After an hour (or more) of pounding on emails, chances are you’ll notice your shoulders lift as much as your ears, your nose getting closer and closer to the screen, and your chest sinking in. This knot of tension could make you’re feeling like a goblin at your desk as an alternative of the strong and dynamic human being that you simply are.
Desk Goblin Mode also causes pressure and pain on the Physiotherapist Winnie Yu, DPT, describes it as “stress muscles”. These are the muscles of the neck and upper back, including the trapezius and the muscles surrounding the shoulder blade.
There are some easy ways to release those stress muscles (and keep your computer from affecting your entire body). The first is to rise up or change position every half-hour or so. But you may also take a body break by sitting directly at your desk doing a series of stretching exercises that Dr. Yu has put together in a recent nine-minute video for the newest episode of the Well+Good Trainer of the Month Club.
“Every day I see patients who complain of neck or back pain, and these exercises are a very good strategy to combat a few of those problems,” says Dr. Yu.
You’ll work the quadrants: upper back and shoulders, mid back and core, and lower body. While your tense muscles are in the primary quadrant, tense or relaxed trunk and base muscles can affect your posture and contribute to that overall goblin feel.
Dr. Yu begins with a series of static neck stretches. You’ll really need to carry them for a full 30 seconds to see their advantages and feel the delicious leisure.
“These muscles are likely to tighten once we’re working at a desk and bending over a pc,” says Dr. Yu. The stretching exercises he takes you thru “are a very great strategy to loosen up your muscles, increase blood flow, and improve your stretchiness.”
You’ll progress to side stretches and shoulder and chest openers before bending forward on the hips to stretch your glutes, hips, and hamstrings. In lower than 10 minutes, a series can take you from a bundle of stress to an elongated and toned body.
