Last week I had a very busy day at work. I was doing admin and the general day to day computer work that needs to be done. It was the first Monday of the month which is always busier than usual. At some stage I looked at the clock and I realised I had not moved an inch in 3 and a half hours! I got up and realised I was freezing and stiff. Winter has set in and the chill in the air did not help matters at all.
It made me realise the importance of movement when your working. Working in front of our desks all day encourages hardly any movement. Movement is essential to us. It helps maintain body temperature, encourages blood flow, helps metabolism,  helps prevent stiffness and muscular tension and a little break every now and then from our work actually improves focus and performance.
To encourage us all to move a little at work I have put together a very simple routine that you can do at your desk. You don’t even have to get up if you don’t want to. But I do encourage everyone to get up and have a quick walk around at least every hour.

Before you start make sure you are sitting nice and straight in your seat with your feet firmly planted on the ground. Just sit there for a few moments and become aware of your body. Do you feel tension or pain anywhere? Take note of theses areas and as you do your quick routine have the intention of relieving these areas. When you are stretching, try to hold the stretches for at least 15 - 20 seconds. This takes around 10 minuets. 

1)      Begin by rotating your ankles. A great way is to draw the letters of the alphabet with your toes. This encourages movement not only of the ankle but of all the muscle, connective tissue and joints in the whole foot. You don’t have to do the whole alphabet if you are stuck for time!

2)      Sit at the edge of your seat and stretch one leg out in front of you. Point your toes towards you and lean forward slightly. You should feel a nice stretch all along the back of your leg! Repeat on the other side.

3)      Sitting up straight again, increase the space between your feet and let your knees move outwards. Lean forward slightly and you should feel a nice stretch in your inner thighs.

4)

5)      Clasp your hand behind your back, palms upwards and push down. Open up your chest and allow your shoulders to roll back.

6)      Clasp your hands in front of your body, palms facing away from you.  Arms at a right angle from your body. Allow your upper back to curl slightly, pushing your hands away from you, feeling a stretch between your shoulder blades.

7)      Bring the clasped arms up over your head. Pushing up to the sky. Palms facing upwards.

8)      Arms still in this position hold your left wrist with your right hand and pull. Allowing your body to bend to the right. Repeat on other side.

9)  Roll your shoulders clockwise x 10 and anti clockwise x 10

10)   Hold right arm out in front of you,   point your fingers down to the floor. Feel the stretch along your forearm. Now point to the ceiling. Repeat on the left

11)   Write the alphabet with your hands.  Not just one finger but all of them to encourage movement of the whole wrist.

12)  Neck rotations. Turn your head right then left. Slowly. Looking over your shoulders as much as you can. Repeat a couple of times.  Now look down and up. Repeat a couple of times. I would not recommend doing full rotations of the neck and this is not necessarily great for your neck

13)  Neck stretch

For lower body work follow steps 1 to 4
For upper body work follwo steps 5 to 13

Good luck :) 

Myrthe Wieler