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Breathing and Flexibility Training at Your Desk

By Danna Schneider

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Published: 06Feb2007
Word count: 697
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Do you have a desk job? I do, and many times sitting all day can really take a physical toll on the body, making us more tired, and less apt to working out or getting the physical activity that our body's naturally crave when you get home.

It seems counterintuitive, but sitting all day actually makes you more tired than if you had been up and about all day because you haven't gotten your blood pumping and the blood becomes oxygen deprived, which makes us feel fatigued, even though we haven't physically exerted ourselves all day.

Like I said, counterintuitive. You'd think you would be bursting with restless energy after sitting at a desk all day in front of a computer, but that is not usually the case.

How many times have you gotten home from your desk job, and felt exhausted, ready to fall into bed or on to the couch and call it a night? Well, there are some little exercises that you can do right at your desk if you don't happen to have a workout facility at your place of employment, or somewhere near to go to get some physical activity in for the day.

One of my favorite moves, with also helps to relieve neck and back pain, and is sort of like a yoga move, is one that focuses on both tightening the tummy and making us sit taller in our chairs, bringing more oxygen to the blood, and rejuvenating the mind.

First, sit up straight in your chair. Be mindful to keep your stomach pressed in, but still keep breathing as smoothly and evenly as possible. Next, imagine your head is spiraling up toward the ceiling, while your shoulders are consciously down, far away from your ears.

As you exhale, expand the belly out. Repeat this several times, breathing smoothly. This should help get your blood circulating and serve as a refresher. Another one, this one more for you lower body, is to increase circulation in the legs, as well as to enhance flexibility in this rarely used area.

It's a simple ankle roll. One foot at a time, imagine your toes are reaching out of their shoes. Rotate the entire foot in one continuous circle, first clockwise ten times, then counterclockwise ten times. At the end, flex your foot and extend it out for about five times to loosen up the arch of the foot as well.

You should notice, even doing this keeps the body warmer by enhancing your circulation. The next stretch is for your lower back. Sitting up straight, imagine again your head is extending in to the sky. Gently twist to one side with your hand on your sacrum, which is the bony part between your back and buttocks.

Be sure to do this one very slowly, and don't kink or twist too hard. Keep the breath fluid, and go slow, and you will find that your body will relax and you can go further into this position. Do this to each side, and hold each pose for about thirty seconds for optimum benefit.

This next one may look a little more obvious, but you should be able to do it with no problems discreetly when no one is looking, and it feels really good because it releases a lot of hip tension, which many of us don't even realize we have.

Sit as if your were going to cross your legs over one another, but don't do it all the way, leaving your ankle on your knee. Next, elevate your bottom leg, which will lift the top leg resting on the bottom leg as well, toward your chest. You may need to back away from your desk for this one.

You should feel an excellent stretch in your outer hip flexor. These definitely are not the only stretching for flexibility exercises you can do at your desk.

You can probably even create some of your own to target your most tense areas, but just be aware not to push to hard and to use your breath to go further into the pose. It's like therapeutic, circulation-enhancing and mind clearing yoga - at your desk!

Danna Schneider is the cofounder of Dieting Supplements and Information , where you can find information on weightloss products, fitness equipment and diet reviews, and dieting tips for losing weight. She also founded Fitness News Magazine , a site deidcated to the latest offerings and breakthroughs in weight loss and fitness, updated constantly.

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