Fitness trick: How to workout at the office

When life gets in the way of your workouts, don't let the pounds pile on. No reason is reason enough to skip your fitness regime. Vogue explores ways to work that body even while you're stuck to your office desk. 

Chained to a desk 

The condition: You work long hours in a sedentary position, which leaves you with a niggling ache in your neck and lower back. Add to that, the daily commute, copious amounts of coffee, frequent restaurant fare and a sense of fatigue that just won’t quit.

Combat move: Seated arch slouch

Work it: Alicia Fernandes, sports and manual physiotherapist at Optimal Movement, says, "Sitting for long periods (at your desk) stretches and weakens the spine extensors, leading to back and neck pain, and could result in altered blood supply to the discs and ligaments. To counter this, sit erect, squeeze your shoulder blades together and arch your lower back as you breathe in. Breathe out and slouch forwards. Do five to seven reps every 20 minutes."

Add-on exercise: To strengthen core muscles (which support the back and give you a flat stomach), sit erect with your hips, knees and ankles at a 90° angle. Press each foot turn by turn (five to seven reps) into the floor; hold for five counts.