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Movement Breaks: Why Office Workers are Trading Coffee Breaks for Physical Activity

If you’re among the millions who spend their workday at a desk, your body is silently crying out for movement. The human body wasn’t designed for eight-plus hours of sitting, yet modern work life often demands exactly that. While we can’t always change our work environment, we can change how we interact with it. Plus, research shows that active employees improve business success. 

Extended periods of sitting can lead to a cascade of health issues – from tight hip flexors and weakened glutes to rounded shoulders and neck strain. But the impact goes beyond just physical discomfort. Prolonged sitting has been linked to increased risks of heart disease, diabetes, and even mood disorders. When we sit for prolonged periods of time, our bodies can ache, and blood flow can be very sluggish. Blood returning through the veins to the heart is slowed by sitting. This promotes the formation of blood clots the veins, clots which can travel to restricted sites in our blood vessels and block blood flow.

Practice Daily Movement Breaks

Small movement breaks throughout the day can make a significant difference. Simple practices like standing during phone calls, taking short walks between meetings, or doing desk stretches can counteract the effects of sitting. Even micro-movements matter. Shoulder rolls, ankle circles, or gentle twists in your chair can keep your body from becoming too static.

Standing desks, treadmill desks, and balance ball chairs are innovative solutions that promote movement during work hours. These active workstations help reduce the health risks associated with prolonged sitting and can provide opportunities for movement and mobility breaks!

Many successful professionals now swear by the “movement snacking” approach – breaking up movement into small, digestible chunks throughout the day. This could mean a morning yoga session, like on-demand Yoga sessions done in the office during your lunch break. Or taking a few colleagues for an afternoon walk. Just adding an hour of walking per week could significantly improve your overall health and reduce mortality risk. The benefits of physical activity are far too many to ignore. Find out how to improve your quality of life by adding movement to your daily activities. 

A variety of daily movements can help us stay healthier and more comfortable. These may be especially important for those who accumulate a lot of hours seated or working on computers. The key is consistency rather than intensity.

5 Daily Movement Breaks to Improve Sitting Posture

Although moving more often throughout the day is ideal, there are specific movements to help us feel better. Take advantage of Movement Breaks found in your Treo Platform. These short, one-to-three-minute breaks help to break up your workday. Aim to sit for sixty and move for at least 1-3 minutes throughout the day. Aim to try all five of these movement below during breaks from work. 

1. Relieve Neck Tension: Place 3-fingers vertically between your collar bones and then gently retract the neck, allowing your chin to touch your fingers. Retraction helps to engage muscles that keep your head aligned above your neck. Next, tile the head left and right, bringing your left ear closer to your left shoulder, then your right ear closer to your right shoulder. Finally, rotate the head left and right, turning to each side for a brief pause. 
2. Wrist and Forearm Relief: Extend arms directly in front of you with palms facing toward the ground. Use one hand to apply gentle downward pressure to the other, flexing the wrists. This stretches the (forearm extensor) muscles on the top of your forearm. Next, rotate the hands upward so that palms now face the ceiling, and repeat the process. Apply gentle pressure to the palm, extending the wrist. This stretches the (forearm flexor) muscles that are often tight from computer work. Repeat on both sides.
3. Finger Extension: Stretch those fingers by spreading the fingers as wide as possible. Hold for a few seconds before relaxing once again. 
4. Chest Stretches: Lengthen the chest muscles to combat the tightening effect of keyboard typing. While seated or standing, slowly move your chest forward as you move your arms behind you. For extra stretch, clasp the hands behind your back and gradually move them upwards. If you don’t have the flexibility for this, position your hand against a wall or door frame, and gently move your body forward to feel the stretch in the front of your shoulders and chest. 
5. Shoulder Blade Retraction: With bent arms, move the elbows back and feel your shoulder blades move closer together on your back. Next, move the elbows downward toward your waist. As you complete these movement, engage the back muscles. This helps to counter the arms-forward movements that dominate computer work.

Remember, movement doesn’t require a gym membership or special equipment. Your body is designed to move and honoring that basic need can transform both your workday and your long-term health.

How Treo Can Help

The Treo Wellness platform offers a variety of movement modalities and workouts, including movement breaks that can be a part of your workday.

Contact us at info@treowellness.com to find out how your organization can gain access to this and many other workouts or schedule a demo here. 

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