Fitting in time for fitness

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When it comes to staying physically fit, attorney Tonya Vachirasomboon tries to remember two things.

“You have to be creative, and you have to make it a priority,” said the associate with Quarles & Brady LLP’s corporate services group in Milwaukee.

Since Vachirasomboon started her career in 2008, that’s meant a combination of teaching yoga, strength training at the gym and incorporating physical activity at the office, sometimes with something as simple as standing up.

“I’ve stacked files just to raise the level of my desk,” Vachirasomboon said. “I think that’s really helpful. As an attorney, sitting down so long, it really seems to help with my posture and helps maintain the use of certain muscles, so I’m not injuring myself at work, which can happen more frequently than I had imagined just by wearing heels.”

It’s an attitude Dr. Diana Braza, a professor and chairman of the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin, wishes more professionals would adopt.

“Even the possibility that one would look at ‘Can I modify my own workstation to allow some variance of position, without investing in tremendous resources …’” Braza said. Using something like a podium, she said, to stand for a bit and review briefs or do other work, can help.

“A lot of the research, said Ellen Dixon, coordinator of fitness and wellness with the University of Wisconsin Madison’s Recreational Sports Department, “is saying if you have a sedentary job – you’re in front of a screen, you’re at a desk for seven or eight hours a days – even if you get your 30 minutes (of exercise), five times a week, that’s not enough.”

Through her Workplace Workouts program, Dixon teaches how basic movements at the office can help reduce the risk for obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes, as well as pain in the neck, back, forearms and wrists due to poor posture.

“It’s any movement,” Dixon said. “I use the 60-3 rule: if you’re sitting for 60 minutes, then you should be getting up for three minutes every hour.

“Go to the bathroom. Pace while you’re on a phone call. Take a walk to the other end of the building and back. Take the stairs, or take a longer route to the bathroom. Anything. It’s really simple.”

Too many people make the mistake, Braza said, of thinking they have to break a sweat or get out of the office to give their bodies a boost. There is plenty to be done inside, though she said she understands the reluctance to roam around the office.

Braza suggested getting up every 15 to 20 minutes at your desk. Stretch your arms. Roll your shoulders. March in place while you read a document. Wear a pedometer to measure your steps.

“Any movement is good,” she said. “…There are certainly some guidelines; improving aerobic conditioning requires 30 to 45 minutes of sustained activity. But if we are not able to do that and, instead, we’re able to walk 5,000 or 10,000 steps [a day] and still able to meet our work responsibilities, that’s a good thing.”

It’s an approach Vachirasomboon said she uses to get through particularly busy times when regular workouts are out of reach.

“I just move as much as possible during the day,” she said.

To help, she falls back on tricks such as parking farther away from the office or walking a bit further for lunch. But, Vachirasomboon said, she’s also gotten on an office treadmill.

“They go pretty slowly, so you can walk and work at the same time,” Vachirasomboon said.

Taking 10 minutes for a few yoga poses, or even some yogic breathing, can help, as well.

“Practicing law can be very challenging,” she said. “You continue to think about it as you leave. Yoga allows me to just check in and let go of the things you can’t control as well, so then when you get back to work you can focus on the things you can assist with and can change and improve the work product.”

In fact, Vachirasomboon said, making time for exercise – whether that is a formal workout or a few stretches behind her desk – often improves her job performance.

“They go hand in hand,” she said. “It keeps me energized. I notice that when I do (exercise), I don’t feel like I need caffeine or sugary foods. I don’t need pick me ups.”

And she’s not the only one.

Research shows that physical activity can boost mood, improve concentration and help with an overall sense of wellness, all of which can improve productivity.

“It’s all around,” Dixon said. “The physical, of course, you get the blood moving; you get the muscles out of that static position. But with that, as your heart gets pumping, you start to have a change mentally, as well. It lets you come back to that work with a refreshed perspective.”

It takes time to build in new routines, Braza said, especially if you’re not typically active during the workday.

“It can be overwhelming, (thinking), ‘I don’t have that extra 30 minutes in my day. I don’t have time to go to the gym over the lunch hour, exercise, shower and get back to work,’” Braza said. “But getting up and charging ourselves with a little activity can really improve productivity.”