Deskercise is the new Jazzercise | Guest Post by Andi Lozano
Move aside, Jazzercise. Deskercise is where it’s at.
Some people say that sitting is the new cancer, and although I think that might be a bit extreme, your butt should not be glued to a chair 9+ hours a day, that’s for damn sure. It’s not only the act of sitting, but the way you sit that impacts your musculature and becomes ~cancerous~.
For us folks who are active in the gym, repetitive patterns, poor posture, and staying in the same position for hours on end day after day will certainly affect the longevity of your training. Why? Because your muscles begin to compensate for the positions they spend a lot of time in. And guess what? Your hips aren’t in a passive flexed position in any movement we do at Crossfit Renew. Your shoulders weren’t meant to round forward into a floppy version of internal rotation.
And so, since we spend a third of our day in the workplace, let’s build healthy habits and patterns to remind ourselves that our muscles and joints were meant to move. Try out these desk exercises in between conference calls:
Seated Cat/Cow
From your undoubtedly ergonomic office chair, place your hands onto your knee caps. Pull your chest forward and gaze up to the ceiling on an inhale. Tuck your chin to your chest and round into your upper back on an exhale. Or, if you have no shame, get on all fours in the tabletop position and do this classic Cat/Cow style.
You can also do these standing if you wanted to get out of your chair. Whatever position you choose — do 10-20 repetitions.
Spinal Twist
From a seated or standing position, keep your feet firmly planted. Twist your upper body to one side grabbing the back of your chair. Hold for 15-30 seconds and repeat on the other side. Try deeply exhaling as you twist to get a bit deeper.
Desk Pigeon
Take a break from “floating this to the top of your inbox” and stand up, bend your knee at 90 degrees, and plop it up on your desk. Your standing leg can scooch back as far as you’d like to get a stretch in the front of your hip. Hold for 30-45 seconds, then switch legs.
Cervical CARs
Pin your scapula into your back pockets. Tuck your ribs in and keep a soft bend in your knees. Now, using just the seven vertebrae in your cervical spine (your top-most area of your spine), take your chin to your chest, over to the right, gaze up, loop around to the left, and tuck your chin back to your chest. Repeat 10-20 times, alternating the initial movement between left and right.
Calf Stretch
Find a nearby wall, or use the legs of your desk and bring your toes in towards your shin. Lean forward a bit to bring the stretch up into your hamstring. Hold for 45-60 seconds, then switch.
Listen, I know it’s weird AF to be the person doing desk pilates in the middle of your workday, but our bodies were not made to be sitting, sedentary, scrolling and clicking endlessly throughout the day. So un-tuck that tukus and get to deskercising!
