I’ve been doing these every day for the past two weeks — find out why we should all complete these easy stretches, and how they can work for you

10 Desk-Sitting Exercises To Banish Sore, Overworked Muscles

We writers are often chained to our desks for hours at a time — and the continuous repetitive movements can take an enormous toll on our hands, wrists, and body. When I’m writing paragraph after paragraph, my hands start to ache, my shoulders hurt, my neck feels stiff, and no matter how slow I type or how much I adjust my position — nothing seems to help.

Being a mother, I only have a small window to sit down and write. I’ll type when my son’s at school or when he’s tucked up in bed. I completely sacrifice my sleep for a little bit of writing time, but hey, that’s the price we writers have to pay.

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When I write, I write. I don’t stop until I’m completely satisfied. So I’ll keep writing and writing — which leaves my entire upper body aching like hell. So for the last two weeks, I’ve tried my very best to incorporate these easy exercises into my daily writing schedule, and they have been an absolute life saver — I don’t think I could ever stop using them now.

Typing for hours on end can increase your risk of injury. Without incorporating some sort of stretches every now and then, you can end up developing muscle pain, joint pain. injuries to the shoulder, arms, hands, and even eye strain.

Sitting for long periods at a time can affect your posture.

Sitting incorrectly can cause a lot of upper body tension — this is because we spend a lot of time hunched over our computer screens, which can cause backaches, shoulder pain, neck stiffness, and so on.

So how can we make sure we are sitting correctly?

Keep your spine as straight as you possibly can. Try sitting upright so your back is touching the back of the chair.
Relax your shoulders when you type.
Try to keep your feet flat on the floor, and avoid crossing your legs as it will become harder to keep to a proper alignment.
Ensure the keyboard is close and directly in front of you — so you don't have to bend forwards.
Keep your computer screen at eye level so you can avoid tilting your head.

Now we have worked on our posture — we need to move on to the exercises. Remember to breathe normally throughout each stretch — you should always avoid holding your breath.

Shoulder shrugs

While sitting or standing, lift your shoulders up towards your ears, squeezing them as hard as you can. Now hold them for afew seconds, and roll them back as you relax. Repeat this motion 6 or 7 times, then roll the shoulders forward and repeat again.

What do shoulder shrugs do? One of the great benefits of shoulder shrugs is reducing chronic pain. The main muscle stimulated during the shrug is the trapezius, which is located on each side of the neck and shoulder. Strengthening these muscles produces better posture.

Neck rolls

Sit upright, relax your shoulders, then place your hands on your lap. Now very carefully, lean your right ear over your right shoulder. Then slowly point your chin down and let it fall towards your chest — making sure to keep your back straight. Now bring your head up and roll your head until your left ear is over your left shoulder. Now gently roll your head back and around to your right shoulder. Repeat 5 to 10 times in both directions.

What do neck rolls do? The neck roll is a stretching exercise that relaxes the neck muscles and the spine. This can help ease any discomfort and stiffness associated with neck pain.

The forearm stretch

Stretch your right arm out, and turn your hand down so that your fingers point to the floor. Now use your left hand to gently pull the fingers towards you. When you’re pulling your fingers towards you, you should feel a stretch in your forearm. Hold for 10 to 20 seconds, then repeat on your other hand.

What does the forearm stretch do? When you’re typing, your forearms can become incredibly tight — although it’s not always noticeable. This easy stretch helps those muscles loosen up a little bit in your forearm and wrists.

Shake it out

Shake your hands as if you’re air-drying them. Do this for a couple of minutes to stop your wrist muscles from becoming cramped.

Clenched fists

Place your open hands onto your thighs with your palms facing up, now close your hands slowly into fists — avoid clenching too tight. Now raise your fists off of your legs and bring them back towards your body, bending at the wrist. Hold this for ten seconds, lower your fists and repeat 10 times.

Hand and finger stretch.

Make a tight fist with both your hands. Hold for a couple of seconds, then spread your fingers as far apart as you can. Hold this for another 5 seconds and repeat.

This is one of my favorites, it feels sooooo good when you have achy hands.

Thumb stretch

First off — Make a fist and point your thumb upwards. Keep your thumb from moving, now gently pull back on your thumb with your free hand, then hold and repeat. This was a push exercise.

Now we’re going to do the same thing, so make a fist and point your thumb upwards, now instead of pulling back — we’re going to push forward, and again, hold and repeat.

Desk help

Place your palms face up underneath your desk and press upwards, hold for around 5 to 10 seconds then release.

Wrist circles

Extend your arms straight in front of you with your palms facing down. Make a fist, then slowly rotate your wrists clockwise, then counter-clockwise. Repeat 5 times in each direction.

Walk your fingers

Place your hands on a flat surface. Now spread your fingers slightly apart, then one at a time move your fingers towards your thumbs — making sure to keep the other fingers still. Now reverse it and walk your fingers back to their original position. You can do this around 3 to 4 times.

These are very handy to know if you’re an article/storytelling enthusiast. We need to write, we want to write, and we don’t want to let achy fingers get in the way.

However, if the pain becomes too intense, then please be sure to take several breaks throughout, and always consult your doctor if the pain is not subsiding.

Happy writing everybody ♥

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