Why is it more important to stretch regularly when you’re working from home?
Have you looked at your step count recently? My guess is that it’s a lot lower than pre-Covid. Many of us are spending huge amount more time sitting at a desk, hunched over the keyboard, not being able to find the time to get up and go for a walk or take some exercise. Even those little jaunts to the communal kitchen or the coffee shop round the corner would add up to a few hundred steps!
Add on to this sedentary lifestyle the lack of proper office equipment such as a supportive desk chair, and we have the perfect storm for stiff joints and muscular aches and pains.
The fact that so many people are moving less at the moment makes stretching all the more important. Just five minutes of stretches per day can make a huge difference to the way we feel, our posture and our general comfort.
This article by the medical professionals at Bupa outlines some really simple and effective desk stretches which you can incorporate into your working day. Why not set an alarm to remind you to do them before or after lunch, mid morning or mid afternoon. Even if five minutes of these stretches is all you manage, that’s way better than nothing, and a great step forward to becoming more mobile, more flexible and feeling generally less tense.
And this brings me on to my two personal favourite desk stretches! I’ve chosen them because they both really hit the spot, whether you’re using them to stretch out tight muscles because you’ve been stationary all day, or equally they’re excellent post workout stretches, hitting two of the areas which many of my clients complain about being tight!
Exercise 1: stretch out your glutes by crossing one leg over the other whilst sitting. Intensify the stretch by dropping yourself down below the edge of the chair and supporting your weight on your arms
Exercise 2: stretch out your hip flexors and quads by kneeling in front of the chair and then putting your back foot on the chair