Exercises To Combat A Desk Job

These exercises are great to fight that poor flexed posture most of us getting from long hours sitting at our desks, staring blankly into a computer screen.

Typically, these exercises are done as a progression that should include the vertical foam roll, vertical foam roll with arms overhead, chest press, and finally, the horizontal foam roll.  The final progressions we will discuss today are the upper back cat (similar to the cat camel) and medicine ball overhead.  


Upper back cat (Figure 1)

  1. Place your wrists on the foam roll
  2. Round your back up (letting you head hang relaxed) and breathe in
  3. Let your chest drop down and breathe out
  4. Hold this position for another breath in and out
  5. Perform 5-6 repetitions

Medicine ball overhead (Figure 2)

  1. Hold a medicine ball in your hands  
  2. Press the ball all the way up to the ceiling
  3. Keep your neck relaxed on the foam roll
  4. Raise the medicine ball above your head while keeping your ribs fixed downward and arms extended
  5. Return to neutral  
     

The pictures and explanations are courtesy of Dr. Craig Liebenson's self care instruction sheet titled "Postural exercises on the foam roll" from the Journal of Body Movement Therapies and Dr. Byall's notes from Dr. Liebenson's seminar titled "Faulty Movement Patterns".   

The information and pictures are for patient educational purposes.  Copies of the entire exercise sheet are available at our office. For more information on these or other exercises, please contact our office by phone at (260) 755-5953 or e-mail at [email protected]