Working From Home? Here Are Some Quick Reference Exercises To Help Tight Muscles

Work environments have changed throughout the years. Nowadays, especially during the COVID-19 Pandemic, a majority of people have been forced to adapt to a new normal – “working from home.” Before, working from home used to be a perk for office goers. They could get away from the stressors from office life and given the time lost from traveling to and from the office back. But now that work is no longer a house guest, but rather, a permanent living situation, people must adjust to bringing the office stress to their home. We can thank technology for this. Technology has given us the power to communicate with others from any location at the touch of a button. But like every great invention, it can either be used for good or for bad. Today, we tend to overuse technology and we forget that we need those “tech breaks,” to reconnect with ourselves.

With the overuse of technology, many have suffered physically, especially from sitting at a desk all day or simply looking down at their phones. One aspect of our body that has suffered is our posture. Having great posture reduces low back pain and headaches, increases energy levels, decreases tension on our shoulders and neck, increases lung capacity, improves circulation and digestion, decreases risk of abnormal wearing of the joint surfaces, and improves core and scapular strength.

Here are some simple exercises that you can do during your mini tech break to improve your posture:

Grab a band!

Band Row – this exercise not only improves your posture, but it prevents and alleviates neck and shoulder pain. Wrap the band around one of the legs of your desk and hold an end in each hand. Step away from the desk to give yourself some tension and squat. Then, like at the gym, row the band back to your chest or just below. Make sure to pinch your shoulder blades down and back as you row the band. Also, maintain that squat with your chest up and your back flat.

Scapular Band Flies – this move activates your lower traps and alleviates neck and shoulder pain. Hold the resistance band with your hands about shoulder-width apart and press your chest out. Keep your neck and shoulders relaxed. Keeping your arms straight, pull out on the band to open your arms out to the sides. In doing this motion, make sure to pinch those shoulder blades down and together as you open and bring the band in to your chest. Pretend you’re squeezing a clementine between your shoulder blades as I like to say to some of you. I suggest doing 10 -15 reps either once or twice during your tech break.

For those of you who have worked with me, my personal favorite will always be the “wall ball.” If you don’t have those large Swiss balls at home, just do some wall crawls to help relieve shoulder and back pain. Instead of rolling the ball on the wall upwards, just simply use your hands to crawl up the wall to get that nice reach and extend the back. You’ll get a nice back stretch.

Remember our bodies are meant to move, so let it move.

If you need me to make it better, like put actually pictures, I can do that too!

Best,