Stretches for long days at your desk

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Humans weren’t made to sit all day. Sitting has a negative effect on your hips, feet, back and shoulders, as well as your breathing and ability to relax.

I can hear you thinking: yoga exercises are difficult, or they’re yet another thing to add to my list, so that’s never going to happen. Fortunately, the exercises I’ve selected take very little time and give you a lot in return: the feeling of moving your body easily, freedom from neck and back pain, and the ability to stay productive for longer.

Disclaimer: I’m legally required to say that I’m not a doctor. So if you’re really in pain, see your GP. That said, these exercises have helped me a lot, and my physiotherapist recommended some of them. I’d suggest trying them a few times and, if they work, making them a habit!

Jefferson curl

This is a wonderful exercise for loosening up your back, shoulders and neck. I do it every day.

For this exercise, stand upright on a box, crate or other raised surface and roll down, one vertebra at a time. This helps you:

  • Stretch all the muscles from your lower back to your neck.
  • Learn to move your spine as a whole and as individual joints.
  • Gain more control over your posture.

How do you do this exercise?

  • Stand upright on a raised surface, hands by your sides, chest forward (without arching your lower back), legs straight and abdominal muscles engaged.
  • You can hold a small weight in each hand, or a bar with both hands.
  • Roll your chin toward your chest, one vertebra at a time.
  • Then roll your spine down, vertebra by vertebra, with gravity helping you. Start at your neck, then your upper back and finally your lower back.
  • Make sure your back is rounded, like a cat. Lift your back by drawing your belly button straight toward your spine.

Here’s a video that explains it well

https://youtube.com/watch?v=-AYwOuNBzqk

Tips for the Jefferson curl:

  • Slow and controlled — The aim isn’t to use as much weight as possible or do the exercise as quickly as possible. The aim is to do it WELL, so you get all the benefits of the Jefferson curl.
  • Light weights — This is essentially a mobility exercise. Start with no weight or very little weight (4 kg) and build up slowly. Stop immediately if it hurts.
  • Engage your abs — Keep your deep abdominal muscles engaged on the way down and up. These deeper muscles (transversus abdominis) are the ones you tighten when someone is about to punch you in the stomach.
  • Use your abs — Pay attention to how you use your abdominal muscles. This makes rolling down vertebra by vertebra much easier, or even makes it possible in the first place.
  • No gym membership? No excuse! You can stand on a small platform, crate or bench with some improvised weights, especially as the weight doesn’t need to be particularly heavy.

Shoulder rotations

This exercise is ideal for keeping your chest open, which helps with neck pain. Most people sit hunched over their computer, so their shoulders tend to rotate inward. This exercise keeps your shoulders healthy and opens up your body.

You’ll also notice less stress, because you can breathe more easily and fully. A tense body restricts your breathing, which creates more stress. Stress at work often maintains itself in a vicious circle. But you can break that circle and turn it into something positive by opening up your body.

Shoulder rotations help with that too. They take almost no time and are very simple and effective.

The exercise is simple:

  1. Hold a resistance band in front of your body with a wide grip and your hands facing down.
  2. Keep the band straight and rotate your hands behind your body with your arms straight, then return to the starting position.

See how easy shoulder rotations are to do

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqIBAy-onC8

Tips for shoulder rotations

  • Can’t do the exercise? Try holding the band with a wider grip. You can also use a narrower grip and pull outward, moving your hands away from each other along the same line.
  • Experiment — Experiment with where you feel the muscle stretch, and try holding the movement at certain points.
  • No elastic or resistance band? Use a belt, broomstick or small towel.
  • Several times a day — There’s no reason you can’t take a resistance band to work or university and open up your body whenever you’ve been sitting for a while.
  • You’ll naturally want more — This exercise is so simple and feels so good that you’ll WANT to do it more and more often!

Lunge stretch

This exercise is a little harder than the previous two, but it’s very important, especially if you have lower back pain.

Lower back pain is almost always caused by sitting too much. Your hips become stiff, and the muscles in your hips pull your lower back into an arch. You solve this by stretching your hips rather than your back.

How do you do the lunge stretch?

  1. Place your left foot on the floor, with your knee and thigh at a 90-degree angle.
  2. Rest your right knee on a yoga mat, the floor or a small cushion.
  3. Engage your abs!
  4. Keep your hips level with the floor (parallel) as you move forward.
  5. Tighten your glutes and abs for a deeper stretch in your thighs and hips.

See how to do the lunge effectively

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV5gMMxOwyY

  • Good times for this exercise are in the evening and morning.
  • Keep breathing. Take long, deep breaths to relax a little more. A muscle is never physically stiff or shortened; it’s almost always the result of a neurological pattern. Your body needs to trust that a “long” muscle is safe. You build that trust by continuing to use that range of motion and relaxing in it.

Now that you know a few exercises to loosen up your body, you can also look at how to make them less necessary, or unnecessary altogether. Learn how to move, sit and sleep naturally, without pain or effort.

Health