4 ‘desk exercises’ you should absolutely do at work

Most jobs require one to be behind the desk where virtually all activities are carried out.

However, it becomes unsafe when you sit behind the desk for hours without taking intermittent breaks.

Science has shown that desk jobs cause ‘carpal tunnel syndrome, which results in numbness, weakness and pain in the hand, wrist and arm due to the desk posture maintained for a long time and extensive keyboard use.

Maintaining a single position for a long period can cause blood clots deep in the veins which can sometimes break off and become fatal.

The Mayo Clinic says that sitting for long periods of time can cause obesity and metabolic disorders like high cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure.

In order to avoid these and many more health consequences of desk jobs, take out time to exercise your body at any available time.

Here are a few ‘deskercises’ you can do to help stay free of the harm done by sedentariness at work, as recommended by Medical daily:

Leg raises

You remain on your seat, hands on your chair handles like you’re about to stand up; then swing your feet forth and back for easy flow of blood. Maintain this position for a few minutes before going back to your work.

Desk chair swivel

Most people do this on their chairs unknowingly but they probably don’t know it is a form of exercise.

It requires you to spin your chair around to lighten the stiffness of the body from sitting for too long.

Squats

You rise to your feet, bend low and go up again. This has to be done repeatedly for some seconds to help loosen the waist and straighten the bones.

Book curls

This is to loosen numbness in the fingers and wrist that come with typing on the keyboard.

Try lifting a heavy book and let the weight rest on the wrist for a microsecond and push back away; try repeatedly until there is an easy flow of blood back through the hand.