So you’re one of those hapless ‘rat race’ participants crunched into cubicle world, pinned in place by the daily demands of your office?  This used to have more of an abstract, metaphysical ring, as hard workers scurried around networking in the ‘real world’, on the street, and across physical boundaries.  These days, one of the biggest challenges of the rat race is that nobody’s racing anywhere; in fact, we’re all sitting at desks.  All the time.  Or most of it.  So much that it becomes a real challenge to get even the smallest amount of exercise.  So much that good companies build gyms into their offices.  But if you’re not fortunate enough to work for one of those places, you have a few other options.

The ‘wobble board’ or balance board has come to the rescue of more than one don or damsel in distress – this simple wooden contraption, used for ankle therapy and core training, can also be great for that ‘ergonomic’ workout you keep hearing about.  

How does it work?  Essentially, the balance board works by setting up small but consistent challenges for muscle groups.  It’s like this: activities that require the body to tense in any way are building muscle tone and strength from the ground up.  Any movement that requires tensing or physical response is getting you up on the first step of physical activity: breaking you out of that sedentary plane you fall into at a cubicle or desk.  

The basic program is this: you stay standing on the board, alternating movements to keep the board rocking.  Other alternatives are to use the board for centered push-ups or sit-ups where the goal of balance creates an additional muscle workout.  But the standing activity is where you can mix office life with strength training.  Anyone who can get access to a stand-up desk or a cordless telephone can do their desk jockeying, number-crunching or other ‘sedentary’ tasks while getting pumped on a wobble board.

Not sure if the wobble board is beyond your level of difficulty, try a wooden rocker board, balance cushion or even BOSU ball. These aids are all stability challenging fitness equipment which will engage your core muscles as well as your mind. The core consists of the shoulders, back, abdominals and hips which all work together when you are balancing on an unstable surface to keep you upright. The wobble board is the most challenging followed by the BOSU, wooden rocker board and balance cushions, but that of course is just my opinion. Give any or all of these fitness tools a try and see which gives you a run for your money.

The way the wobble board or balance board works your muscle groups is similar to other exercises that don’t use a lot of gear and gizmos.  Think about pushing on a wall with both arms, or pushing against one arm with the other.  These ‘balanced’ activities set up their own resistance by creating simple challenges for parts of the body (and therefore specific muscle groups).  On the balance board, that makes for great overall strength training, as well as balance training, all from the comfort of your own office!  You can’t beat that for bringing the home gym to work – add the perfect view from the corner office window, and you have the perfect trio of job satisfaction!  Using the board can also help you break up your day, and become the talk of the entire building, whether your co-workers are marveling at your amazing multi-tasking abilities or wondering what planet you just dropped from…either way, you’re getting closer to the goal of being able to say you’re a rat race participant who is staying fit and surviving the pitfalls of the 21st century workplace.