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Written By: Editorial Team | Updated : May 1, 2019 5:52 PM IST
Sitting for long hours at your desk can lead to severe back pain. ©Shutterstock
Global Employee Health and Fitness Month (GEHFM) starts today. It is an international observance day which aims to promote your health and fitness at the workplace. In the modern scenario, we end up spending more than half our day at our office desk. This comes with a lot of health hazards, the most common being back and neck pain among others. In a study published in the American Journal of Nursing, the researchers noted that sitting for 30 minutes or longer without taking a break for a period of 12 months resulted in various health complications such as development of certain cancers, cardiometabolic health diseases and severe back pain among others. Your niggling pain refuses to go and keeps coming back, affecting your personal and professional life as well. As we start celebrating Global Employee Health and Fitness Month from today, we tell you how you can get rid of that back and neck pain by performing these desk workouts.
It is no rocket science that the problems associated with prolonged sitting can be eased by reducing your sedentary hours at work. However, simple and light stretch can also come to your rescue. Here is a list of stretching workouts that you can by standing near your workstation.
When you sit for a prolonged period, your lower back takes the maximum amount of stress. Standing trunk extension stretch is an exercise which can be used to take the pressure off your lower spine and enhance flexibility. You can easily do this desk exercise at your workplace at regular intervals. Smart tip: You can reduce the number of seconds by increasing the repetitions every session.
How to:
This is another exercise that can be performed in a standing position. However, you need to use your chair to do this desk workout. It is pertinent to mention here that tight hip flexors can prevent your pelvis from tilting forward correctly which leads to back pain. In such a scenario, standing hip flexor stretch will help you to ease the tightness. It can also ease your quadriceps.
How to:
While at work, you may find it difficult to take work breaks frequently to go for a walk and ease your aching back. It can disrupt your flow of work. However, you can perform this easy exercise while at your desk. This way, you can take care of your back without affecting your output.
How to:
If you find it awkward to do standing stretches in front of your workstation, you may opt for the ones that you can perform by sitting on your chair. There are plenty of sitting stretches will help you alleviate pain and enhance your flexibility. Here, we share some of them with you. Chill on your chair while striking these poses.
A stiff spine gives you an aching back. This stretching exercise boosts your spinal flexibility. Squeeze a few minutes out of your packed-up schedule to perform this workout.
How to:
Shoulder shrugs help you strengthen your upper back muscles and they provide support to your neck which is important to keep neck injuries at bay. The best part about this exercise is that you don t have to leave your workplace to perform it.
How to:
It is probably the easiest stretching exercise you can do in order to alleviate neck pain as you work on your desk for nine hours.
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This is another exercise that will successfully alleviate your back and neck pain. By performing this exercise, you can curb the tension on your shoulders and neck easily.
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