6 Stretch Exercises To Stay Alert At Work

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It can be hard to stay active these days, especially since so many people have jobs where they are working at a desk and do not move around much. There are certain exercises that you can perform however, which can even be done right at your desk. These exercises can help you to ease back pain and boost your energy and stay focus and more alert.

You may feel a little silly thinking about doing exercises at your desk, but the benefits that you can gain from this are great indeed. Especially if you are typing on a computer all day your wrists and fingers are going to be tired and sore, and so if you want to ease the pain of these or other muscles, you are going to want to really consider doing these types of exercises while you are at work.

Stretch Exercise #1 - Shrug Your Shoulders

One of the easiest exercises that you can perform at your desk is to shrug your shoulders. This may be a very simple exercise but it offers almost immediate results and helps ease your muscle pain. All you need to do here is inhale deeply and then shrug your shoulders up, towards your ears. Then you want to hold this position and drop after a few seconds. Repeat this a few times.

Stretch Exercise #2 - Wrist Stretch

This is an all around great exercise to do at work, particularly for those working on computers. To perform this stretch you want to extend your arm in front of you with your palm up and then grab the fingers on your other hand. Gently pull hand down to stretch the forearm, and then repeat this with the other side.

Stretch Exercise #3 - Air Circles

This is another exercise that you can do right at your desk. You want to start by clenching both of your fists, stretching your hands out straight in front of you. Then you want to make circles in the air with your hands, first in one direction and then in the other. Repeat this a few times. This helps to relieve the pain of your shoulder and neck muscles.

Stretch Exercise #4 - Torso Twist

The torso twist can be performed by inhaling and then exhaling as you turn to the right and grab the back of your chair with your right hand. Grab the arm of the chair with your left hand and then with your eyes level, you want to use your grasp on the chair to help you twist your torso around as far to the back of the room as possible. Continue until you feel a light pulling in your side, and just make sure that you do not push too hard because you do not want to sprain a muscle.

Stretch Exercise #5 - Chair Squat

If you have a few minutes at work, you may want to try the chair squat. To do this exercise you want to lift your butt off the seat periodically, and hold once you have lifted it up. Just make sure before you try this exercise that the chair is stable and you can also perform chair dips by placing your hands next to your hips, bending at the elbows, and lowering your body until you are at a 90º angle.

Stretch Exercise #6 - Front Raise

Yet another exercise that you can perform at work is the front raise. To do this you want to start by sitting in your chair, with your abdominal muscles and spine straight. Hold a water bottle in your right hand and then raise your right arm up to shoulder level. You want to hold this for a couple of seconds and then repeat on the other side.

Exercising at work is a great idea, especially if you are like most people who can hardly find the time to work out any other time of the day. There are many reasons why you should stay active, including to help you lose weight, gain muscle, improve your physical appearance, maintain your resting metabolic rate to prevent weight gain, improve your balance and coordination, increase bone mineral density to prevent osteoporosis, reduce your level of anxiety and help you to manage stress, improve function of your immune system, and help you to sleep better and improve your mood.

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