Remote working is on the rise. In 2023, nearly 23% of Boulder residents were working from home. While home working offers more time with your loved ones, maintaining a healthy lifestyle can be challenging.

For example, conditions like carpal tunnel syndrome are common among remote workers, but exploring options like physical therapy for carpal tunnel syndrome can help alleviate symptoms and prevent further complications. In this article, we’ve been chatting to a local physical therapy practice. Here are their five top-rated tips on how to stay active and injury-free while working from home:

1. Get out and About

Boulder is, without a doubt, one of the prettiest areas in the US. One of the best parts of living in Boulder is access to its stunning natural landscapes.

Our bodies need sunshine to make vitamin D. Getting enough vitamin D is crucial for our mental health and plays a significant role in preventing chronic diseases, including cancer, diabetes, and neurological disease.

One of the best parts of living in Boulder is access to its stunning natural landscapes. Getting outside is a great way to stay active. Research has shown that getting morning and evening sun benefits our wellbeing. There’s no better way to start your day than getting up early and leaving the house before work. If you want to get out but are feeling lazy, finding someone to be accountable to is essential. Try finding a buddy or group or signing up for an app like Strava.

You can also make the most of your remote situation and leave the house during the day. You can put your headset in and start walking while listening to a dull meeting. If you need to read something for work, you can set it to audio and listen to it while walking.

2. Workout at home

You don’t need a large home gym to stay active. With just a few pieces of equipment, you can set up a space to stretch, strengthen, and move effectively. As a physical therapist, some of the best equipment is a gym mat and a 55sm exercise ball. I recommend getting some dumbbells. Without them, many workouts are imbalanced and exasperate poor posture. Usually, an adjustable set with around 30-50kg is enough for women, and 50-100kg is enough for most men.

Some of the best home exercises for combating poor posture include regular yoga. Yoga keeps you flexible and your calf, chest, and hip flexors. Most chronic injuries start with either limited strength or flexibility. My favorite type of Yoga for combating the office slump is Dharma yoga.

When choosing exercises, it’s essential to have a balanced routine. It’s best to target muscles that pull your body in the opposite direction to the office slump. Some good exercises are back rows and rotator cuff strengthening. Back raises and, of course, squats and lunges.

3. Take Advantage of Boulder’s Bike-Friendly Infrastructure

Boulder is renowned for its bike-friendliness. Cycling is an excellent way to stay active while minimizing impact on your joints. It’s a great way to commute to a coffee shop or to get out and about during your lunch break.

To keep away injuries, always make sure your bike setup is correct. Most bike shops will help with this. You want to make sure that your bum muscles are doing most of the work and not your thighs. Stretching after you cycle is also important – especially your calves, hamstrings, and hip flexor muscles.

If you’re choosing a bike for a workout or leisure, regular road or mountain bikes are more upright and easier on the back than racing bikes.

4. Make Nutrition a Priority

Working from home often leads to frequent trips to the kitchen, which can result in unhealthy snacking habits. The common saying is ‘we are what we eat’. Working from home can either be the best opportunity to get healthy, or it could be a total disaster.

My top tip for staying healthy is delivery boxes. These limit trips to the grocery store which take time from your day and also present an opportunity to buy junk food. There are so many in Colorado. For example, there are Locavore Delivery, Kilt Farm, Aspen Moon Farm, Farm to Fork, and many more.

Being organic means the food contains a lot more nutrients. A lack of nutrients can cause us to overeat. When our body doesn’t have what it needs, it tells us to eat more. Food delivery boxes also give us variety. When we choose food ourselves, we tend to pick the same foods repeatedly, which can lead to deficiencies.

It’s easiest to get the correct nutrition by eating all types of food, including meat, fish, and lots of leafy greens. My top tip is to use the air fryer and the freezer. Freezing veg keeps it for longer. I’ll often chop up all the onions, chop a whole cabbage, and put the rest in the freezer. If you get a lot of fruit or veg, these can also be frozen for smoothies later.

Another top tip is to make use of a multicooker or air fryer. I like the Ninja multicookers as they cook food faster and limit washing up. Home cooking can be tiring, especially when you’re working all day. These have a timer function so you can put the food in and get back to work, and it beeps when it’s ready. It also turns itself off so you don’t burn the food when you take that emergency work call!

5. Set up your workspace Correctly

Bad office workspace setup is the number one cause of office-related injuries. Here are my top tips for setting up your desk

1. Get a comfy chair with back support. The Herman Miller is a classic, well-designed chair that is well-researched. If these are too expensive, look for something like them with similar back support, etc.
2. Make sure your table is the correct height. Desks too high or low can lead to carpal tunnel. Sit with your toes touching the floor, and then make sure your desk is at a level with your elbows. Your arms should be at right angles. you can always cut a bit off the table leg or use some desk bumpers to raise the table
3. Make sure your screen is at eye level. You may need to raise the monitor or put the laptop on a laptop stand and get a separate keyboard.
4. Keep your head on top of your body. We often think about pulling our shoulders back. Our head is the heaviest part of our body. Bring your head back to align with your body, and you’ll naturally sit straight.

Final Thoughts: Balance Is Key

We hope you enjoyed our five tips for staying Active and healthy whilst remote working in Boulder. Boulder is one of the most beautiful cities in the world and worth making the most of.

John Mali Director of Media Relations

Director of Media Relations at AboutBoulder.com

john@aboutboulder.com