Five exercises you must do every day, especially if you work sitting down

IF YOU work sitting down then there are no excuses, you have to do these exercises daily. They’re not hard, they won’t take long and they could change your life.

Former Bachelor Tim Robards pictured in Paddington. Picture Cameron Richardson

SO MANY of us are addicted and have no idea how to quit.

We struggle to escape the pleasure of its gentle comforting caress, its soothing hug and the ecstasy that fills our body when we recline. But many are unaware its slowly killing us and most of us don’t know what to do about it.

Before I hit you with some stats, I’ll let you know that I’m about to arm you with the ammunition you can use to reverse the effects of this global epidemic: Sitting. And no, the answer is not as simple as standing.

Associate Professor David Dunstan published a paper recently that found “every hour spent sitting watching television (per day) increases the risk of dying earlier from cardiovascular disease by as much as 18 per cent. Each hour spent sitting was also associated with an 11 per cent increased risk of death from all causes and a nine per cent increased risk of cancer death”.

Also, “those who watched more than four hours a day had a 46 per cent higher risk of death from all causes and an 80 per cent increased risk for heart-related death.”

Although this paper was looking at time spent in front of the TV, I’m sure there is a correlation with office work as well.

The biggest message is that we are simply not built to sit all day. Ideally, sitting should break up your standing, and not the other way around.

However, some of us don’t have the luxury of a stand up desk, so here are my top five exercises to combat the effect of sitting all day.

WALL ANGEL

With your feet a few inches from the wall, place your bum against the wall, followed by your shoulders and your head. Level one you leave the natural curve in you lower back. Level two you flatten your lower back into the wall, using your core, so there is no gap to get any fingers between your lower back and the wall.

Next take your arms up at 90 degrees on the wall. You must keep your fingers and elbows touching the wall at all time — this is imperative! I would rather you didn’t extend as much than let your elbows come off the wall. Breath in, than as you exhale over 5-10 seconds, push up your arms in a straight line vertically up the wall until fully extended.

Complete three sets of 6-8 reps (start with six for the first week and progress). Those who have great thoracic and shoulder mobility will have no troubles with this but the rest of us will find it challenging. You should maintain a long neck through the exercise and be able to feel it predominantly between your shoulder blades and your core keeping your lower back on the wall.

BRUEGGERS

Sit on edge of chair. As you breath in roll your shoulders forward and up. When shoulders are up near your ears, begin to breath out and roll the shoulders back and down as you turn your palms outwards and thumbs behind you and squeeze your shoulder blades together.

This will pump some blood through the tight muscles of your upper back, oxygenate your brain and reset your posture.

Complete five full breaths and rotations.

PSOAS HIP / GECKO STRETCH

Keep pelvis square, no dipping either side and spine up straight, chest up. Gently encourage the front knee to open and feel a stretch in the adductors. Feel a good stretch on opposite hip flexor. Complete three reps for 10 seconds on each side.

WARRIOR ONE

Step out into a lunge position with the knee just off the ground. Tilt the pelvis backward as you push your hip forward. Raise your arms above your head aiming for your arms to be beside your ears (without pushing your head forward). Hold for 10 seconds and repeat on the other side. Complete this three times.

NECK RETRACTION EXERCISE

This exercise is simply a mobilisation of gliding your head back and fourth in a single plain of movement. As you push it back you want to feel a slight stretch in the upper back and try to limit the extension of your lower back (tummy sticking out). Imagine your skull is sitting on a steel plate and you are pushing it forward and back in a subtle motion without flexing and extending it — your chin should not go up or down.

Do 20 reps nice and controlled.

Dr Tim Robards is a chiropractor and exercise scientist (B. Med. Sc, M. Chiro). Tim recently launched his unique exercise and diet program The Robards Method.