10 Jun Get up! Stand up! – 3 Exercises for desk workers

Get up, stand up!- 3 exercises for the sedentary

It’s ok to sit. We have to for work, to get places in our cars, for social reasons and of course for rest. But the human body isn’t really designed for prolonged periods of this and arguably isn’t designed to sit, certainly on chairs, at all. 

The reality is a very different prospect, particularly when we are working, so the simplest bit of advice is get up when you can and as often as you can.

To pad that out further the following are 3 fundamental exercises to engage with in those standing moments:

Check out the exercises in action on our Instagram page:

Arm Swings with lumbar rotation

There is minimal call in day to day life, where we need to have our arms above head height. However, by limiting this we create weakness and stiffness in the shoulders and the neck.

1. Standing tall, swing one arm forward and back, creating a “windmill shape”. Try to open your palm out away from you as you swing your arm round.
2. As you are doing so, twist at the waist- imagine you are swimming backstroke.
3. Repeat 10 times, and do the same on the other side.

Hip swings and openers

Sitting creates chronic tightness in the hip flexors, which can lead to tendonitis, stiff hip joints and low back issues

1. Standing tall, swing one leg forward and as you bend at the knee, move your leg out and “open the hip” 
2. Imagine the “ball and socket” that is the hip joint, rolling as you open up the hip. Return to neutral.
3. Repeat 10 times and do the same on the other side.

Hula hooping

1. Standing tall, imagine you have a hula hoop round your waist. You can hold on to you hips to assist the movement.
2. With “soft knees” twist at your waist in either direction (doing it to music is optional!).
3. Twist round 10 times one way, then repeat a further 10 times the other.