8 Ways To Burn Calories At Your Desk

You’ll find it surprising to note how many people attribute a lack of fitness to their work schedule. In this article, we offer some exercises that will help you burn calories without rushing to the office gym. Ten repetitions each is a good start for each of these.

Shoulder Stretch

· Enact reaching out with your right arm to take something from the left side by stretching it across your chest.
· Use your left arm to hold your right from beneath to bring it closer to your chest.
· Do this for the left arm.

Abdominal Crunch

· Lean back, waist upwards and back straight, while sitting on your seat’s edge.
· Hold both sides of your seat firmly.
· With both knees bent, lift your legs up, while the abs flex each time.
· Lower your legs straightening downward, without allowing your heels to touch the ground.

Lower back exercise

· Keeping your palms on your lower back, push your fingers downwards as you lean back.
· Allow your back to arch, with elbows pointing straight behind you as your chest faces upward.
· Maintain for 15 seconds.

Quadriceps and Calf stretch

· Keep both palms on your right leg a little above your knee, and from the hip flexor, lift it, extending it until it is straight.
· Holding the leg straight, flex the muscle for at least 10 seconds in that position.
· Lower it slowly, keeping you foot back on the floor and then repeat with the left leg.

Sitting and standing straight

· Ensure your chair is adjusted to promote a healthy posture, where you aren’t round-shouldered or slouched over.
· Keep both your feet flatly grounded.
· Stand straight up, your shoulders back and chin levelled.

Chair dips

· Keep both palms on the edge of the chair and your legs, extended straight in front of you.
· With your elbows bent and hips before the chair, lower your body with your elbows.
· When your elbows are at 90 degrees, push yourself back up.
· Do at least 10 repetitions.

Ab twists

· Place both hands on the left arm of your chair and twist only your upper body, keeping your legs straight and unmoved.
· Do ten repetitions each, twisting to the left, and then to the right.

Front raise and Tricep toning

· Keeping your abs inward, sit straight and hold a slightly heavy file in your left hand.
· Raise the file to shoulder level, hold, and continue to elevate it above your head.
· When you arm is straight up, bend your elbow and slowly lower it sideways till it’s extended at shoulder level, then straighten and lower it to your side.
· Repeat for other arm.
These office exercises should tone your upper and lower body effectively, but are the minimal measures for fitness. Taking the stairs, two or three at a time, doing push-ups before lunch or every two hours, and eating home-cooked food are other ways to dedicate a greater effort to your health.

Gadget Of The Week, iRig MIX

Techies and musicians the world over have been toying with the idea of bundling the everyday smartphone with a portable accessory that’ll allow them to dish out some tunes while on the move,
and IK Multimedia has heard all the pleas and come to the rescue!
We’ve seen an array of apps being launched by software companies to cater musicians who own swanky iPads, leaving the huge Android market completely untapped. Thankfully though, IK Multimedia filled up that void by launching the all new iRig MIX that caters to both the markets and does its usual bag of tricks and more! Previously known to launch Guitar interfaces for iPhone along with a wide variey of apps, IK launched the iRig MIX, a handy tablet sized piece of analog machinery that does all the things a DJ console would do.

A professional DJ mixer, the MIX comes with a crossfader, cues, EQ and volume controls among other nifty knobs needed to please a Disc Jockey! Capable of clubbing two devices at the same time or mixing through a single one, the MIX gives complete control of the mixing to a DJ in the palm of his hands. You can have two iPhones or android devices, maybe just one, or even an old-school CD player, the MIX can handle everything thrown at it.
But what truly stands out is the possibility of connecting a guitar, bass guitar or practically any other instrument that needs some mixing assistance. A very handy feature for a band who wish to tweak their sound to perfection on or off the stage. The MIX is capable of pairing itself with every music-based iOS and Android app available in the market, and acts as a worthy accessory to your tablet or smartphone.



And just to sweeten the deal, IK Multimedia bundles four highly useful apps with the iRig MIX for a person to fidget; DJ Rig, the professional DJ mixing app, AmpliTube, the iOS guitar amp and effects app, VocaLive the processing app for vocalists, and GrooveMaker, the loop based beat and groove making app.
So if you have an Apple device or an Android smartphone and are a budding DJ, a professional musician, a vocalist, or someone who loves to tweak their music the iRig MIX is the right accessory for you. Priced at a highly affordable tag of INR 5500/-, the iRig can be purchased directly from their official website.

Top 5 Windows Phones In The Market

Microsoft entered the highly lucrative smartphone market with their Windows 8 for portable devices. Next in the line of Windows operating systems, Windows 8 is a tile based OS that is set to replace Windows 7 on desktop PCs and handheld devices as well.
Nokia and HTC have embraced this all new OS and have launched a variety of smartphones in different price brackets. Let’s have a look at the best Windows based smartphones among them all.

1. Nokia Lumia 920

The high-end smartphone by Nokia, Lumia 920 is the torchbearer for Windows and Nokia alike. A rival all set to take on Android biggies HTC One X+ and Samsung Galaxy SIII, 920 is packed with features. A 4.5 inch screen with a state-of-the-art 8 megapixel Carl Zeiss optics ensures breathtaking visuals. An LTE phone with 32 GB of internal memory and dual core Snapdragon processor that clocks 1.5 GHz and 1 GB of RAM makes this machine run smoothly. Priced at 37,000/- this one’s an expensive handset but competes fairly well with its rivals.

2. Nokia Lumia 820

920’s smaller sibling, Lumia 820 is a smartly placed smartphone. A 4.3 inch screen with an 8 megapixel camera, 8 GB of internal memory with expandability options, Dual Core snapdragon 1.5 GHz processor, 1GB RAM and all the other glitz and glamour. Simply put, 820 is the dwindled down version of the 920 with a slightly less-attractive display and camera capabilities. With a price tag of 23,500/- the 820 is the perfect handset for a mid-segment phone user.

3. HTC Windows Phone 8X

A high-end Windows 8 phone from the HTC camp, this one fits right into the competitive segment with the top ones out there. To put things into perspective, the 8X has everything the 920 does, sans the Carl Zeiss optics and the Nokia tag. The secondary camera on this one is a wee-bit powerful all thanks to its 2.1 Megapixels. Priced at 33,500/- , get the 8X if you’re a sucker for everything HTC with a Windows tag on it!

4. Nokia Lumia 520

The budget-phone by Nokia, the Lumia 520 is a simple yet classy looking handset with the right chiselling to make it look suave and stand out in the crowd. A 4-inch screen and 5 megapixel camera with 8 GB internal memory and dual core 1 GHz processor is a steal-deal, especially with the price tag of 10,500/- only. Only drawback being is the lack of a secondary camera but with the current connectivity issues it won’t be a real problem.

5. HTC Windows Phone 8S

The HTC 8S is the tamed version of the 8X. A phone with 512 MB RAM, dual core 1 GHz processor, a 5 megapixel camera and 4 GB internal memory. Not the best in its class, but it surprisingly packs a punch when it comes to performance with regards to Windows 8 in it. At 18,000/-, the phone is a bit heavy on the pocket, but gives a fairly decent Windows 8 experience to a user.