The majority of the stress of a sedentary lifestyle is put on the back, especially the lower back. Switch legs and repeat at will.Īlternatively, you can relax your foot and extend your leg outward, raising it every 10 seconds, to work the lower abdomen. Lifting your leg and holding it for five to 10 seconds will stretch your calves and hamstrings. Point your toe and extend your leg out straight. Repeat for the other side.Ī quick and easy exercise you can do while you write or work is a simple leg extension. You can also slightly lean your head to the left, place your right hand against the right side of your head, and press against your hand with your head to work the muscles in your neck. Rotate it around clockwise (or draw circles with your nose, as Yoga With Adriene demonstrates) for 10 to 15 seconds, then switch to rotating counterclockwise. Sit up straight in your chair and lean your head forward. Using some yoga neck rolls can help fight this. If you sit with incorrect posture, your monitor too low or high, or simply for extended periods of time, neck strain can be a serious issue. And the side-effects of sitting at a desk every day are far-reaching, from obesity and chronic neck and back pain to carpal tunnel syndrome.įortunately, there is no shortage of ways to actively counteract these effects and keep your health in check without having to quit your desk job and search for a new career. Below, you will find some helpful desk exercises – or deskercises – you can do right from your desk to help build strength, increase blood flow, and boost brain activity. If you aren’t using proper posture at your desk, watching what you eat, or making an attempt to offset long hours behind a computer with some physical activity, long hours behind a computer can easily begin to take its toll on your body. Chances are, it’s a lot more than you think. So it’s easy to see why people have come to fear the dreaded desk, why some have adopted standing desks, and why it’s important to be mindful of how long you spend sitting – be it at a desk or on a couch – every day. Sitting for extented periods every day also dramatically increases your risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and lowers life expectancy. In that way, I’ve come to see that sitting is the smoking of our generation.”Īfter just one hour of sitting, says Merchant, “the production of enzymes that burn fat declines by as much as 90%.” Not only that, the body’s metabolism slows and after just 20 minutes, blood begins to pool in your legs and pressure builds up in your spine. And, everyone else is doing it also, so it doesn’t even occur to us that it’s not okay. Sitting is so prevalent and so pervasive that we don’t even question how much we’re doing it. We’re averaging 9.3 hours a day, compared to 7.7 hours of sleeping. “As we work, we sit more than we do anything else. Nilofer Merchant of Harvard Business Review, the apparent originator of the quote, explains:

It’s more relevant than ever, since most of us spend the majority of our day, every day, sitting behind a desk, staring at a computer screen.

While it seems a bit dramatic, there’s a rock solid reason this quote is thrown all over the internet. “Sitting is the smoking of our generation.”

Ntouch desk exerciser