5 Simple Moves to Help Your Health at Work
Whether you’re sitting at a desk all day or on your feet teaching, your body takes a beating most days at work. It is easy to forget that there are plenty simple steps we can take throughout our day to ease the pain and strengthen our muscles. From your fingers to your eyes, here are five small ways to get your health in top shape.
- Wrist/Forearm Exercises
Not matter how long you spend on a computer all day, this move is essential to ward off forearm pain and carpal tunnel.
Gently take your right hand with your left and pull it down towards the ground as if you’re folding it back into your arm. Hold for ten seconds. Then take the same hand and pull it back as if to touch your fingers to the top of your forearm. Switch hands and repeat. Do this as often as you can throughout the day.
- Leg Lifts
If you want to work your legs without being to obvious or leaving your desk, these leg exercises will do the trick. Sit up straight with your feet flat on the ground. Lift your knee straight up then place your foot back down. Do this ten times with each leg. Afterwards, kick your foot straight out to straighten your legs. Do this ten times each leg as well.
- Lower Back Stretches
Whether you’re sitting or standing all day chances are your lower back has felt pain every now and again. To relax that area, sit in a chair and lower your upper body to rest on your thighs (pretend you’re picking up something you dropped!) Grab your elbows and sway from side to side to completely relax your back. Stay like this for as long as you’d like.
- Neck Stretches
Whenever you’re feeling stiff, take a moment to stretch your neck. Place your right hand over your head to your left ear and slowly lower your head to the side as if you’re placing your right ear on your right shoulder. Stay there until you feel relaxed. Repeat on the left side.
- Eye Stretches
Your eyes need some TLC too, especially if you spend a lot of time on the computer or on your phone. Along with looking up from your computer every 20 minutes for a 20 second break, remember these simple eye stretches.
Try looking as far to the left as you can without moving your head. You should be able to feel your eye muscles stretching. Try this looking right, down, and up. This will strengthen your eyes!