60 Second Sitting Exercise Routine You can do at Your Desk

Working at a computer or a desk can take its toll on your neck and back due to the prolonged static postures that are involved.

While the best advice for this is to take regular breaks and to get up and move around to ease this stress on your body, we find that it can be hard for people to follow this advice, simply because we all just get so busy with our desk and computer work!
So we decided to put together the 5 best exercises and stretches, from our experience, that you can do while sitting in your chair, that only takes sixty seconds to do!

1. Back Rotation Stretch

For the first exercise, you’re turning to look behind you, using your chair to pull you around so you’re rotating through your back. You’re holding this stretch for 5 seconds, then doing it on the other side.

2. Neck Retraction

The second exercise is basically the opposite of poking your head forward. Keep your head level and take it straight backwards. At the same time, aim to lengthen through the back of your neck as if you’re stretching the back of your head up toward the ceiling.
Try not to bend your head backwards, tuck your chin in to keep your head level (if you have a double chin when you do this stretch, you’re doing it right!).
Hold this for 10 seconds.

3. Shoulder Rolls

For the third exercise, you’re simply going to roll your shoulders backwards 5 times nice and slowly.

4. Neck Side-Bend Stretch

The fourth exercise is a neck side-bend stretch. Slowly bend your head to the side, as if you’re taking your ear toward your shoulder. Use your hand on that side to provide some gentle pressure so you feel a gentle stretch through the opposite side of your neck. Hold this for 10 seconds each side.

5. Arm/Back Extension Followed by Deep Breaths

For the fifth exercise, you’re going to sit up as tall as you can and reach your hands up toward the ceiling for 5 seconds. You’re then going to bring your hands back down, still sitting up nice and tall, and take 3 slow deep breaths through your nose, into the base of your lungs, as if you’re breathing into your belly.

So if you work at a computer or a desk and you find it hard to take the time for regular breaks, set a reminder on your phone or your computer to prompt you every half an hour to take just 60 seconds to do these exercises and stretches. This will allow you to get straight back into your work with minimal disruption, and will help prevent many back and neck problems that can result from working at a computer or a desk. You’ll also feel mentally refreshed which will help you stay productive!