Office Fitness: On-your-computer exercise reminder, specific exercises

Stay fit while you work at your computer, no "desk-potatoes"! Exercise reminder pops up at your chosen scheduled times, with specific exercises for the office, your choice of exercises, even enter your own. Get up and move, stay healthy, fit, and happy!

Why you must keep moving

The electronic age - with innovations like e-mail, the web, and teleconferencing - has made office life so efficient that we barely need to get out of our chairs during the workday. "Inactivity is a risk factor for many chronic diseases," says Judith Down, director of the Alberta Centre for Active Living.

Then there's stress. Is your company downsizing, laying off workers, involved in a merger? Did you have to move to a new unfamiliar position, or do you feel you have to work longer and harder just to maintain your current economic status? Do you struggle to balance work and home — juggle job, children, caring for aging parents? Then you probably are one of the workers at every level who are experiencing increased tension and uncertainty.

Combine inactivity with stress and you've got the perfect recipe for chronic physical and emotional illness, increased risk of injury, increased sick time - all leading you to dislike your job, to make you less productive, and to reduce your overall performance and sense of well being.

The great thing is that if you bump up your physical activity, you'll also be doing wonders for your stress levels. "Physical activity addresses stress and depression and anxiety," says Down. "It can enhance or improve mood."

"So this is actually a good marriage - exercising in the workplace," says Grant Knapik, a certified exercise specialist.

Check it out!