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Sitting all day can be dangerous for your health. Learn how to exercise while sitting, reduce stress, and stay active with these simple office stretches that anyone can do to stay active. (Demonstrations from Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota)
Transcript:
One thing you can do to improve your posture at work is to do exercises and stretches that promote bringing those shoulders back. Let me show you an example. When we’re at a computer all day long, we have that tendency to roll the shoulders forward and then that neck to come out towards the front a little bit. We want to really focus on a better posture by bringing shoulders back and keeping that neck in line with the upper body. So, a couple stretches you can do is to lace your fingers with the palms facing out, and just go ahead, and extent those arms all the way out to the front, and gently rounding your back so that you’re getting a nice upper back stretch. And then, bringing those arms up overhead so you can feel a nice stretch all the way through the back. And then, you can even bring the arms back just slightly, so that you’re getting a full back stretch. It just kind of helps stretch out those muscles from being at the desk all day.
Another exercise you can do to help posture is to do back shoulder rolls. So, all you need to do is just roll with your shoulders nice big rolls to the back. It helps keep that posture in check with the back, especially at a computer. And then, keep that core tight. You want to keep the abdominal muscles nice and tight as you’re doing these backwards shoulder rolls.
One of my favorite exercises at your desk is to do a lat pull down. They are very easy to do. All you need to do is just bring your hands up by your shoulders, and keeping the palms out, we’re going to lift the arms over the shoulders. And then, focusing when you come down bringing those elbows down and towards the back, so that you get a nice stretch for the back. So, do this again. We come up over the shoulders, and then focusing on those elbows coming down and towards the back. You want to keep a straight upper body, good posture, and really feel that resistance in the back when you come down. This is a great exercise to promote a great posture while working at your desk.