Have a (fitness) ball at work

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by Jen Foley, MVHNews fitness blogger, Healthy Lifestyles Director at Two Rivers YMCA

Don’t feel chained to your desk! I know it’s hard. As Healthy Lifestyles Director at the Two Rivers YMCA, Moline, I see and talk to workers and executives every day about the exhausting effort it can take to make time for any physical activity at all.

But don’t be so hard on yourselves and remember that life is a cinch by the inch and hard by the yard…So take a few simple steps toward a better life and you may feel a bit better at your desk or on the job…

Trade your office chair for a fitness ball.
A firmly inflated fitness or stability ball makes a good chair. You’ll improve your balance and tone your core muscles while sitting at your desk. Sitting on an unstable surface all day will improve your sense of balance, as well as the reactions of your muscles.

You can even use the fitness ball for wall squats or other exercises during the day. The ball forces proper spine alignment because an exercise ball is not stable, so your body needs to try to balance itself on it.

Jen Foley is the Healthy Lifestyles Director at the Two Rivers YMCA, Moline. Jen majored in Therapeutic Recreation at the University of Tennessee and Gerontology at Sonoma State University. She lives in Davenport with her husband, Tim and their two pugs Jack and Lucy. She enjoys having an active lifestyle and helping others achieve their goals.For a listing of all of Jen’s blog posts, click here.