Introduction
According to recent studies, “sitting is the new smoking.” If your job requires you to sit in the same posture for six to seven hours, the effect will be equivalent to smoking cigarettes regularly.
Whether at home or work, sitting all day long with no physical activity can ruin your posture, cause visceral fat to accumulate, overstretches your wrist muscles, numbs your hips, and worsen back discomfort.
You may not recognise how sitting affects your health at first since the symptoms appear gradually.
While there is no way to avoid the dangers of working at a desk, you may mitigate the effects by standing for 5 minutes every 30 minutes and doing a brief workout to stretch your muscles.
Why daily exercising is a great lifestyle habit
- Helps in weight management
- Helps to quit smoking
- Strengthens the muscles and bones
- Boosts mental health and mood
- Reduces cancer risk (lung, colon, breast, uterine, etc.)
- Boosts sleep cycle and patterns
- Reduces risks of cardiovascular illnesses
When it comes to exercising for a healthy lifestyle, you needn’t always commit to high-intensity workouts or hitting the gym.
Here are the five best and easy-to-do at-home exercises that open up your body and keep you fit.
Chest opener
This exercise helps you stretch your back and shoulder muscles.
Chest opening exercises are great for extending your chest muscles and significantly reducing the impact of hunched back problems.
Here’s how you do it
- Step 1: Sit with your feet hip-width apart and your hands interlocked behind your back near your hip.
- Step 2: Bring your hands up vertical to your body while bending your torso. The fingers should be pointing up at the ceiling.
- Step 3: Maintain the position for a few seconds and relax.
Lunge stretch
If you’ve ever done lunges, lunge stretches should come naturally to you.
It’s comparable to lunges, with the exception that it stretches more muscles in the inner and outer thighs, hamstrings, and quadriceps.
Here’s how you do it
- Step 1: Standing upright with your feet hip-width apart and your hands on your hips is a good way to start.
- Step 2: Content is fineLower your body as far as you can by moving your right leg forward. For added support, place your hands on your knees.
- Step 3: Come out of the stretch, pause for several seconds, and then get back into it.
Downward facing dog
The downward-facing dog is a great yoga asana for relieving neck and back discomfort, which are frequent side effects of sitting all day.
Here’s how you do it
- Step 1: Bend down on all fours of your body in order to form a table-like structure. Your shoulders should be behind your wrists, and your hips should be above your knees.
- Step 2: To produce an inverted V shape, inhale and raise your hips upward while straightening your elbows and knees.
- Step 3: Extend your neck and push your hand into the ground. Inhale while focusing your sight on your navel.
- Step 4: Pause for a few seconds, then return to the table position by bending your knees.
Spinal twist
This easy to perform exercise is especially beneficial for the spine as it helps create inter-vertebral space. It aids in extending the spine and helps bend the muscles of the neck and shoulders.
Here’s how you do it
- Step 1: Lie on the ground on your back and spread out your hands to form a T.
- Step 2: Keep your feet flat on the ground and bend your knees.
- Step 3: Turn the legs to the right side
- Step 4: Keep the position for a few seconds, then repeat the same for the other side.
Reverse plank
Unlike the usual plank position which targets the core muscle, the reverse plank exercise focuses on the lower back muscles, thus alleviating back pain and hip numbness.
Here’s how you do it
- Step 1: Stretch your legs as you balance the pose with your palms placed firmly on the floor.
- Step 2: Look down at the floor while pressing your hips up high and keeping your legs together. Your body should be in a straight line and your chest should be taut.
- Step 3: Hold for 5 breaths, lower the hips to relax your body.
Final thoughts
The above-mentioned are five low-impact exercises that are easy to perform and keep you fit, especially if you are sitting at a desk for much of the day.
Moreover, you should also frequently opt for health screening. It provides you with vital insights into your health, allowing you to take necessary measures to improve it.
