Desk Stretches: Move Between Meetings Without Changing Clothes

If you spend most of the day at a computer, your body ends up in one shape for hours. Stretching at the desk will not replace exercise, but it breaks that shape, and the guidance on it comes from an unlikely place: the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which writes the federal rules on workplace safety.

What OSHA actually says

OSHA’s guide to computer workstations is built around neutral body positioning, a comfortable posture where your joints are naturally aligned. Working in a neutral position, it says, reduces stress and strain on the muscles, tendons and skeletal system and reduces the risk of a musculoskeletal disorder. Then comes the line most people skip: regardless of how good your working posture is, working in the same posture or sitting still for prolonged periods is not healthy.

OSHA’s remedy is to change your working position frequently through the day. It lists four ways to do it:

• Make small adjustments to your chair or backrest.
• Stretch your fingers, hands, arms and torso.
• Stand up and walk around for a few minutes periodically.
• Perform some tasks standing, such as computing, reading, phone calls and meetings.

The two-minute sequence

The sequence below follows OSHA’s list from the fingers outward. Do each move slowly, breathe normally and stop well short of pain. The National Institute on Aging’s rule for stretching applies: remember to breathe, and do not stretch so far that it hurts.

Move	How	Time
Finger spreads	Spread your fingers wide, hold, then make a loose fist	15 seconds
Wrist circles	Slow circles in both directions, arms relaxed	15 seconds
Arm reach	Lace your fingers and push your palms toward the ceiling	15 seconds
Shoulder rolls	Roll shoulders up, back and down	15 seconds
Seated side bend	One hand on the seat, the other arm over your head, lean gently	15 seconds each side
Seated twist	Turn your torso toward the chair back, hold, switch	15 seconds each side
Stand and walk	Get up and walk to a window, the kitchen or down the hall	Remaining time

Coming back to neutral

After a stretch, sit back down into the posture OSHA describes as neutral. It is a checklist worth taping to your monitor:

• Hands, wrists and forearms straight, in line and roughly parallel to the floor.
• Head level, facing forward and balanced, generally in line with the torso.
• Shoulders relaxed, upper arms hanging normally at your sides.
• Elbows close to the body and bent between 90 and 120 degrees.
• Feet fully supported by the floor or a footrest.
• Back supported, with lumbar support when sitting upright or leaning back slightly.
• Thighs and hips supported and generally parallel to the floor.
• Knees at about the same height as the hips, feet slightly forward.

OSHA also describes more than one acceptable posture: upright sitting, standing, a declined sitting position with the thighs sloping down, and a reclined position with the torso leaning back between 105 and 120 degrees from the thighs. The point is that switching between good positions is better than holding any single one all day.

Why breaking up sitting matters beyond comfort

The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, from the Department of Health and Human Services, tell adults to move more and sit less throughout the day. They link more time spent sitting with higher risk of death from all causes, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers. For people who are inactive, the guidelines say replacing sitting with light-intensity activity is likely to produce some health benefits. A desk stretch on its own is light, but the walk that follows it is exactly the kind of replacement the guidelines describe.

Fitting it into the day

• After every call or meeting, do the sequence before opening the next window.
• Take phone calls standing, as OSHA suggests, and walk while you talk if you can.
• Put your water bottle on a shelf across the room, so refilling it means getting up. More in Hydration and Focus: How Much Water You Actually Need.
• Use the printer, kitchen or bathroom on another floor when you have time.

Stretching versus exercise

Stretches keep you comfortable and help with flexibility. NIA describes flexibility as the ability of a joint to move through its full range of motion and says stretching can help maintain and improve it. But stretching is not aerobic or muscle-strengthening activity, which are the two types the CDC asks adults to do each week. Think of desk stretches as maintenance, and add short walks or a home routine for the rest. Our full workday plan is in Standing and Moving During the Workday, and a 10-minute routine for after work is in The 10-Minute Home Workout: No Equipment, No Excuses.

If a stretch causes pain, numbness or tingling, stop and talk to a health care provider. Persistent discomfort at the desk may also mean the workstation itself needs adjusting, which OSHA’s guide covers in detail.