Sitting at the computer all day can really be a pain. Even if you have a great ergonomic desk and chair set up, staying in one position for a long time makes some muscles tight and others start to turn off. This can cause your neck, back, shoulders, and even legs to hurt. If your job involves a computer you need a way to fight this.
The good news is there is a simple strategy to help stop computer related pain. It’s called a micro break. Microbreaks use a short 5 minute break every hour or two to break up the computer work and reset your muscles. Here are the 2 best exercises to use during your microbreaks to help you stay out of pain while working.
Pec Stretch
Your pec muscles tend to get tight with computer work. The arms being in front of you on the keyboard encourages this. Pec stretching helps to open up your chest and loosen your pec muscles. Hold this stretch for 30 secs on each side. You should feel this mainly chest, a little in your shoulder, and maybe even your upper back.
Tall Kneeling Trunk Rotation
This exercise can be done kneeling or standing. Here are the key things to remember with this exercise:
- Push your hips as far forward as you can and keep them there the entire time this helps to stretch your hip flexors and turn on your glutes.
- Push your elbows back as far as possible to open the chest. This turns your upper back muscles back on.
- Turn your shoulders as far as you can each direction but don’t let your hips turn at all. This makes you open up your mid back while really getting your glute muscles to tun back on.
- Take a 4 second inhale and 4 second exhale when you have turned as far as you can.
- Do 10 of these to each side.
Following this simple strategy can really make a difference in your work day. If either of these exercises hurt, or you try these and you’re still having pain, we can help! At Solutions Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine, we’re experts at getting people out of pain and can help you get out of pain too!
Call our scheduling team at 703-810-7487, or click here and a member of our team will schedule you an evaluation with one of our expert physical therapists.
Working to keep you living your best life,
The Solutions Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine Team
