Three things from your office job impacting your run training

Sitting too much

Whether it’s at the computer or in meetings, office jobs can include a lot of sitting. Even if you run before or after work, the beneficial effects can be impacted by excessive sitting during the day. When you are in a seated position, even with the best posture, your anterior chain (i.e. the muscles on the front of your body) get compressed and, over time, shorten. In the short term this is why you may feel stiff in the hip flexors and hips after sitting for a while. Over a longer period of time, this can lead to limitations in range of motion which can impact running form.

Sitting can also impact posterior chain muscles in somewhat of the opposite way in that extended sitting can lengthen them. Additionally, because they are not being engaged, extensive sitting can weaken the hamstrings and glutes.

Finally, sitting can actually exacerbate some injuries such as hip flexor, piriformis, and even Achilles issues. Often people will find their soreness or stiffness is worse both immediately after getting up and for the day after.

What to do about it

The best way is to stand more. Ideally, this would be a standing desk that allows you to stand for large chunks of time. However, that may not be realistic depending on your organization, set up, or other factors. If that is the case, ensure that you stand up and walk around frequently. This may also entail the need for additional mobility work and stretching to counteract those change in the muscles. When you are sitting, check in with your posture regularly to ensure that at least you have proper ergonomics.

Insufficient fueling and hydration

With back to back meetings and a lot of tasks, it’s sometimes challenging to find time to eat and drink during the day. Proper nutrition and hydration is critical to your running success, particularly if you are training at a higher volume on a regular basis. 

How to make sure that you eat and drink enough during the day

First, have things available. Make sure you have water (or beverage of choice) with you and keep some healthyish snack items at your desk for easy access. If you tend to get busy or distracted throughout the day and forget to eat and drink when you should, set a reminder on your calendar or phone.

Being stuck in meetings all day can make this even trickier. If you are fortunate, you will be able to eat your meals or at least an unobtrusive snack during your meetings.  But let’s say you don’t have the ability to eat in meetings and you are back to back, there is always the option of liquid nutrition. Bring a smoothie or protein shake. I have never seen even the most buttoned up offices not let people drink coffee during a meeting (that would likely spark some type of mutiny) so put it in a coffee to go cup if you feel uncomfortable. 

Footwear

You may be surprised at this one on the list, but most of traditional professional footwear is not conducive to health feet for running. For women, high heels are particularly damaging as wearing them on a regular basis can lead to shortened calf muscles and Achilles tendons. Additionally, the toe box on these shoes tend to be narrow and artificially constrain the tendons, bones, and muscles in your feet. For men, the stiffness and lack of support can constraint the flexibility your feet need to run and can exacerbate foot injuries such as plantar fasciitis.

What are the options?

Reduce the amount of time you wear your ‘fancy’ footwear. That doesn’t mean never wear them; they may be important some of the time. Keep another comfortable pair of shoes at your desk to wear when dress shoes aren’t necessary. If you’re walking any distance, change into shoes that provide more support and comfort (this has the added bonus of extending the life of your dress shoes).

Don’t let the office bring you down!

An office lifestyle can have some negative impacts to your running. Recognizing the pitfalls and adjusting to minimize the effects can actually make a huge difference in your run training.