Desk stretches: simple self-care edition
by Alana and Megan
Have a desk job? Feeling stiff?
If you work at a desk all day, your body gets used to sitting. It adapts to a seated shape by shortening and tightening muscles. These postural patterns can cause headaches, muscle soreness, fatigue, and general postural discomfort. Which of course makes us even less likely to move!
We wanted to share tools to help you start moving and keep postural strain at bay. Today's focus is on the upper body with special attention on the neck, shoulders, and spine.
We don't always know how to move in a way that serves us - especially if you’re at the office and don’t want to roll around on the floor (like Alana likes to make you do in her classes). Your office mate might judge you. Or the carpet is gross. Or maybe you’re stylish office attire isn’t bendy at all.
Don't worry. We thought of that. To do these exercises you don’t even have to get up.
At your desk stretches
Here’s a five-minute practice on spinal movement snack. We move the spine in four ways and stretch to open the chest and reset the shoulders - areas that are often strained during office work and prolonged sitting.
If you’ve got a bit more time, here’s a 14-minute stretching vid. Here we do similar exercises to move the neck and spine through all its ranges, and open the chest. In this video, we spend more time on the movements to explore how they feel better.
If you type a lot, this video also includes forearm stretches to help relieve wrist and arm tension.
Download, print, and stretch regularly
We made a stretch sheet! You can download our easy desk stretch sheet here (embed link).
Pro tip: print it out and put it somewhere you will see in your workspace to help remind you to move through the day.
Work movement into your day
So you know how to move now. But the next bit is the hardest part: making time to actually do it. We have a few suggestions to help.
Set an alarm while you work, and when it goes off, sneak in a five minute stretch snack.
Stack movement with habits. Always do your stretches at the same time - after your afternoon meeting, before lunch, or after reading morning emails. Make it routine.
Teach your office friend. Be stretch buddies who remind each other to take movement breaks.
Stay hydrated! Coffee doesn't count. It actually dehydrates you more. Hydration is important to help keep muscles happy and healthy, and to avoid tears and strains. It's an affordable, low-effort way to help yourself feel better (more on this in coming weeks!).
Want some more resources? Check out this Desk Worker Playlist with several short clips you can do right at your desk to target common postural strain.
Give these a try and let us know what you think!
We also have a 4 part in-depth digital workshop for office workers with over 4 hours of exercises and educational content to help with postural strain.
