3 great exercises to do at your desk

Do you spend all day stuck behind a desk barely moving? Maybe you’re starting to struggle with aches and pains or perhaps at the end of the day, you’re just no longer finding the motivation to go out and be active.

We all know that staying seated for too long is bad for our bodies. It can cause weakness in our core and hamstrings. It can cause our hip flexors to shorten and tighten, and we all know it can cause tension in our neck.

Here are out three top exercises to keep your muscles engaged and moving whilst you’re still sat at your desk at work.

Legs

Perch on the edge of your seat, keep a nice straight back and squeeze those knees together. Squeezing our thighs together lift one foot slightly off the floor and extend your leg so the foot is two to three inches away from you. Now imagine you’ve got an orange stuck nicely behind your knee, and slowly push in against it, creating that resistance feeling in the hamstring. Carry out five of these for 3 sets.

In this position now imagine that someone is pushing against your shin and you need to push in the opposite direction. Carry out five of these for 3 sets.

Core

Sitting on the edge of your seat hold your core in and keep your ribs tucked under. Keeping your back straight, lean backward slightly, you can hold onto the edge of the desk if this is too hard. Hold this position for three inhales and three exhales. When this becomes easy, you can start to slowly lift one knee, tap your toes on the floor in front, bring the leg back in and lower it back down to the floor. Repeat three times on both sides.

Upper back

When sitting at a desk we tend to end up in a hunched over position, which shortens all our chest muscles. This exercise helps to open this area up. Place both hands behind your head, keeping the shoulders dropped down and think about pulling them in and back together. Keeping your hands behind your head, try to push your elbows back to open up your chest. In this position slowly twist your upper body round to the right, keeping your hips facing forward, back to the middle and slowly to the left. Carry out this exercise five times on each side.

They are our top three exercises to get your body moving. Make sure to do these a few times through the day. And if you can get up and take a walk around the office/home.