You’re working from home. Whether you’ve been doing it for a while or just starting, more and more people are finding themselves in this scenario due to the whole COVID-19 situation. For the uninitiated, it can feel like a whole different world, especially when it comes to trying to do things like exercise and eat right. There are even some work-from-home veterans who have slid into bad habits. While this may be a temporary thing or something that extends into the future, it’s important to find a way to stay healthy in both body and mind.
Here are some methods of exercise and eating that can improve your overall health while working at home:
Use A Good Chair When Working
If you’re doing a job that requires a lot of sitting … like one writing blogs… then you need to invest in a good chair. It may be a bit more expensive, but it can give a lot of support and also help you have good posture while you’re working. Otherwise you run the risk of back problems slowly making their way into the picture.
There’s another school of thought that thinks standing desks are a better idea, the idea that being sedentary can lower one’s lifespan. It depends on what you can afford, though.
Use Good Posture
While having strong seating can help a lot, that doesn’t mean that you can just ignore how you are sitting. Slouching with slumped shoulders will create problems down the road. Sit up straight and hold your elbows at a proper angle. This can prevent things like carpal tunnel syndrome, which can make things like typing quite painful. Doing all this can also prevent back pain.
Exercise
This depends on where you live. The days of the gym are over for now – you need to either do home workouts or find safe places to go outside and be a safe distance from people. If you live in a quiet neighborhood, you could go out for a walk and be able to see any people coming your way and adjust for making room for each other. Not so much if you live in a crowded Manhattan neighborhood.
Some suggest splitting up the workouts into two manageable chunks – like doing some form of cardiovascular work in the morning to get your metabolism going. Then do weight work in the later afternoon. Doing exercise can sharpen your focus.
You can also do some exercises in the comfort of your own home with nothing but your own body weight. There’s a wealth of free videos on streaming services. You just need to have a working internet and an open space in your home where you won’t annoy anyone else around you. Schedule the workout for a certain time each day. Set an alarm on your computer or phone if you have to. Start off easy if you haven’t exercised in a while, though, otherwise you run the risk of injuring yourself and needing physical therapy.
Watch What You Eat
What you eat can affect everything from your overall mood to your attention span throughout the day. It’s not good to have a lot of sugary food in the morning – your blood sugar crashes in the afternoon. Eat fruits and vegetables – that will give you good energy. When you go shopping over the weekend, try to think ahead and buy things that you know will be eaten during the week. Have a plan – like taking a list with you. Otherwise you risk just trying to eat whatever is available and that can lead to unhealthy choices.
This work-from-home life doesn’t have to be hard. Whether you’re doing this because of COVID-19 or because it’s the norm for your job, staying inside doesn’t mean that you can’t be a healthy person. Just be sure to follow these steps and you’ll be well on your way to peak performance both at work and at home.
The staff at Phoenix Physical Therapy know that working from home can be difficult. They also know that getting out to get these things fixed can be hard. That’s why they offer a Telehealth service where you can call them at 347-733-1916 and speak to someone about a physical therapy issue and they can tell you the proper exercises to do. Video chat is also available.
Phoenix Physical Therapy
Rosedale Location
23520 147th Avenue, Suite 1,
Rosedale, NY, 11422
Brooklyn Location
7510 4th Ave., Suite 3,
Brooklyn, NY, 11209
Phone: (347) 733-1916
