Exercise and the Writer

by Kaye George

Increasingly, I hear online chatter about the conditions of writers’ bodies: their hands, their backs, or just in general. C’mon people! We have to take care of our instruments. We can’t write without our hands and fingers. Well, we can if we use voice recognition software, but I’ve heard that it’s less than ideal. I don’t want to do that for a long while.

There are ways to keep in shape in a sedentary job. There are chair exercises, for example. Dr. Oz has one. I did this one and got a good workout.

This chart is good.  I printed this one out for my bulletin board--it’ll be a little easier on the knees.

This page has some for the less able-bodied. 

Here’s a sit down chair workout. 

These are a little more strenuous. They’re supposed to be done in an office, but they’re pretty conspicious. 

The only problem is finding time to do them, right?  Wrong. You can work these in all day long. Set a timer for 50 minutes. When it rings, do 10 minutes of exercise, then get back to writing.

Now, go forth and do as I say. I’m not saying I do this faithfully!