Streches You Can Do At Work
Page 3
Ankle Stretch
- If you’ve got flat feet like me or don’t wear shoes with proper support, then you might
experience tension around your feet &lower legs. - Ankle stretches can help strengthen weakened muscles in the ankles while also offering
a slight stretch for the shins & calves. - Sit comfortably & lift your left leg up straight in front of you, as parallel to the floor as
you can get. - Point your toe & hold it for a few seconds, then flex your foot so it’s perpendicular to the
floor, holding again for a few seconds. - Repeat this with the other leg.
- You can also improve the range of motion of you ankles by turning this stretch into
ankle circles. - Do this by tracing circles with your toe from the ankle joint
- This will have you alternating between a pointed toe & flexed foot
Hip Marches
- Hip marches are great for strengthening the hips flexors & thighs.
- Even though they’re generally recommended for seniors with limited mobility, us desk
workers can also benefit from them. - Sit up straight in your chair, but avoid resting your back up against your chair.
- With your legs hip distance apart, engage your core & lift your right up as high as you
can from the hip joint. - Hold it for a few seconds, then release it back down & repeat with the left,continuing to
alternate your legs - You can hold onto the seat or armrests for the easy version.
- To make it harder by engaging your core even more, leave your arms resting by your
sides
Toe Taps
- Want to kick it up a notch?
- Toe taps can be used as a slightly more intense variation of hip marches.
- In addition to working the thighs & hip flexors, they can help you build heat and get a
mild cardio effect the faster you go! - Without resting your back up against your chair, sit up straight & hold onto the bottom
of your seat or your armrests with your legs resting hip distance apart. - Lift your left leg from the hip joint so that it comes off the floor, then bring it back down to
tap just the toe to the floor as you lift the right leg from the hip joint. - Alternate back & forth at a quickened pace.
- If you want to make this even harder, try extending your legs out a bit further (but still
bent at the knee).
Arm Circles
- Arm circles can help prime the shoulders for harder upper body exercises by loosening the muscles, improving flexibility of the shoulder joints & serving as a natural body weight move
for the arms. - Do it long enough & you might just build a bit of heat.
- Extend your arms outward horizontally to the left & right at shoulder height.
- Start by tracing circles in the air with your hands from the shoulder joints.
- Do a few circles forward & then do a few backwards.
- For greater flexibility, increase your range of motion by creating bigger circles.
Bent-Over Reverse Fly
- As a desk worker, not only is it important to stretch your back, but strengthen it too.
- The seated bent-over reverse fly is a popular gym exercise done with dumbbells to
strengthen some of the smaller muscles of the shoulders & upper back (the rear deltoids),
but you don’t need them if your form is good. - Sit up straight on the edge of your seat & then hinge forward slightly from the hips so your
torso is approximately at a 45-degree angle. - Making fists as if you did have dumbbells, let your arms dangle naturally, then using your shoulders & back muscles, inhale & lift them up.
- They should lift up & backward so that your shoulder blades come together.
Tricep Extension
- Located at the back of the arms, the tricep muscles are more important than you might
think. - The triceps are responsible for all pushing movements, some pulling movements & any
other movements that involve holding the arms close to the body. - That includes fine movements, like handwriting or using a computer mouse.
- Tricep extensions are often performed with a dumbbell or a resistance band, but like the
bent-over reverse fly, you don’t really need one if you engage your muscles & use the
correct form. - Sit up straight in the middle or at the edge of your seat (closer to the edge if the back of
your chair is tall). - Extend your arms straight up toward ceiling, making fists in each hand & joining them
together to touch. - Keeping your your arms below the elbows as stable as possible, squeeze the triceps &
bend the elbows so that your fists move back behind your head. - Pause slightly and then lift them back up again from the elbow joints with your arms as
stable as possible. - Keep an eye out for shrugging your shoulders or moving your arms too far in front of
your head. - Relax your neck and keep your arms at the sides of your head, within your peripheral vision.
Leg Lifts (With Optional Hip Thrusts)
- This particular exercise is really a two-in-one.
- Leg lifts will work the hip flexors, legs & abdominal muscles.
- Hip thrusts just intensify it for all those same areas.
- To perform leg lifts, sit at the edge of your seat & firmly grab the armrests or the seat of
your chair. - Lean back as you engage your core, inhale & lift your legs,keeping them bent, as high
or as close to your chest as is comfortable. - Exhale as you gently release them back down.
- Now to perform optional hip thrusts, you can extend your legs as far out as you can when
you bring them up during your leg lifts. - You can keep them slightly bent or straighten them fully.
- To come out of it, bend your legs all the way first while still raised, then release them back
down. - Don’t just drop your legs back down to the floor.
- Instead, use the muscles in your core, hips, & legs to control them down.
Jumping Jacks
- Who knew you could do a modified version of jumping jacks while sitting down?
- Sit at the edge of your seat with your knees & legs together & your arms bent upward t
ogether at your chest. - Take a deep breath in & out, then engage your core, lean back a little and inhale as your extend all of your limbs outward.
- Repeat this at a slow pace for more of a controlled body weight type of exercise or faster
to get a cardio effect. - To make this slightly harder, try not to touch the floor with your feet when youextend all
your limbs out. - You can do this by flexing your feet rather than pointing them.
Cross Toe Touches
- You didn’t think you could get a full body workout with one chair move, did you?
- Cross toe touches work everything including the arms, the shoulders, the core, the hips
& even the legs. - As if that wasn’t awesome enough, it’s also a great cardio exercise.
- Sit at the edge of your chair with your knees wide, at least shoulder width apart or more.
- Lean forward by hinging at the waist & then twist your torso so that your left arm touches
your right toe while your right arm extends up & your left leg extends outward. - Twist to the opposite side, raising & lowering opposite arms while bending & lengthening opposite legs.
- Alternate as fast as you can if you really want to get your heart rate up.
- This move is easier when you slide your feet along the floor, but you can make it harder by adjusting the height of your chair so that it’s higher.
- This way, you can keep your feet off the floor.
Squats
- Everyone loves a basic squat, right?
- The great thing about having your desk chair with you is that you can use it as a squat
barrier. - Squats work all those big lower body muscles,including the glutes, quads, hamstrings &
even the calves. - They’re also much more of a discrete move since it looks like you’re just sitting & standing
back up. - Standing up straight in front of your chair with your legs hip distance apart, bend your
knees & shift most of your body weight into your heels. - Keep bending, making sure that you can still see your toes.
- Stop just before you hit your chair’s seat & stand back up, but avoid locking your knees
when you’re all the way back up. - Repeat several times.
- If you can adjust the height of your desk chair, try lowering it to challenge yourself to squat deeper.
Bonus Exercise: Plank
- Plank is an extra fun one to do on a chair that has wheels, because it will really challenge
your stabilizer muscles. - To get into plank on a chair that has wheels, start by kneeling in front of the seat of your
chair & placing your elbows on it shoulder distance apart. - Hold your hands by lacing your fingers together.
- Using your shoulders & arms to hold your upper body up, engage your entire core as you extend one leg straight out behind you & place the ball of your foot on the floor.
- Do the same with the other leg & foot.
- Your body should be like a straight line.
- Use your shoulders & upper back to push yourself up from your chair’s seat.
- Squeeze your glutes & quads together to support work done by the core.
- Activating all these parts of your body will help you avoid sticking your butt in the air
or sagging your torso toward the floor.
Streches You Can Do At Work - Page 4
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