Sitting at a desk for hours plays havoc on your body, because it isn’t designed to be sedentary. Slouching and hunching over devices puts pressure on your neck, shoulders and back muscles, causing aches and pains in the short term and potentially more serious issues like obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease in the longer term.
Studies have shown that sitting for too long can even reduce oxygen to the brain, impairing focus and problem solving. It has also been linked to anxiety and depression.
“Sitting for long periods can increase loading of the spine and spinal discs, and at the same time, by not stimulating the muscles, it can work to decondition [weaken] your spine,” says Dr Rahul Shah, board-certified orthopedic spine surgeon at Premier Orthopaedic Associates.
“By simultaneously overloading the discs and deconditioning the back muscles, these long periods of abnormal loading and deconditioning can set us up for additional injury or backache,” he adds.
If you’ve been stuck at your desk or hunched over your phone, take regular breaks to mobilize your body. I also recommend trying this simple, resistance band exercise. Here’s how to do it.
How to do the band pull-apart
All you need for this move is a resistance band, which can be a mini or long-loop band.
The beauty of this exercise is you can do it seated or standing—though, if you’ve been sitting for some time, then I recommend taking the opportunity to do it standing.
You can also use this stretch as a part of a warm-up for an upper-body workout.
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding the ends of the band.
- Raise your arms to chest height, with your hands shoulder-width apart.
- Engage your core, then move your arms out to the sides, pulling the band apart as far as possible, squeezing your shoulder blades together.
- Hold for a few seconds.
- Return to the start with control.
- Aim for 10 repetitions, two or three times a day.
Benefits of the band pull-apart
Resistance band pull-aparts help with posture and a stiff upper body by pulling the shoulder blades together and stretching the chest muscles. This reverses a rounded posture common among desk workers.
The move also strengthens the posterior chain (the muscles that run down the back of your body), helping you to sit more upright at your desk.