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Studies have linked excessive sitting with an increased risk of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and even certain types of cancer. Incorporating stretches for the office into your workday can help counteract the negative effects of prolonged sitting by promoting blood circulation, relieving muscle tension, and reducing stiffness. Let’s do some together!

Why Stretch at Work?

Even if you exercise outside of your office job—say 1 hour a day—you’re still fighting a losing battle. Think about it; the amount of input you’re giving your body to be sedentary compared to the amount that you’re giving it to be active. 1 hour of activity to 23 hours of inactivity…those are not winning odds! Yet a lot of us bet our life on it all the time, albeit unconsciously.

This makes it evermore important that we try to mitigate the effects of our sitting at any possible opportunity. Despite that “stuck” feeling we all get when we’re working at our desks, there is, even in that restricted environment (indeed, no matter how restricted), the chance to take control of our health and do something positive with our bodies. 

In-office, at your desk routines are becoming more recognized and popular in the corporate and/or otherwise business environment(s). And the benefits of such interventions are far reaching…

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Benefits of Doing Office Stretches

Take a look at some of the life changing benefits that just a few simple stretches throughout the day can have—not just for your work, but for your life in general.

Alleviates Discomfort

The aches and pains that accompany desk-bound work are all too familiar to many office workers. Tense necks, stiff shoulders, sore lower backs…all of these ailments can significantly impact productivity and overall well-being. Regular stretching can target the muscles that are most affected by prolonged sitting, providing relief from tightness and discomfort.

Improves Focus

The mind is inextricably linked to the body, and physical well-being directly impacts cognitive function. Engaging in simple stretches throughout the workday can help rejuvenate both the body and mind, leading to improved focus, concentration, and mental clarity. By taking short breaks to stretch, you can combat mental fatigue, boost energy levels, and enhance your productivity.

Reduces Stress

Stress is cumulative, and comes in many forms in the modern workplace. The body doesn’t discriminate between these types, which is why stress is often referred to as the root of all disease. Adding stretches into your daily routine can serve as a powerful stress management tool, promoting relaxation, and releasing endorphins—the body's natural stress relievers

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5 Stretches for the Office

We will now show you 5 simple stretches that can be done right in your chair and at your workstation! These movements require no warm up, are easy to do, and can be performed multiple times a day whenever you feel like it! Try 1 at a time or all 5 in a row. The choice is yours, and any movement is better than no movement at all.

Ankle Circles

Instructions:

• Extend one leg straight in front of you
• Make a circle with your foot, rolling your ankle in a clockwise direction
• Perform for 10 reps or 20 seconds
• Switch directions, now making counter-clockwise circles
• Perform for 10 reps or 20 seconds
• Do the same sequence on the other side

Why This Helps

We tend to scrunch up our ankles while sitting in all sorts of ways. This compression and contortion distorts the function of our ankles, shortening the soft tissue that surrounds them, including our calves, tibialis anterior and achilles tendon. These circles provide the ankle joint with some much needed mobility work and encourages suppleness in all its enveloping tissues.

Seated Hamstring Stretch

Instructions:

• Extend one leg straight with the heel positioned out in front of you
• Keep your back straight and hands on the sides of your chair seat
• Gently lean forward, hinging at the hips, until you feel a stretch in the back of your thigh
• The stretch may be more intense towards the knee or glutes, this is fine
• Hold for 20-30 seconds
• Switch legs and repeat

Why This Helps

Since our legs remain bent most of the time while sitting, our hamstrings (positioned on the back of the thigh) are always in a shortened position. This can lead to uncomfortable aching in the back of the knee, thigh and up towards the buttocks. This gentle stretch helps to restore normal length to the hamstrings throughout any given workday. 

Seated Figure Four

Instructions:

• From a seated position, cross one leg so its ankle sits atop the other’s thigh/knee
• This position may be enough of a stretch, if so, hold here
• Otherwise, you can apply gentle pressure to the crossed-leg’s knee, pushing it downwards
• You can also lean gently forward to increase the intensity of the stretch
• From your end-range position, hold for 20-30 seconds
• Switch legs and repeat

Benefits

Our hips, like our ankles, get very scrunched up and immobilized while sitting in a chair. The muscles that surround the hip, particularly the glutes, are largely inactive as a result of pressure and stability provided by the chair. The figure four stretch helps stimulate them to some degree, and opens them up to receive fresh blood while still remaining in your chair.

Upper Trap Stretch

Instructions: 

• Grab the sides of your chair and proceed to pull your shoulders down
• You should, at the same time, create tension in between your shoulder blades
• From this position, bring one ear down towards your shoulder, feeling a stretch in your neck/upper back
• Hold here for 20-30 seconds
• Switch sides and repeat

Benefits

The neck is one of the most exhausted areas in office workers. We forget how heavy our head actually is, and the further it drifts forward, the heavier the strain on our neck muscles. The upper trap stretch gives these tissues some much needed relief, and can especially help people who get headaches after sitting and staring at the computer all day.

Alternating Thoracic Activation

Instructions:

• From a standing position, bring both arms up straight in front of you to shoulder height
• While keeping your hips square and shoulders down, start to open one arm away from your midline
• Reach as far back as you can without rotating the hips; squeeze the shoulder blades together
• Bring the arm back to the starting position
• Repeat the sequence with the other arm
• Perform 10 times on each arm, or, for 30 seconds total

Benefits

Our mid-upper (thoracic) spines take a beating in the office chair. We inevitably start to round as posture degrades throughout the day (sometimes immediately, we’ve all been there). This exercise/stretch encourages movement in the thoracic vertebrae to help keep them mobile, oxygenated and healthy despite our time spent sitting.

Mobility for Desk Workers

ReverseSit is an online exercise, mobility and injury prevention platform designed for office workers! Our fully-interactive platform contains a huge library of easy to do, follow-along, HD streamed routines to be done at home or at your desk to combat the effects of sitting. Try out our 7-day free trial by clicking here to see the kind of difference it can make in your work and life!

Written by Eric Lister - Certified Personal Trainer & Corrective Exercise Specialist