One of the hidden challenges of working from home is the loss of the physical activity that is naturally built into an office-based working day. The routine of commuting, moving between meetings, and leaving the building for lunch all contribute to a baseline level of movement that simply disappears when the desk is at home. Without those natural cues, it is easy to spend far more of the day sitting than intended.
The human body is not designed for extended periods in one position. Staying seated for too long creates physical imbalances, contributes to musculoskeletal tension, and affects both energy levels and concentration. Research from the Office for National Statistics has consistently shown that musculoskeletal and mental health conditions are among the leading causes of workplace absence in the UK — a clear indicator that physical wellbeing and working life are closely connected.
The good news is that staying active while working from home does not require hours of dedicated exercise time. The following five approaches can make a meaningful difference with relatively modest effort.
1. Make the Workspace Slightly Awkward
The instinct when setting up a home office is to optimise for convenience — everything within easy reach, all tools close at hand. This is efficient, but it also means very little movement is required throughout the day.
Deliberately introducing small amounts of friction into the workspace creates natural opportunities to move more frequently. Practical examples include:
- Keeping a glass of water in a different room, requiring a short walk for each refill
- Leaving the phone in another room so that answering it requires getting up
- Positioning the printer away from the desk
None of these changes significantly disrupts work, but together they add up to meaningful additional movement across the course of a working day.
2. Move at the Desk
For periods when leaving the desk entirely is not practical, desk-based movement is a useful alternative. Taking five minutes each hour to do simple exercises releases physical tension, improves circulation, and provides a mental reset that can improve focus for the work that follows.
Effective desk exercises include:
- Arm wraps and arm swings
- Shoulder rolls
- Head turns and head tilts
- Torso twists
- Calf raises and leg lifts
- Leg swings side to side
Switching off the screen and putting the phone on silent during these short breaks removes the temptation to keep working and makes the break genuinely restorative.
3. Join an Online Exercise Class
Online exercise classes offer a flexible and accessible route to structured physical activity that does not require travelling to a gym. Many platforms offer monthly access to a library of videos and health-related content, covering everything from yoga and Pilates to strength training and cardio. Live classes, where participants join a session in real time with an instructor, add an element of external accountability — the social commitment of showing up is a significant motivator for many people.
4. Get Walking
Walking — particularly in green spaces — is one of the most accessible and consistently beneficial forms of physical activity available. Research suggests that physical activity in natural environments can help to reduce physiological stress indicators and support positive mood. No special equipment is required, and even a ten-minute walk provides meaningful benefit, both physically and mentally.
Building a short walk into the working day — whether at the start, during lunch, or at the end — provides a natural boundary between work and personal time and helps to compensate for the movement that commuting previously provided.
5. Schedule Activity in the Calendar
A meeting with a client goes into the calendar because it is treated as a commitment. Exercise and physical activity benefit from the same treatment. Without a specific time blocked out, the working day has a tendency to expand and fill available time — and it is easy to reach the end of the afternoon without having left the desk.
Scheduling active time — even a 15-minute walk at a fixed point in the day — converts a vague intention into a concrete plan. The calendar is a tool for managing time in the way it was intended to be spent; treating physical activity as a legitimate use of that time is both practically and psychologically effective.
How Professional Academy Supports Your Journey
Physical wellbeing and effective self-management are foundations of sustained professional performance. Professional Academy offers qualifications in management and leadership and marketing that develop the practical and strategic skills needed to perform consistently — designed to fit around the demands of working life through flexible, blended delivery.
Use the Qualifications Navigator to explore the options, or book a call with the Professional Academy team to discuss the right pathway.
