Desk Exercises For Office Workers

Published: 2024-04-11

Do you work at a desk all day? Do you spend most of your day being sedentary? Do you feel like you are hunched over for hours a day? If this sounds like you – here are some desk exercises for you to try!

The Seated Position

Many of us work at a desk all day long and even though it would be nice to think that we sit with perfect posture all day, it is easy to lean in towards the computer, especially at the end of the day as you get more tired. When you do sit hunched over, even though your back muscles might feel like they are full of knots, they tend to be in a lengthened position. On the other hand, the muscles in front, including your pec muscles, are often shortened and tight, which pulls your shoulders forward. Consistently sitting with forward shoulders and a rounded back is going to reinforce this posture even more.

Exercises to Do

Here are some exercises that you can do to help work against the “desk posture”:

1. Seated chest stretch: Start seated on your desk chair and put your hands behind your back. Try to interlock your fingers if you can. Pull your shoulders back and down and open up your chest. Try holding it for about 30s.

2. Triceps stretch: Bring one elbow up towards your ear and grab it with your opposite hand. Try to keep your back straight without arching. Hold for about 30s on each side.

3. Neck stretches: Gently lean your head to one side for a neck stretch. You can use your hand to apply pressure but be gentle. After tilting your head towards your shoulder, lean it down diagonally towards your knee. Hold for about 30s for each of these and then switch sides and repeat there.

4. Back strengthening exercises: Sit with a straight back and hold your arms straight out in front of you. Row in so your elbows are in line with your shoulders and then straighten it back out again. Complete 10 reps. Move into shoulder rolls, do 10 forward and then 10 reverse. Repeat this sequence for 1-2 more times.

5. Hip flexors stretch: If you can get up to standing, put one leg in front of the other, tuck your pelvis, and shoot your hips forward. You should feel this at the top part of your back leg. You can add reaching a hand up overhead for a deeper stretch. Hold for 30s on each side.

6. Quad strength: Get back down to your chair with your feet planted on the floor. Extend one leg at a time for 10 reps before switching sides.

7. Hip flexor strengthening: Keep your leg straight as you lift it to hip height and back down again. Perform 10 reps on each side.

Conclusion

These are simple exercises that you can do at your desk at work to get some motion going, help work towards muscle imbalances, and hopefully make you feel better. If you would like to follow along with a video to see these exercises, you can do that here: https://youtu.be/nbTJuwRE7og

If you have any questions about these exercises or feel like they are too simple, don’t hesitate to reach out to me about what to do next. You can reach out through the contact form on this website or through social media at @toritraining.official.

Related: Correct Your Posture For Better Quality Of Life