Fight Your Desk!

Have you heard? Sitting is the new smoking; multiple studies have been released citing negative effects that result from sitting for extended periods of time. The list includes frightening topics like heart disease, chronic pain, obesity, diabetes and even depression.[1]

For employers of desk workers, this silent and potentially deadly impact is only beginning to hit the radar. So, before our future selves end up reviewing longitudinal studies of the health damage done by office work, there are a few preventative things we can do today. After all, there is no down side to adding a little movement to the workday.

We’ve talked before about installing stand-up and walking desks, and implementing various wellness programs. If you and your employees spend most of the day sitting, here are a few easy-to-do stretches and movements to help you break things up a little (arrived at in consultation with a professional personal trainer). These stretches can all be done quickly and easily with no special equipment. Try them today and start a new (healthy) office trend!

Doorway stretch: pectoral muscles

Sitting creates tightness in your pectoral muscles that can eventually lead to long term postural issues, tension headaches, and limited mobility[2]. Do this stretch 1 to 3 times daily to correct any imbalances produced by your posture.

The next time you pass through a doorway pause for…exactly 90 seconds. Spread your arms out at a 45 degree downward angle (to your body). Let the doorway hold your arms behind you as you move your body forward until you feel a stretch in your chest and shoulders. If you don’t feel much of a stretch at this angle, move on to the next part of the stretch. If you do feel a stretch at this angle hold it for 30 seconds.

Retreat back into the doorway and bring your arms up to a 90 degree angle and repeat the same stretch. Most desk workers find this angle produces more of a stretch than the downward angle: again hold for 30 seconds

Finally, retreat into the doorway again and repeat the stretch, this time at a 45 degree upward angle. At this angle, many desk workers feel some numbness or tingling in their hands (all the more reason to do it!):  hold this final stretch for 30 seconds[3].

This stretch lengthens the pectoral muscles. It’s meant to counteract the common hunched-forward posture that produces tight chest muscles and thin, over-stretched back muscles. The more often you can do this the better!

Hip Swings

Sitting keeps your hip flexor muscles in a flexed position for much longer than they ever hit their “extended” range (and much longer than they were designed to stay that way!). To counteract this position, stand beside a wall. Place one hand on the wall for balance and lift one leg. Using your hip as a hinge, swing your leg as far in front of you as you can, leaving your knee straight.

As you let your leg fall, use the momentum generated to swing your leg behind you, allowing your knee to bend at the end of the range, pulling your heel towards your buttocks. Repeat this swinging motion rapidly for 8 to 10 repetitions before changing sides.

This dynamic movement will loosen up your hips in preparation for the following static stretch.

Hip Flexor stretch

In addition to the movement described above, take a minute to lengthen and stretch your abused hip flexors a little further. Do this by taking a long lunge position but instead of dropping one knee all the way to the floor, keep it off the floor and lean your torso backwards while tilting your pelvis forward.

This should produce a slight pull in your hip flexors and should be held for 30 seconds[4]. If, you feel pain in your lower back, you’re leaning too far. Reduce your range of motion (i.e. don’t lean as far back) and focus on pushing your pelvis forward.

Doing these three stretches will take about 2-3 minutes—just a fraction of the 8+ hours you spend every day at your desk, and will go a long way toward keeping your body healthy and mobile. Not only will those few minutes keep you agile, according to the mounting evidence on the ills of sitting, they may just save your life. This seems like a reasonable investment of time to counteract the potentially harmful effects of sitting all day.

Take a stand, take a stretch, fight your desk!

 

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[1] Gerstacker Diana, activetimes.com, Sept 5 2014.

[2] Mazzocchi Amanda, Catalystsportstherapy.com, 2014. Nelson and Kokkonen, Stretching Anatomy. Champaign IL. 2007.

[3] Nelson and Kokkonen, Stretching Anatomy. Champaign IL, 2007.

[4] Nelson and Kokkonen 2007.

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