Office Stretches

Video Transcript

Hello, Dr. Alibhai here from Stuart Chiropractic. If you work from home at a desk or in an office, and you’re sitting most of the day, you might get up often to move around, but it’s usually not meaningful movement. I’m going to teach you some office stretches that you can do right at your desk.

Start by getting into a deep squat position. Hold onto the desk for support. If your heels are off the ground, that indicates your calves are quite tight, but don’t worry. Use the desk to support yourself and gently rock back and forth. Feel the tight spots in your hips and simply sit in this position. If moving your knees is too uncomfortable, you don’t have to; just sit back and take a deep breath in and then breathe out. Relax the pressure with your hands if you prefer, but try to sit into that deep end range that we don’t normally reach because we sit so much of the day.

Now, I’m going to stand up and show you some side-to-side motions. Hold onto your chair and get into a deep or wide stance with your toes pointing outwards. Lunge off to one side.

You might find you need an even wider stance. Support yourself using the desk and think of yourself as a ninja getting into that deep position. If you want, you can lift your other leg. We’ll move side to side.

Maybe you can only go so far, and that’s okay. Then, shift back to the other side. Use your breath to go a little deeper. Find a range that’s comfortable and pain-free, though it might feel stiff. That’s okay.

Let’s do five more of these—counting one, two, three, four, and a little deeper on this next one, five. When you come back up, you can use your hands to support yourself.

Next, we’ll use the legs as well here and get into a lunge stance, kind of like a scissor stance. We’re not on a tightrope. Place one leg in front of the other in a staggered stance, and raise the arm that’s opposite your front leg up in the air—reach for the sky.

Then switch sides if needed. You can do this without support if you’re able. I’m already feeling my heart rate go up just from some active stretching.

Three more times—reach and breathe out as you stretch up. Now, I’m going to gather myself in a comfortable stance, my feet shoulder-width apart. I’m going to do some big arm circles with my right arm reaching up as high as I can, like I’m reaching for the sky, and then I’ll surrender the motion right at the end.

It’s okay to add some rotation in there. You find what’s comfortable for you. Count three, four, big reach, five, six, seven, eight, nine, big reach on the last one, ten. Now, switch to the other side.

Finally, do ten big hugs for yourself, opening things up. I call this the Michael Phelps swimmer stretch.

Count five, six, flick your fingers towards the back wall, seven, eight, nine, ten. Give yourself a nice big hug and a pat on the back. It’s that simple—just a few minutes of active stretching. Find what works for you in this routine, add it in, and sprinkle some motion throughout your day. If you don’t have time for a big, hard workout, this will help even more.

Let me know how it goes, guys. Take care.