It’s common knowledge by now that sitting at a desk all day can be harmful for our posture. For a lot of us, our day jobs involve being hunched over a computer or laptop, and we’re already feeling the negative impacts that can have on our general wellbeing and back health. Bad posture at your desk can result in the following:
- Shoulder pain
- Elbow pain
- Hip pain
- Knee pain
- Neck pain
- Migraines
- Headaches
- Back pain (upper, mid and lower)
Slouching and leaning over our desks make bad posture an easy (but damaging) habit to get into. Addressing your bad posture might seem like a lot of effort, but there lots of easy exercises you can do to take the pressure off and relieve some of that tension, and in-turn improve your posture too!
5 easy things you can do at your desk to improve posture
Tip 1: Keep your ears in-line with your shoulders
If you find yourself craning your neck forwards to see your computer screen, then your posture is way off and you need to try and start adjusting it. Your ears should always be inline with your shoulders, and often, this little adjustment can have a knock on effect to the rest of your posture too. So it’s a good exercise to ensure you keep this in check throughout the day.
Tip 2: Every hour, consciously reset your posture
It’s a good idea to set yourself a phone reminder every hour to reset your posture. Even if you start the day with best intentions, sat in your ideal body posture, in 45 minutes you might have already slipped out of it into bad habits. When your posture reminder goes off, bring your head back so it’s level with your shoulders, pull your shoulders back, push your chest out, straighten your spine and uncross your legs.
Tip 3: Head rolls
A head roll is a basic exercise where you let your head roll slowly from one shoulder to the other. The key is to do this slowly and gently, and to take deep, long breaths. When done right it can help relieve tension in your neck and shoulders, which gives way to a better and more relaxed posture.
Tip 4: Shoulder shrugs
Shoulder shrugs are another way to encourage your body to release tension and relax. Shoulder shrugs involve revolving your shoulders in circles – raising them up to your ears and then back down again. A lot of people who work with computers carry a lot of tension in their shoulders, so this can be a key exercising to unlocking better posture and feeling more flexible and relaxed.
Tip 5: Fingertips to toes stretch
A few times a day it’s good to engage your whole body in an all-over stretch. The fingertips to toes stretch involves stretching out as long as you can and focussing on engaging the whole body and all your muscles in the stretching motion. You can do this in your seat, by reaching up and back with your arms, and reaching forwards and up with your legs under the desk. Use this as a chance to reset your posture afterwards too.
