t lifted my arms above my head all week.’”

In times gone by, we would have been picking fruit off trees, Gopal points out: “We don’t do those functional moves now, especially if we’re desk-based. It sounds trite today, but we really aren’t supposed to be sitting down all day.”

She likes finding movements that are easy to do, as that makes it more likely you will do them. “I’m a yoga teacher- trainer and a mum. I look for the simplest things I can do now, and quickly, which will make a difference for my patients, my clients and for me. The ­easier something is to do, the more likely you will do it.”

Simple changes can become movement habits that no one will even notice you are doing.

Here’s how to move in the office – by stealth…

Make it a habit

In an ideal world, you’d put a timer on your phone and get up and move around every 40 minutes, says Gopal. From there, you can work in small routines that become habits. If you need a reminder, put it as the screensaver on your phone.

“Get into the habit of saying, ‘Right, when I finish a phone call, I will always do some shoulder rolls.’ That might tie in with your mindfulness practice of asking how did that phone call go?” says Gopal.