Many individuals face the dangers of sitting for long hours at their desks, due to the nature of their work, and this can cause pain in the back, joints, muscles, and many health problems.

And you, my beautiful butterfly, are you having trouble maintaining your physical fitness at work? Are you looking for the best office exercises? If your answer is yes, you are reading in the right place, as we care about your physical fitness and are interested in providing your knowledge with a lot of information and everything related to the health of your body. We will learn about all the exercises in the office that may contribute to regaining activity and vitality and building a better lifestyle.

The Importance of Office Exercises for the Human Body

Do you want to feel energetic, active, and enjoy a better and longer life? All you have to do is exercise and be active and not sit still at work for long periods. We are talking especially about the benefits of exercise in the office:

• Exercising in the office helps you control your weight and prevent its excessive gain.
• Exercising in the office helps stimulate your mind and increase your focus
• Exercise combats heart disease and reduces the chances of developing high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, and many other difficult chronic diseases.
• Relieves depression and anxiety.
• Reduces the incidence of arthritis in you.
• Reduces your chances of falling
• Exercising in the office increases your energy and activity

Neglecting Office Exercises Risks

We know that the human body is designed to perform various movements, not to sit for long periods without moving, as sitting for long periods can negatively affect your health in various ways, the most important of which is shortening your lifespan.

A scientific study was conducted on 8,000 adults and proved that sitting for long periods increased their risk of many diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and constipation, and could lead to early death.

In addition to everything we mentioned previously, neglecting exercise in the office and sitting for long periods without moving may lead to pain in the back, hip, shoulder, and neck, and contribute to significant weight gain and obesity.

Tips to Make Office Exercise Easier

Office Exercises focus on breaking the routine of sitting for long hours, moving your body parts completely, and focusing on the hips, buttocks, shoulders, back, and neck. You will notice more productivity if you follow the following tips, my beautiful butterfly:

• Set your alarm to ring every half hour or every 45 minutes and start exercising in the office, which we will explain later.
• Exercise in the office for at least half a minute
• Stay away from exercises that can cause you discomfort and back pain
• Exercise as much as you can and as many repetitions as possible
• Encourage your coworkers to exercise in the office, and have fun with them.

Best Office Exercises

To help yourself break the routine of sitting still for long periods, you can take a break and move for a minute every half hour, or at least every hour.

You need to find ways to prevent sitting for a long time, such as standing at your desk, walking next to it, or doing stretching and stretching exercises, as these exercises relax your muscles, improve your blood circulation, and give you mental health to continue focusing on your work, knowing that they are not a substitute for Strength training, but it is excellent if you are busy and cannot stay away from your desk, and here we will mention to you the most important exercises in the office:

Chest Stretch

It is one of the easiest office exercises, as most of us remain seated incorrectly and bend our backs forward. This exercise focuses on the chest and shoulder muscles and stretches and strengthens them, but we advise you to stay away from this exercise if you suffer from pain, tears, or problems in the shoulder. Here is a method of chest extension exercise:

1. Stand up straight
2. Space your feet about the distance between your shoulders
3. Place your arms behind you and interlock their fingers together
4. Move your arms behind you
5. Straighten your arms and gently raise your hands a few centimeters, until you feel a relaxation and expansion in your chest.
6. Continue performing these movements for 10 or 30 seconds
7. Repeat the exercise five to ten times.

You can practice the exercise while sitting, and you can bring a resistance band, hold it above your head, and gently press forward until you feel your chest relaxing and expanding.

Shoulder Shrug

It is one of the best office exercises, as the neck and shoulder bear a lot of tension and pressure, which results from writing, wiping, and clicking. Your back can hunch because of this without you noticing, and it results in your shoulder muscles and the trapezius muscles around them becoming tight with tension. To avoid this, do the shoulder raise exercise. Here are the steps to do the exercise:

1. Stand up straight
2. Bring your shoulders back
3. Raise your shoulders toward your ears, and press your ears as much as you can
4. Hold this position for two seconds
5. Return your shoulders to their natural position as you relax
6. Repeat the exercise movements 8 to 10 times
7. Finish the shoulder raise exercise by moving your shoulders back and forth several times.

Upper Back Stretch

We know that shaking your shoulders will stimulate your blood circulation, but moving your upper back will stretch all the muscles between your shoulder blades in addition to your shoulders. Here is how to perform the exercise:

1. Stand or perform the exercise in a sitting position
2. Extend your arms straight out
3. Rotate your palms so that they are far apart from each other
4. Press your palms together, and interlock your fingers together
5. Tighten your abdominal muscles, round your back, and extend your arms outward while lowering your head down.
6. Imagine that you are bending over a large rubber ball
7. Maintain the stretch for at least 30 seconds.

It is considered one of the best office exercises.

Spinal Twist

Sitting for long periods affects the health of the spine and lower back, making its muscles tight and painful. Therefore, you should practice this exercise, as it is considered one of the best exercises in the office, as it helps in getting rid of muscle tension and tension in this area.

