Try these 4 standing desk exercises at work to keep the body moving, your NEAT levels up, and your blood flowing. At Humbleworks we’re passionate about helping our customers manage their back pain, increase their productivity, and improve their overall wellbeing by standing up at work and being more active during the day. The benefits are endless!
By exercising and moving more regularly during the day, your body will be stretching, working, burning calories, and enabling better blood and oxygen flow. The reason for this is to counteract the harmful effects of sitting for hours and days on end.
A key thing to remember, is that the joints, muscles, and bones in our body all rely on, and work with each other. For this reason, it’s important to stretch the whole body from your feet up to your neck. Remember, poorly functioning joints and muscles in one part of the body can contribute to pain and discomfort in other parts.
4 standing desk exercises to try at work
Besides the numerous benefits of using a standup desk converter, while you’re upright, while working you have a fantastic opportunity to move your body, stretch, and exercise your muscles and joints. These exercises can generally be done throughout the day when you start feeling a bit of a slump setting in. Keep in mind that these exercises are not part of an intense workout routine and are just meant to get your body moving and the blood flowing.
Squats
The key here is to keep your back straight and upright. Don’t sacrifice a straight, rigid back for a deeper squat. Rather bend your knees as much as possible, while maintaining a straight back. Raise your arms out in front of you, bend your knees, and lower your body as low as you can without being uncomfortable. Stand up straight again, and repeat.
Heel raises
Heel raises are great for stretching the legs and activating your calf muscles. Stand up straight with your feet flat on the floor. Raise your heels to stand on your toes and hold for about three seconds. Slowly bring your heels back, hold for a second or two and repeat.
Hamstring curls
These exercises are fantastic for stretching the legs and can be done to varying degrees of intensity. Stand up straight and bend one leg at a time up towards your buttocks. Again, remember to keep your back straight and inline with your centre of gravity. Keep the bent leg in line with your standing leg while pointing your toes towards the wall behind you.
For a deeper stretch, grab your foot and pull it towards the ceiling and touch it to your buttocks. Hold the stretch for a few seconds, slowly release, and alternate between your left and right legs.
Shoulder rolls
Shoulder rolls are great for strengthening and stretching your trapezius and deltoids, and even your pectoral muscles to a certain degree. This exercise is pretty simple. Standing up straight, imagine you are wearing large hoop earrings which you want to touch with your shoulders. Start by stretching your shoulders back and then roll them up towards the ‘earrings’ and down in a forward circular motion. Repeat this about ten times and then do the same movement in a backward circular motion.
Imagine how much better you’re going to start feeling after a couple of weeks of standing up at your desk and incorporating a set of exercises into your work routine? Take it slow at first. If you feel that you need to sit down sometimes as your body accustoms itself to this new way of working, feel free to do so. Just remember to gradually increase the amount of time you spend standing up and try out these exercises to get your body feeling better throughout the day!