DESK+EXERCISES = The Smart Way To Stay Active

While sitting is comfortable, too much of it isn't healthy, especially if you're also hunched over a small screen and straining your eyes up to 8 hours a day at work.

As we found out from Malaysia's Healthiest Workplace Survey by AIA Vitality, prolonged sitting could also be the cause of the musculoskeletal health problems (muscles, bones and joints) that 84% of Malaysians experience at work. The survey also identified the top musculoskeletal symptoms: 47% shoulders, 39% neck, 37% lower back and 22% knee.

Not only can you feel the effects of prolonged sitting, research have also linked it with increased risks for obesity, diabetes, and heart diseases.

Ideally, you should get up from your seat at least once an hour to move. If your work doesn't allow you to be mobile or you're faced with too much work to leave your desk, try one of these poses to inject some mobility and movement into your day.

Being seated all day means your legs are likely to lose the strength to help you get back up on your feet, relying instead on the upper back and even the neck to hoist your body to a standing position. However, this can cause a strain on your spine all the way up to your neck. Try this two-part pose to help awaken your leg muscles and strengthen your thighs and ankles.

• Begin seated with your knees bent 90 degrees and your feet flat.
• Press down from your heels, trying not to move the feet in toward your chair or use your arms, and make your way up to standing.
• From standing, slowly sit straight back down, refraining from leaning forward and/or from shifting the hips to one side or the other.
• Repeat 5 to 10 times.

Curled over your laptop, you are likely to be slouching, affecting your back and shoulder muscles. Attempt this natural stretch that we all do when we’re feeling a bit stiff and tired. It’s effective in relieving computer-related tension in your arms and also helps relieve lower back tightness.

• Simply raise your arms above your head and interlock your fingers, then push away from yourself
• Take this a step further by trying the overhead shoulder stretch: Raise one arm overhead, bend the elbow, and place your hand behind your neck
• With your other hand, grasp your elbow and gently pull it behind your head
• Hold the stretch. Relax and repeat with opposite arm

This one’s for the typists. Whether you’re busy scrambling on the keyboard or twiddling your thumbs over your smart phone, one can sure tire their fingers. Typing at the wrong height/angle or typing with one finger only can cause pain and discomfort. Besides doing this stretch, take some time to find out if your posture can be corrected.

• Stand up and place your wrists on the desk so they face away from you
• Apply pressure downwards until you feel the stretch, and hold for a few seconds
• Follow with some wrist circles. This can be done by clasping your hands together by locking your fingers loosely. Start rotating your wrists slowly first clockwise and then counter clockwise. If you feel comfortable increase your speed gently and keep a steady deep breathing pattern alongside

Calm your mind with the forward bend, inspired by a yoga posture. This move helps stretch the hamstring and the spine, while also relieving tension from the head, neck and shoulder region. It also elongates the back, particularly helpful when you’ve been putting pressure on your spine the entire day.

• Stand several feet behind your chair. 
• Raise both arms overheard 
• 'hinge' forward from your hips, keeping your back straight. 
• Hold on to the back of the chair to keep steady for a few seconds, then rise back up to stand straight

As intriguing as it sounds, this desk-exercise is perfect after a long day under an avalanche of tasks. This exercise will allow for a stretch of your upper back as well as your posterior shoulder muscles.

• Begin with your arms straight out to your side at shoulder height.
• Stretch your arms at shoulder height to the back
• Breathe slowly as you stretch your arms to the back and continue the same momentum by moving your arms slowly to the front
• Release the tension between your shoulder blades
• Take a few deep breaths and then release and repeat again