Sitting at your desk all day can be harmful to your health. But avoiding time at your desk is probably not the best route to career advancement. So how do we avoid painful repetitive motion injuries – for example carpal tunnel and other shoulder, neck, wrist and arm problems as well as stay fit without leaving your office? Here are some great resistance and isometric stretches you can do at your desk.
Shoulder stretches: Every 2 hours, make circular motions with your shoulders, rotating forwards and backwards. Do 2 sets of ten. This is a great stretch that can release the tension that is in your shoulders when you sit at a computer all day.
Back stretch: To improve your posturial muscles (the ones that keep you from looking like the hunchback of notre dame), pull your shoulders flat against the back of your chair. Use the chair as resistance and hold your shoulders pressed agains the chair for 5 seconds, and repeat 10-20 times.
Bun & Thighs: Sitting on your butt all day can not only be harmful to your blood circulation but also to the asthetics of your bum (no one wants to have ‘chair bum’). That being said, you can tighen and release your butt and thigh muscles in your chair to activate the dormant muscles while sitting. We’ll call it- active sitting.
And most importantly- go for a walk. NO matter what stretches or light exercises you do at your desk, it is best to take a break and do a light lap around the office, at least once a day. During your lunch break, try to walk around and do some stretches. Rotate your neck left and right, lift your arsm over your head and twist left to right. Doing this can help ease tension and also keep your blood flowing and energy up.
