Mobility Exercises for Desk Workers: Simple Routines to Reduce Stiffness and Improve Physical Health

The fast pace of growing world of technology has benefited us in countless ways, the growing field of technology not only has managed to make things easy for us, but everything is at our doorsteps. From ordering food to booking tickets online, everything can be done without moving a muscle. But with great power comes great responsibility, constant dependency on tech has made our bodies stiff and at one place, this is the reason a lot of this generation is suffering from minor and major health risks like obesity, cardiac, and multiple diseases.

But what to do? The world today relies on IT and desk work, and the job requirements are in a manner that are mostly done without any involvement of physical exercise.  Here in this article, we discuss simple exercises that require minimum efforts and can be done while doing any desk job. Here are some easy basic mobility exercises that eliminate stiffness and improve mobility of the body.

Neck exercise

As desk jobs involve keeping the neck and head fixed in a position throughout the day. This makes the blood circulation stagnant, and due to lack of momentum, this can lead to an adverse neck pain. This exercise improves the mobility of the neck and helps you maintain the blood flow.

How to do this exercise?

Begin with adjusting your posture and straightening up your back. And sitting in good posture on the chair.

• After maintaining the posture, tilt your head towards the left side of your neck. 

Maintain this position for 10 seconds.

• Repeat this step similarly towards the right side too.

• This exercise shall be done with a minimum of 3 repetitions each side.

Shoulder Rolls

Using the PC with keyboard and the mouse could put your shoulder in an awkward position, which cuts off the blood circulation and could lead to great pain. Today this exercise could come in handy to save you.

These are the steps of doing this exercise:

(This can be done either by standing or sitting)

• Maintain your posture by sitting /standing straight.
• Roll your shoulders forward for at least 10 times each.
• Repeat by doing the same backwards 10 times as well.

Seated Torso Twist (Spinal Twist)

This can be a very crucial exercise for improving mobility while sitting at the desk. This exercise helps in mobility of the spine and helps prevent back and neck aches.

These are steps on how to perform this.

• Begin with sitting upright with a good spinal posture, make sure that your legs are firmly placed on the floor.

• Place your right hand on the backrest of your chair, and place your left hand on your knee.

• After maintaining this posture, gently twist your torso to the right and maintain this position for 15 seconds.

• Now repeat this with the other side too, make sure your torso is in good posture and stretched well.

This exercise shall be done for 2-3 repetitions.

Wrist & Finger Stretch

Constant use of the mouse and keyboard puts you in fatigue, which could lead to serious finger and wrist injuries in the long term.

Here are the steps for doing this exercise in the best way.

• Extend your right arm forward, make sure the palm is facing up
• Then use your left hand to pull your fingers individually.
• Hold each finger for 10-15 seconds.
• Repeat this process with the other hand as well.

Seated Leg Extensions:

Sitting on the desk for prolonged hours can cause stiffness in the lower body, this could lead to serious leg pain and can cause problems.

This is a simple exercise for desk workers.

Begin with sitting straight on your chair as usual.

Now stretch your right leg and hold it stretched for about 10 seconds

Do the same with the other leg

The exercise shall be done with 10 repetitions per leg.

Ankle Circles: If there is lack of movement on the ankles or they remain in a fixed posture, they could swell and undergo terrible pain. To prevent this, a simple exercise could be done to prevent this problem.

Here are the steps of doing this exercise

• Like the other exercises, maintain the posture and sit straight.
• Put your right foot forward and rotate clockwise. Do the same and rotate anticlockwise.
• Do this same exercise with the left leg.
• This shall be done for once or twice per session. 

These are the basic exercises that may look simple, but if repeated daily at the desk jobs, these can prevent serious long-term injuries and keep our body moving throughout the day.