5 Mobility Exercises Every Office Worker Must Be Doing
Working on a desk, staring at the screen for hours on end?
Commuting long distances, spending lots of time texting or watching TV with rounded back and shoulders?
If this is you, then chances are that you have tight muscles throughout your body causing reduced hip mobility, tight lower back muscles and neck strain. This results in poor posture as the body is pulled forward leaving you hunched-over with rounded shoulders and weak abdominal muscles that put excessive strain on your lower back.
Here are 5 quick mobility drills to release tightness in your Upper Traps, Pectorals and Hip Flexors
- Cat and camel
Purpose: The purpose of this exercise is to help mobilize the back, reduce stiffness and increase flexibility in your trunk without irritating your neck.
How To: Get into a table-top position on your hands and knees with your knees spaced hip-width apart, and your hands placed directly beneath your shoulders. Keep your spine in a neutral position.
Camel Position: Tighten your abdominal muscles and arch your spine upward toward the ceiling while taking a deep breath in. Hold the pose for at least 10 seconds, then slowly relax your back to the neutral pose.
Cat Position: Allow your stomach to fall towards the floor, stretch your spine downwards and look up to the ceiling without moving your hips while slowly breathing out. Hold the pose for 10 seconds, then return to the neutral pose.
Repeat the entire sequence for 4-6 reps
Neutral Pose
Cat
Camel
- Open Book
Purpose: The purpose of this exercise is to open up the shoulders, and relieve tension from the thoracic spine.
How to: Begin by lying on your side with both your knees and hips bent at a 90 degree angle, and your arms straight out on the ground together. Slowly move your top arm away from your other arm, toward the floor on the other side, rotating your neck and trunk at the same time while exhaling out. Make sure that the movement originates from the thoracic spine keeping both knees on the floor. Slowly bring your arm back to the starting position while breathing in.
Repeat the exercise 6-8 times on each side while paying close attention to your breathing.
Tip: Make sure to originate the movement from the thoracic spine without arching your lower back.
- Wall Chest Stretch
Purpose: This stretch is amazing for stretching your pectorals and shoulders and helps to reverse the hunched posture caused by a long day at the office.
How To: While standing in a doorway, place your arms up on the door frame and place one foot forward through the doorway. Next, bend your front knee until a stretch is felt along the front of your chest and/or shoulders. You can look away from the door frame to give you a greater stretch. Your forearms should be along the door frame and your upper arms horizontal to the ground. Take some deep breaths there and hold the stretch for around 30 seconds to one minute. Breathe gently into it and don’t push to your maximum.
- Couch Stretch / Hip flexor stretch
Purpose: The couch stretch is the easiest way to find out how tight your hip flexors are (and of course to stretch them!) If you can’t get into a position like the one above without pain/discomfort in your hip/quad, you likely have a lot of work to do.
How To: To get into this position, start with both knees on the ground on all fours. Place one leg up behind you against a wall/box/couch and then step your other leg out forward in front of you. Then slowly lean into your front knee while breathing out. Go as far as you can to feel a stretch in your quads and hip flexors. Slowly return back to the starting position while breathing in. Repeat for 6-8 times on each side.
Tip: Make sure that your front heel stays firmly pushed into the ground to get a good stretch.
- Pigeon Pose
Purpose: The pigeon pose has many health benefits. Physically, it stretches the hip flexors, opens gluteus minimus and maximus, and relaxes the piriformis and psoas muscles. Internally, it stimulates the abdominal organs and aids in digestion.
How To: Bend your front leg at 45 to 90 degree angle (depending on your flexibility and the shape of your skeleton), and extend the back leg behind you while keeping your pelvis squared and centered. Slowly while breathing out lean forward towards the ground and feel a stretch in your glutes and hip flexors. Stay in this position for 20-30 seconds. Slowly return back to the starting position and repeat 2-3 times on each side.
If this helped you out, reach out to us on www.high5performance.in and tell us how it made you feel better!