Five Desk Stretches for People Who Sit Too Much

You don't need a yoga mat, a standing desk or twenty minutes. You need five stretches you'll actually do, and a reminder to do them. Here are the five.

Sitting isn't bad for you in itself. Sitting in the same position for hours is what causes trouble. Muscles that stay shortened all day (the front of the hips, the chest, the back of the neck) gradually tighten, and the ones that stay stretched and switched off (the glutes, the upper back) get weak and grumpy. The fix isn't complicated: move the stiff bits through their full range every hour or so.

Each of these takes about a minute. Do them all at once in a Pomodoro break, or scatter them through the day. Go gently; a stretch should feel like a pleasant pull, never a pain. If anything hurts, stop.

1. Neck: ear to shoulder

For: the tight band along the side of the neck that comes from tilting your head at a screen.

1. Sit tall. Let your right ear drop towards your right shoulder, and don't lift the shoulder to meet it.
2. For a deeper stretch, rest your right hand lightly on the left side of your head. Don't pull; let the weight of the hand do the work.
3. Hold for 20–30 seconds, breathing normally. Then the other side.

Add a slow chin-tuck at the end: draw your chin straight back as if making a double chin, hold for five seconds, release. Three of those. It wakes up the deep neck muscles that spend all day being outmuscled by the ones at the back.

2. Shoulders and chest: the doorway stretch

For: rounded shoulders and a tight chest, the shape a keyboard slowly folds you into.

1. Stand in a doorway. Place your forearms on the frame either side, elbows at roughly shoulder height.
2. Step one foot forward and lean gently through the doorway until you feel a stretch across the chest and the front of the shoulders.
3. Hold for 30 seconds. Keep your ribs down; don't arch your lower back.

No doorway? Clasp your hands behind your back, straighten your arms and lift them slightly while you open the chest. Same idea, seated.

3. Upper back: the seated twist

For: the stiff, achy patch between the shoulder blades.

1. Sit sideways-on to the back of your chair, or just sit tall with both feet flat.
2. Place your right hand on the outside of your left knee, and your left hand on the chair behind you.
3. Breathe in and grow tall; breathe out and twist gently to the left, leading with the chest rather than the head.
4. Hold for 20 seconds. Come back to centre and repeat to the right.

Go for length before rotation. A tall, small twist does more good than a slumped, big one.

4. Hips: the seated figure-four

For: tight hips and glutes, and the lower-back grumbling they cause.

1. Sitting tall, place your right ankle on top of your left knee, so your legs make a figure four.
2. Flex the right foot (toes towards the shin) to protect the knee.
3. Keeping your back straight, hinge forward from the hips until you feel a stretch deep in the right buttock and hip.
4. Hold for 30 seconds. Swap sides.

If you can't get your ankle onto your knee comfortably, cross the leg lower down the shin instead. It's the hinge forward that matters, not the height of the leg.

5. Wrists and forearms: prayer and reverse prayer

For: the forearm tightness that comes from typing and mouse work, and the early warnings of RSI.

1. Press your palms together in front of your chest, fingers pointing up, as if praying.
2. Keeping the palms together, slowly lower your hands towards your waist until you feel a stretch along the inside of the forearms. Hold for 20 seconds.
3. Now the reverse: press the backs of your hands together, fingers pointing down, and gently raise the elbows. Hold for 20 seconds.
4. Finish by shaking your hands out loosely for ten seconds.

Making it a habit

Knowing the stretches isn't the hard part. Remembering to do them is. A few things that help:

• Attach them to something that already happens. The kettle boiling. The end of a Pomodoro. The start of a meeting you're only half needed for.
• Do one, not five. If you can only manage one, do the doorway stretch; it undoes the most common desk shape. Five is the goal, not the minimum.
• Move in between. Stretches help, but the thing that helps most is simply not holding one position for too long. Stand up to take a call. Walk to a window. Refill the water glass more often than you need to.

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These are general-purpose stretches for healthy adults. If you have an injury or a condition affecting your neck, back, hips or wrists, check with a physiotherapist or doctor before doing them.

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