Spending a lot of time sitting at work can create tension and discomfort in the neck, upper and lower back. These are the areas of the three spinal curves: cervical (neck), upper mid-thoracic and lumbar (low back). You can do a few exercises including dynamic stretches that will help reduce stiffness and help you maintain your spinal curves for a healthy spine.
Neck and Shoulder Exercises
Sitting in front of a computer can create stress around the neck and upper back. Do gentle neck and shoulder rolls to reduce muscular strain. Sitting tall, tilt your head to the left, center, to the right and back three or four times in one direction and then to the other direction. Move on to shoulder rolls by rolling both or one shoulder back for several rounds. Doing both of these things will help prevent Dowager's Hump, a pronounced hunchback in the upper spine.
Feet, Legs and Back
Work the feet, legs and do a forward bend to keep the blood circulating through these areas to prevent feet from falling asleep and reducing neck and low back stiffness. Sitting in your chair so your back is fully contacting the chair back, lift your right foot, point and flex it and rotate it in each direction several times. Repeat with the left foot.
Move on to leg extensions to bring blood to the large muscles of the thighs, quads in the front and hamstrings at the back. Grasp the sides of your chair as you extend the right leg to almost straight, keeping the knee slightly bent, pausing as you contract the quad and hamstring before bending the knee. Perform this exercise five to seven times and repeat to the left.
Last, lift the right foot, bending the knee, so the thigh is close to the chest as you lower your head so your nose is close to the knee. Repeat to the left. This is a forward bend for spinal traction at the neck and low back.
Simple Seated Twist
Keeping the upper back mobile can be done with a simple seated twist. Sit in your chair so that both legs are draped over the right side of the chair seat and your hands are resting on top of the chair. Elongate through the head and turn your head to the left for several breaths. Move your legs to drape over the left side and turn to the right. This helps to keep the upper mid-thoracic mobile.
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