Do not exaggerate in twisting your spine too much. All it takes is a little rotation and simple movements to make you feel relaxed and stretched. Here are the steps to practice the exercise in detail:

1. Bring a chair
2. Sit upright on the chair
3. Place your feet flat on the floor
4. Tighten your belly muscles, and rotate your torso to the left
5. Place your hands on the armrest or seat of a chair, to allow your body to stretch more deeply
6. Only wrap as much as you can comfortably, and don't overdo it
7. Keep your back straight
8. Hold for at least 30 seconds
9. Repeat the exercise movements on the other side, i.e. rotate your spine towards the right, for each side 10 times

Torso Stretch

Bad sitting positions can lead to a hunched back, and cause you to feel severe pain in the back area. To prevent this, you must perform the torso stretching exercise, as it is one of the best exercises in the office, and it helps to extend and lengthen all the muscles of your arms, sides, and back. Here are the steps to practice it. Exercise in detail:

1. Stand up straight, knowing that you can perform the exercise steps while sitting
2. Interlock your fingers together and extend them toward the ceiling
3. Take a deep breath, and stretch as high as you can
4. Bend to the left at times and to the right at other times to help extend your sides more.
5. Exhale, open your arms, then push them down
6. Repeat the exercise 8 to 10 times.

Forearm Stretch

When you stretch your forearms, you will realize how tight they are due to a lot of writing and repetitive monotonous movements, so we advise you to do the forearm extension exercise, which is one of the best exercises in the office, as its simple movements help you extend and lengthen the muscles of your forearms and wrists to prevent wrist pain. Here is how to perform the exercise:

1. Stand up straight, knowing that you can perform the exercise in a sitting position
2. Extend your left arm outward and point your hand down, so that your fingers point toward the floor
3. With your right hand, pull your fingers towards you until you feel a stretch in your forearm muscles
4. Maintain the position for at least 30 seconds
5. Repeat the exercise, switching sides, at least 10 times.

Neck Stretch

Pressure on the neck is one of the most important causes of your headaches, as it leads to tension in the upper area of your back. Working at the computer requires bending your head forward, and this puts severe pressure on your neck muscles in addition to the weight of your head, so imagine the amount of pressure your neck can bear.

Therefore, I advise you to perform the neck extension exercise, which is one of the easiest exercises in the office. Here are the steps to do the exercise:

• Sit on a chair, keep your back straight and your shoulders back
• Hold the sides of the chair with both hands
• Gently pull and tilt your neck to the right until you feel a stretch on the left side of your neck and shoulder.
• Hold for at least 30 seconds
• Repeat the exercise movements on your right side
• Repeat the exercise at least 7 times on each side

 Towel Hand Grip

It is one of the exercises in the office, which works to strengthen the wrist and improves and maintains general grip strength. You will need a towel to perform this exercise. Here is how to perform the exercise:

1. Bring a hand towel
2. Fold the towel in two and roll it like a sausage
3. Place your forearm on the table
4. Squeeze the towel gently
5. Continue pressing the towel for 5 seconds, then return to the rest position
6. Repeat the exercise 10 to 16 times a day.

Hip Flexor Stretch

Excessive sitting causes tension in the lower part of your body, especially the front area of your hips. When you sit, your butt muscles relax while your hip muscles become shorter, and this causes tightness. Therefore, we advise you to practice the hip flexor stretch exercise, which is one of the best office exercises, as it provides you with instant relief. Here are the steps to perform the exercise:

1. Stand and keep your back straight
2. Take your left leg a few feet back
3. Bend your back knee, put it in a lunge position, and lower your knees until you feel a stretch in the front area of your left hip.
4. Squeeze your glutes into the back leg to increase the stretch
5. Hold for at least 30 seconds
6. Repeat the exercise, switching sides 10 times on each side.

Finger stretch Waist

It is an office exercise, as it helps to stretch the wrist and fingers. Here is how to perform the exercise:

1. Sit in a comfortable position
2. Bend your elbow and form a right angle with your arm
3. Make a fist
4. Slowly open your hand and extend your fingers
5. Repeat the movements
6. Switch with the other hand
7. You can do the exercise periodically during various activities, such as writing.

Squats

It is one of the easiest and most important office exercises, as it focuses on the hip flexor muscles, buttocks, abdomen, quadriceps, and hamstrings. It is an excellent exercise, as it is an exercise that moves all the muscles of the body, contributes to warming them up, and strengthens the central nervous system. We provide you, my dear, with instructions for performing the squat exercise:

1. Stand up straight
2. Space your feet shoulder-width apart
3. Point your toes forward
4. Place your hands on your hips
5. Bend your knees and go straight down
6. Keep your weight on your heels
7. Continue lowering until you feel a stretch in your quadriceps
8. Hold the position for several seconds
9. Return to the starting position by extending your hips and pressing into your heels.
10. Repeat the exercise as much as you can.

