Is your chair set at a comfortable height?
Why?
- Having your chair too low can increase compression at your hips and knees and also cause your biceps muscles in your upper arms to work hard over long periods
- However, if you increase the height of the chair so that your feet come off the ground this leaves your back less supported (due to increased forces on the spine) so remember to place something sturdy under your feet
What?
Your chair should be set at a height so that your
- hips are level or above your knees
- elbows are level or above your wrists
If this means that your feet come off the floor, you should place something sturdy under your feet.
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LittleNudge’s movement reminders
The three most important things to remember are that movement should be:
- simple
- frequent
- comfortable
- and even better... if its fun!
The length of time you do the exercises for is up to you. As long as it is comfortable during and after the movement; the more movement the better.
If you are new to doing these movements, it is worth starting with a small number of repetitions (eg.5) and slowly increasing over time.
When stretching, hold positions briefly in a comfortable position. You can risk injury if you hold long or painful positions, especially if you are not warmed up.
There are lots of reasons to do these movements. The main purposes are to:
- boost circulation to areas where blood flow becomes more restricted as a result of sitting (eg. the buttock muscles)
- give you a brief break from computer work
- relieve tension and warm up your muscles
- release pressure on those more compressed parts of your body (eg. the discs of the spine)
If you can find ways to make the exercises fun.. even better!
You can adapt and add your own exercises to those provided (ensure they are comfortable..) Please send us any video exercises you like to do in your office and we will post the best ones on our blog.
We would love to hear your ideas so please send us videos of exercises you like to do in your office and we will post the best ones on our blog.