Work From Home Exercise

When should I work out?

Always consult your doctor before beginning any workout routine!

The ideal time to work out is entirely dependent upon what is best for you. Some people are more productive in the mornings, some in the afternoons. Whatever time you choose, be sure to commit to it. Sticking to a time will allow you to incorporate exercise as part of your daily routine.

Exercise can even be done between meetings or after long periods of griding through code or a spreadsheet. I've found that I focus better doing about 30 - 45 minutes of intense work then breaking for a set of push-ups.

Here are some of the things I do to stay in shape in my remote work environment.

Push ups every hour

I set a reminder on my phone to do 30 - 50 pushups each hour that I am seated during the work day. Now, I don't do this every day as that would prevent my pectoral muscles, triceps, and deltoids from getting adequate rest. I also try not to do any more than 50 in a set because I try to work out for longer durations after the work day concludes.

Exercise bike during meetings

There are times at work when you are invited to calls that you contribute very little to. Since you have to be there anyway try to squeeze in a mile or two on your exercise bike. If you don't have access to one, try jogging in place.

It'll be much more difficult to gauge the distance you've "run" but you will burn a decent amount of calories in a 30 - 60 minute call.

Go to the gym on your lunch break

Since you work at home, you can probably eat in the kitchen or at your desk whenever you want. As such, you won't need to spend your lunch break commuting to a restaurant or dining with colleagues. Use this time to head over to the gym.

If you get an hour and the gym is a short commute from your home, you can get a 30 - 45 minute workout in.

Here is my rapid workout plan broke out by muscle group. The exercises are in no particular order.

Target Muscle(s)	Exercise Name	Description
Biceps	3 x 15 Hammer Curls	You can typically lift heavier with hammer curls than standard ones, which boosts my confidence a bit allowing me to be more enthusiastic about the workout. You will also engage your forearm muscles more which means you don't need to target them individually.
Pectorals, Triceps, Deltoids	3 x 20 Incline Benchpress	Knocking out 3 muscle groups with one exercise is a must when you only have a half hour or so to workout. Incline bench presses engage your upper pecs and anterior deltoid muscles more than standard ones.
Pectorals, Triceps, Deltoids	2 x 10 - 15 Dips	After engaging my upper pecs, I show my lower pecs some love with a couple sets of dips.
Abdominal muscles	4 x 25 Ab crunches	I despise working on my abs, primarily due to the strain sit-ups place on my lower back. However, the ab machines are very low impact and a lot more fun to do. I try to do 4 sets of these whenever there isn't a long waiting line for the machine.
Quads, Calfs, Glutes	4 x 15 Leg Presses into Calf Raises	The leg press machine is a great way to work most of the muscles in your leg. Throwing in a calf raise (aka tip toe) at the end of each dip will engage your calf muscles in addition to your quads and glutes.
Lats, Biceps, Posterior Deltoids	4 x 15 Lat Pulldowns	This is another great exercise that hits 3 muscle groups at once, albeit not to the extent that the bench press does. I seldom feel my biceps engaging as much unless I use an underhand grip on the bar.
Traps, Hamstrings, Back	3 x 8-10 Deadlifts into Shoulder Shrugs	This exercise leaves me winded everytime, I typically go with heavier weight and lower reps to save time and focus on building mass.

With this routine, in addition to the exercises I do during the work day I'm able to reduce stress and stave off the weight gain that comes from sedentary jobs. If you can't make it to the gym, resistance bands are a great subsitute.

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