Seated Hip Stretch 

This exercise is considered one of the easiest office exercises, as it has very simple movements, and contributes to opening the hips and stretching the muscles in the hips and buttocks. You can imagine how wonderful it feels to stretch after a tiring workday spent sitting, and here are the steps to perform the hip extension exercise while sitting:

1. Get a chair and sit on it, keeping your back straight
2. Place your left ankle over your right knee and sit tall and nice
3. Gently bend forward and keep your back straight
4. Reach your torso until you feel a stretch and relief in your left gluteus and hip
5. Press your left knee to increase the stretch
6. Hold for at least 10 seconds
7. Repeat the exercise, switching sides 10 times on each side.

You must make sure to keep your head in line with your spine and be careful not to hurt your spine. You can skip the exercise if you feel knee pain.

Rubber Band Finger Extension

It is one of the most important office exercises that works to strengthen the wrist. It increases arm endurance and finger flexibility and improves forearm movement. Here are the steps to apply the exercise:

1. Get a rubber band
2. Place your forearm on the table
3. Place the rubber band around your fingers
4. Slowly extend your fingers against the force of the elastic band
5. Maintain this position for several seconds
6. Slowly release your fingers and return to the starting position
7. Repeat the exercise 10 to 15 times a day

Inner Thigh Stretch 

It is considered one of the best office exercises. It is affiliated with the hip extension exercise while sitting, and its movements are important for the hip and thighs. It depends on opening the hips and getting rid of tension and tightness in the lower part of the body. This is how to perform the exercise:

1. Bring a chair and sit on it
2. Spread your legs as wide as you can
3. Point your toes outward
4. Place your elbows on your thighs and lean forward on them
5. Keep your abdominal muscles contracted and your back straight
6. Gently press forward while using your elbows to push your thighs outward until you feel relief and stretch in the inner part of your thighs.
7. Hold for at least 10 to 30 seconds
8. Repeat the exercise as much as you can

 Key Grip Pinch

It is one of the most important office exercises that works to strengthen the wrist. It helps improve the small muscles that control the movement of the fingers. Here, my butterfly, is how to apply the steps of the exercise:

1. Get a rubber band
2. Gather the rubber band into a small ball
3. Hold the small ball you formed between your fingers and thumb
4. Maintain this position for several seconds
5. Return to starting position
6. Repeat the exercise 5 to 10 times a day

Tricks besides Office Exercises

You can do some tricks in addition to office exercises to stay active at work and increase your productivity:

• Do not use the elevator, take the stairs
• Park your car away from the workplace
• Walk around your office when you can
• Sit on an exercise ball instead of a chair if you are allowed to do so, as this strengthens your abdominal muscles and improves your posture.
• Use the bathroom on a different floor than yours so you can move around and walk a little
• Get a watch that counts your steps to get excited and encouraged to walk, and download a walking app that counts your steps.
• Leave your lunch in your car until you have to go back and get it, so you can make an effort and move around
• Deliver documents to your coworkers by hand, not by email
• Get a headset for your phone so you can move freely while taking calls
• Use your lunch hour wisely, as you can go for walks and hikes, and this helps control your blood sugar.
• Find an exercise partner. Social support helps motivate you to exercise at the office
• Add a comfortable floor If you want to stand at your desk, bring a padded rug for your comfort.
• Keep fitness equipment close by, such as an exercise ball or balance disc.
• Wear comfortable shoes and clothes when you go to work, as this will make it easier to exercise in the office.

Thus, we have seen that sitting for long periods in the same position can cause many health problems, including back pain, shoulder pain, and neck pain, and it also increases your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

Therefore, we advise you, my cute butterfly, to start office exercises, and make an effort to add some movements to your routine at work, such as stretching exercises, as two minutes of exercise every hour may be a shield that protects you from back pain and contributes to improving your blood circulation and relaxing your muscles, and increase your flexibility, plus you can do it in the office, it is easy and simple.

At the end of the article, we hope my beautiful butterfly has benefited you and encouraged you to perform office exercises. For more information and articles about fitness, do not hesitate to follow my beautiful butterfly magazine or follow Sarah’s Pop Fit programs and challenges via YouTube videos.

Frequently Asked Questions about Office Exercises

How do I encourage myself to exercise in the office and stay away from laziness?

Set your alarm to ring every half hour or every 45 minutes and start office exercises. Encourage your coworkers to do it and have fun with them. This will encourage and motivate you.

What are the easiest office exercises?

Neck extension, forearm extension and trunk extension.

What is the benefit of office exercises?

Exercising in the office helps you control your weight and contributes to stimulating your mind and increasing your concentration. Exercise fights heart disease, reduces the chances of developing high blood pressure, diabetes, and cancer, reduces depression and anxiety, reduces the incidence of arthritis, and exercising in the office increases your energy and activity.

Written by: Haidy Soliman

Sources:

Verywell fit 

Mayo clinic