Monday, November 26, 2012

How to Exercise at Your Desk

As a college student you spend a lot of time sitting at a desk. Here are some great exercise tips to help you burn calories, help circulation, and prevent stiffness while you are studying at your desk.

1. While sitting at your desk, use proper posture. Your back should be straight, your shoulders back, and the top of your monitor should be level with your eyes. Do not rest your wrists on the keyboard or on the mouse pad. This helps prevent the onset of carpal tunnel syndrome. Keep your legs bent at the knees so that the knees are only slightly higher than your hips. Feet should be flat on the floor or on a step stool.

2. Stretch while sitting to prevent stiffness in your limbs. 
Neck: slowly flex your head forward and backward, side to side and look right and left. 
Shoulders: Roll your shoulders forward around 10 times, then backward. This helps release the tension off your shoulders.
Arms and shoulders: A good stretch for your arms and shoulders is to brace your hands on the edge your desk, each about a shoulder width away from your body. Twist your hands in so they point toward your body and lean forward, hunching your shoulders. Take this a step further and push your shoulders and elbows closer to the desk.
Wrists: Roll your wrists regularly, around every hour or so. Roll the wrists 10 times clockwise, then 10 times counterclockwise. This will help minimize the potential for getting carpal tunnel syndrome if you spend a lot of time typing.
Ankles: Roll your ankles regularly. As with your wrists, roll the ankles in a clockwise motion three times, then counterclockwise. This helps improve blood circulation, and prevents that tingling feeling you can get when blood circulation is cut off.
Chest: Notice if you tend to hunch in front of the keyboard. To counter that, perform the following exercise: Open your arms wide as if you were going to hug someone, rotate your wrists externally (thumbs going up and back) and pull your shoulders back. This stretch is moving your body the opposite way to being hunched and you should feel a good stretch across your upper chest.
Abdomen: Contract your abdominal and gluteal muscles, hold them there for a few seconds, then release. Repeat this every few minutes all day long while you're working at your desk. 
Calves: Stretch your calves. While sitting, lift up your legs on the balls of your feet and set them down. Repeat until your legs are comfortably tired. Repeat about 10 minutes later, and continue doing this routine for about an hour or so. This will exercise your calves, and will help prevent blood clots from developing in your legs. 

3. Stand up and walk around every half hour to keep blood flowing to your limbs.

4. Look somewhere other than your computer screen every half hour, to prevent eye irritation and headaches. 

5. Breathe deeply and hold your stomach for a few minutes while breathing in, and release stomach muscles while breathing out. If possible take a short walk outside to get fresh air.

6. Drink water throughout the day. Keep a water bottle with you, and take breaks to refill your water bottle, and stretch your legs.

Some other tools to keep close to your desk are a hand gripper or elastic band. These tools work your forearm muscles, use them while reading text book chapters. Also, keep a stability ball close by.
Sit on it with your back straight and abs firm. You will burn calories stabilizing your core and body on the ball. Use while sitting or talking on the phone.



Thursday, November 15, 2012

USU Campus Rec

Hey Aggies! Get ahead of the curve this year, don't wait until you set your New Year's resolutions to get in shape. USU Campus Rec offers ways for everyone to stay in shape. They offer the Big Blue Race Series for the runners out there, club sports, intramural sports, the ORP for those that love staying active outdoors, aquatics programs for swimmers, and Fun Fit Forever programs that include Zumba, Yoga, Spinning and more!

Take a look at USU Campus Rec's new blog, visit http://usucampusrec.wordpress.com

Monday, November 12, 2012

Bullitis

Check out this video about Utah State University's Health and Wellness Center! Don't forget to stop by the Health and Wellness Center for your flu shot, only $20.


Friday, November 2, 2012

Alcohol Awareness Week


Last week USU Student Health Services held an event for Alcohol Awareness Week to spread awareness about alcohol use. The event was held over the course of two days, October 24th and 25th, and was held in the TSC International Lounge from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. There were many booths, each one offering different informational items. There was the opportunity for students to take a pledge to either always have a Designated Driver (DD) or be a DD for their intoxicated friends. USU students take the pledge to show they will always be safe while drinking. There was information about how much alcohol is to much for your body size, what a real serving size of an alcoholic drink is, goggle games, the opportunity to ask further informational questions, and contests to win free movie tickets. Hundreds of students took the pledge, enjoyed treats, did the goggle games, and learned the real facts of alcoholic drinks. By bringing awareness to the USU student body about the dangers of alcohol, the students will be able to practice safe drinking habits now, and in the future. The event was successful, and many pledges were taken. Lots of students became better informed about the risks of drinking, and how it really affects their bodies.

Goggle Games

The Doctor Is In The House

DD Pledges