Ways To Passively Get Stronger At Work

Passive strength and passive income are my two biggest goals in life. What could be better than never having to exercise or go to work yet still be ripped and make lots of money?

Since I’m no expert on making passive income, my book is still working its way towards break-even as you read, let’s talk about passive strength. How can we become stronger without having to exercise or go to the gym? I have four strategies that you can implement that will barely impede on your current lifestyle, but first, I’d like to touch on the most important thing, your mindset.

YOUR MINDSEST

If you want to get stronger passively, you’ll have to think about it actively. I know, I know, actively thinking isn’t passive at all but bare with me. There was a Harvard study testing the relationship between exercise and the placebo effect. It turns out if you ask hotel housekeepers to think of the cleaning they are doing as exercise, and describe in detail how and why each movement burns calories, they’ll get healthier than those who don’t think about their jobs that way. In fact, after four weeks of behaving this way, the housekeepers who thought of their duties as exercise “showed a decrease in weight, blood pressure, body fat, waist-to-hip ratio, and body mass index.”(Crum and Langer)

The point is, for the below strategies to have the maximum possible effect on your body composition, you’ll need to think about them as exercise. An exercise ball can become a chair in your mind quickly, and we want to keep it an exercise ball forever.

THE STRATEGIES

Sit on an Exercise Ball

The aforementioned exercise ball is a core exercise that helps you burn more calories at work. Maintaining proper posture seated on an exercise ball for hours is difficult, and it isn’t a placebo effect. What we need to be mindful of is that you can comfortably sit on an exercise ball with lousy posture, and purchasing an exercise ball won’t immediately make you strong enough sit with good posture for eight hours. Use the exercise ball in addition to a regular chair when you first get it and imagine you are going into exercise mode every time you take it out. If you can manage to sit on an exercise ball properly all day long, you’ll have burned enough calories to enjoy a guilt-free cocktail. Lastly, one of the best things about an exercise ball is that it actually is a piece of exercise equipment, and here are a few ways to use it at the office to get stronger.

Work at a Standing Desk

Do you know what is a little harder than sitting all day? Standing all-day. Standing all day burns about the same amount of calories as the exercise ball but is a little less fun (if you are deciding between an exercise ball and a standing desk this will be helpful).

Standing is hard work, so hard that you’ll need a mat for your feet to be able to do it for an extended time. A standing desk offers unique opportunities for passive strength, because of the position you are working in you can easily transition to challenging positions for yourself. You could stand on one leg to practice your balance, or do a few desk push-ups to get out of the after-lunch slump. I always recommend a desk that is easy to transition to, and from the seated position, just like the exercise ball, it will be hard to switch from eight hours of sitting to eight hours of standing.

Wear Minimalist Shoes

People often neglect their feet, yet if your body was a building, your feet would be the foundation. I’m not much of an architect, but without a strong foundation . . . buildings collapse.

Your foot and ankle contain some of the most complex anatomy in the body. They are composed of twenty-six bones and thirty-three joints designed to help us balance, maintain posture, and interact with our external environment. Yup, interact with our external environment; they are designed to give feedback to the brain about the terrain, the angle of the ground, and how the body should react accordingly.

Modern-day footwear is slowly crippling the population. Almost every shoe on the market today comes with an elevated heel and a toe box that allows for little wiggle room. Having your heels raised and narrow-looking feet have no benefit apart from style. It doesn’t trick people into thinking you are taller or sleeker; it does, however, tighten your tendons, decrease your ankles’ range of motion, and negatively impact the position of your hips, which, in turn, can lead to lower back pain. Taking your shoes off at work or purchasing a pair of minimalist footwear for the office is a great way to strengthen your feet and get you better prepared for activities like running, jumping, and balancing.

*It is important to note that it isn’t feasible to instantly transition from a life of elevated heels and scrunched-up toes to the freedom of walking naturally, for several reasons we won’t get into now. This transition can take months to do the right way, and even then, it isn’t for people with existing foot injuries unless directed by a podiatrist.

There are hundreds of minimalist shoes out there here are a few recommendations: An Inexpensive Option, the Inexpensive Trail option, Best Overall option the black on black ones, Best Gym Shoe and the most Office Friendly option.

Use Toe Socks or Spacers

If the last strategy has convinced you that the health of your feet is essential, there is one more product worth mentioning that can help you passively improve the health of your feet. Spending time in modern footwear scrunches our toes together, and it causes a host of problems. Toe socks, yoga socks, and spacers all help you fix the damage done. However, the best thing you can do for your feet is to be natural. Spend time barefoot, and try to spread your toes apart. Spreading your toes is vital because it increases the circulation through your entire foot. Better circulation in your feet can help relieve symptoms from plantar fasciitis and help prevent future injuries. No matter what, spending time barefoot can help with the health of your feet and ankle and go a long way toward avoiding bunions.

Warning: don’t fall asleep with your toe socks or spacers on. You will wake up very unhappy.

As opposed to the other strategies, toe socks won’t make you much stronger, but it is the easiest thing on this list and surprisingly beneficial.