Sitting at a desk in an office all day? Here’s how to fix that.
Some have called sitting the new smoking. Aside from increasing your chances of chronic health problems down the line, prolonged sitting forces your body into uncomfortable positions and postures.
Rounded shoulders, neck and back pain, weakened hip flexors…the list goes on.
But many of us have to work at a desk all day. So, what’s the solution?
The good news is, there are physical activities you can do, both in the gym and outside of it, to offset many of the hazards of a sedentary job.
Simple things first
Firstly, there are things you can do right there in the office to help mitigate some of the issues, such as:
Work on the problem areas
Our shoulders get pulled forward being at a computer all the time, so we need to strengthen our rear delts and upper back to help.
In fact, modern life is constantly getting us to lean forward with our shoulders hunched and our heads down (think of how much more you look at your phone than five or ten years ago).
To combat this, we need to strengthen our shoulders and back to actually hold our bodies up and prevent them from slumping forwards.
A weak posterior chain (the muscles of the back of the body all the way from your neck to your calves) and glutes in particular are also a chronic problem for office workers. Being in a seated position for long periods makes our hips and glutes weak from disuse, which only compounds our bad posture.
Stronger glutes will go a long way to helping you offset all that sitting. They will encourage a better, taller posture and prevent slumping.
Thus, the exercises in the below workout are designed to address the problem areas for desk jockeys: rear delts, back, glutes and the overall posterior chain
Note: These are just examples. Aside from the exercises listed below, to further help your posterior chain and overall strength, you should also add some core movements (such as planks, sit-ups and knee raises) and deadlift variations.
Here are some exercises to offset the damage you’re doing just by being an office worker.
The workout
Warm up
Foam rolling For improving blood flow (and speeding up recovery after a workout) foam rolling is a must.
Rolling your body over a foam roller where you feel muscle tightness can provide relief and increase your mobility. For office workers who sit at a desk all day, the areas of importance are the hips, upper back and glutes.
Chest stretch
Stand in a a doorway with your shoulders relaxed. Hold onto one side of the cable machine just above shoulder-height and lean in so you feel a stretch across your pec. Drop down to one knee for an extra stretch. Repeat for the other side. This will help release some tension from having your shoulders forward all the time and encourage blood flow.
Hip circles
These will help to open up your hips and release some of that tightness. Position yourself on all-fours. Keeping a neutral spine, lift one knee off the ground and rotate it in a circular arc. Repeat with the other knee. 10-12 circle per side.
These warm-up exercises can be performed even when you’re not at the gym. They can be useful to you after a long day at work to help you unwind and decompress.
Office worker workout
Rope face pulls Strengthening your rear deltoids is key to helping fix your posture by helping to hold your shoulders back. It will help stop you from internally rotating your shoulders and hunching over.
3 sets, 10-15 reps
Dumbbell rear delt raise
3 sets, 8-10 reps
Dumbbell shrugs These will strengthen your traps, which help to support your neck.
3 sets, 12-15 reps
Wide-grip pulldown These will strengthen your back overall, including the lats and midback.
3 sets, 8-10 reps
Hip thrust Hip thrusts will help strengthen your hip flexors.
3 sets, 12-15 reps
Squats
Sitting at a desk severely inhibits your mobility, so a full body movement such as the barbell squat does a world of good. Squats, even just sitting into a deep bodyweight squat, will open up your hip flexors and strengthen your glutes, which will help you sit nice and tall, improving your posture.
3 sets, 8-10 reps
Takeaway
Stay active in everyday life and when you’re in the gym, train for strength. The more fit you are, the better you will be able to handle sitting all day. And the more muscle you have, the more strength you’ll have to keep a good posture while working.