Chances are you’re sitting as you read this. Most of us spend a great deal of time sitting, whether for work, school, or leisure. While increasing your physical activity is a wonderful antidote to all things sedentary, a ten-minute stretch to counteract sitting can provide a much-needed break and a postural reset.
You can skip down to the video below if you want. Or, you can continue reading for the rationale behind the stretches as well as links to additional resources.
Getting Started
I like to start by focusing on breathing. This is especially important if you tend to breathe shallowly and hold tension in your neck and shoulders. You can learn more about belly or diaphragmatic breathing in this post.
Before moving into the stretches, I also do some heel raises and a few squats to get the blood moving.
Hips and Legs
When we’re sitting, our knees and our hips are flexed (or bent) which can lead to calf muscle, hamstring, and hips flexor tightness. Standing requires that all of those muscles lengthen. Standing is also the best position to use targeted stretches for each of those muscle groups.
Trunk
Most of us tend to round forward and have less than ideal posture when sitting. Each of us also has postural habits – leaning to one side is the most common – that can cause asymmetrical tightness. Be aware of your flexibility from side to side and spend some extra time stretching on the side that feels tighter.
Shoulders and Neck
Ditto on the postural habits here. Focus again on your diaphragmatic breathing as you release tension through your shoulders, upper back, and neck. In addition to the video below, you can check out my post and video on How to Relax into Better Posture.
Time Spent Stretching
I move through the stretches fairly quickly in this video to get us through them in ten minutes. This is more of a postural reset than a full stretching session. Please hit pause and hold the stretch longer if you feel particularly tight in a muscle group. If you are looking to lengthen a muscle group, you should hold the stretch for at least 30 seconds.
Ten-Minute Stretch to Counteract Sitting
Stay fit AND flexible!
