A seated job and a sedentary lifestyle are always associated with muscle tension in the neck, back and shoulders. To avoid back pain and subsequent headaches, spend as little as 10 minutes warming up. In addition, this type of exercise is a powerful stimulant, unlike the traditional strong coffee.
Here are 11 simple exercises you can do right at your office desk.
1. Cat/cow pose
The cat/cow pose stretches the upper shoulder girdle, neck, and spine.
- Extend your spine upward with your hands on your hips.
- As you inhale, arch your back, stretch your chest forward, and point your gaze to the ceiling without craning your neck back.
- As you exhale round your back, twisting your tailbone toward you. Rest your chin on your chest and point your shoulders forward.
2. Head tilts to the side
Tils your head to the side stretches the neck and shoulder muscles.
- Sit on the edge of a chair, put your hands behind your back, cross your fingers.
- Rest your hands in this position on your right hip, tilting your head to the right side. Hold for a few seconds.
- Repeat for the other side.
3. Tilts down
Bends down stretch the cervical-vertebral spine.
- Place your feet parallel, with your right foot on top of your left foot.
- Without moving your pelvis, gently lower your chest to your shin, touch the floor with your hands, neck relaxed.
- Repeat the exercise the other way.
4. Chair dog pose
Down/up dog pose stretches the muscles of the chest, hamstrings, lumbar, and neck.
- Stand one step away from the chair, lower your body forward, stretch out your fingers and put your palms on the seat of the chair.
- Without bending your arms or legs, start pulling your pelvis back away from the chair until you feel a stretch in your shoulder joints, armpits and chest.
- Leaning on your arms, inhale to lift your head and torso up, arch your back, and pull your shoulders back.
5. Twisting the pelvis
The pelvic twist exercise stretches the lumbar and cervico-shoulder region.
- With your feet shoulder-width apart, grasp the armrests with your hands and push your body up off the seat as you exhale.
- Keeping your pelvis suspended, rotate your pelvis to the right/left, forward/backward.
Carefully return to the starting position.
6. Tilts to the side
Tilts to the side stretch the oblique muscles of the abdomen, as well as the muscles of the axillary region.
- Place your right arm around the opposite edge of the chair and raise your left arm above your head.
- As you exhale, bend your body to the right and pull your arm diagonally upward.
Repeat this exercise to the other side.
7. Chair Lunges
Lunges with a deflection in the back stretch the muscles of the chest, lumbar and neck.
- Roll out from the back of the chair at 90°.
- Sit comfortably on the edge of the chair, resting on your sciatic bones, then do a deep lunge forward.
- As you inhale, push your chest forward and arch your back back.
- Tilt your head back and hold that position for a few seconds.
- As you exhale, return to the starting position, then lean back against the back of the chair, stretching your right side, with your arm reaching diagonally upward.
- Repeat the exercise the other way, stretching the left side.
8. Turning the body with support on the table
Turning the body stretches the pectoral and trapezius muscles.
- Raise your arms bent at the elbows and bring them behind you, palms on your shoulder blades.
- In this position slowly lower your upper body, resting your elbows on the edge of the table and rotate your body, alternating sides.
9. Opening the chest
The chair-back exercise stretches the pectoral muscles.
- Sitting on a chair, put your hands on the back of the chair and fold them into a lock.
- Hold the position, pull your chest up, and hold for 8-10 seconds.
10. Shoulder warm-up
Twisting the arms stretches the muscles of the shoulder girdle.
- Feet shoulder-width apart, bring arms bent at the elbow up to chest level, palms open.
- Without unbending your arms, make rotary movements of the shoulder joints downward and then upward.
- Repeat 8-10 times.
11. Relaxation exercise
The child’s chair pose helps stretch and relax the entire spinal line.
- Sit comfortably on the seat with your legs over the back of the chair.
- As you exhale, lower yourself onto your hips, grasp your elbows, and lower your head down.
- Relax your body and stay in this position for 10 seconds.
Keep reading: 9 exercises to get a bigger buttocks in a week that aren’t squats
