Top tips and exercise suggestions to avoid desk bound injuries.

Robin Lansman, London-based member of the British Osteopathic Association, comments "Over the last 10 years in practice I have noticed more and more office workers suffering back problems, which can often be attributed to poor seating posture and a lack of regular movement in the workplace"

• 60% of workers work more than their contracted hours in the U.K

• 25% of workers feel guilty about taking a lunch break (50% cite recent heavier workloads as the reason, 25% cite unwritten rules in the office)

• 14.5% suffer from seating problems (muscular/back)

• 18% suffer from bad circulation

• 36% suffer from poor posture

• 57% suffer from backache

• Only 36% of employers provide ‘comfortable’ chairs for their employees

• 70% of office staff would like more say in their office furniture

• 57% would be more interested in joining an office if they had a say in choosing their office furniture 

• Exercise One:  Rock forwards and back along the sole of your feet. Then circle around the edge of each foot trying to make clear contact with the floor.

• Exercise Two:  Allow your torso to lie over your thighs for a few breaths, then on an exhalation draw in the lower belly and gently roll up to sit.  Repeat 5 times

• Exercise Three:  Sit tall allowing the head to float upwards, take a deep inhalation and grow even taller, then as you exhale keeps tall as you spiral round to one side.  You can use the arms to support you but try to make the twist happen from the abdomen upwards whilst keeping the shoulders and head relaxed.  Each exhalation can allow you to go deeper without force.  Hold for at least 5 breaths. Repeat on the other side

• Exercise Four:  Extend the arms over the back of the chair and hold onto the sides.  On an inhalation extend the side ribs upwards and lift the chest towards the ceiling, as you exhale squeeze the elbows towards each other behind you and continue to lift the sides of the body up.  Hold for 5 breaths.

• Exercise Five:  Regularly squeeze your hands into fists and then release to extend out as much as possible, followed by rotating your wrists in each direction.

• Excercise Six: Inhale as you lift arms over head, keep shoulders relaxed as you extend side ribs up. Interlace the fingers and straighten arms.  Keep reaching for the ceiling as you inhale deeply, then bend to the right as you exhale. Inhale to centre and repeat to the other side. Repeat 3 times to each side. 

• Why not have a meeting standing up or walking round the park/block instead of sitting still?

• If you get up to get a glass of water or a cup of tea use the opportunity to take 5 minutes to stretch your legs and rest your eyes by looking out the window

• Always take the stairs and run up them - not the lift if you are only going a few floors!

• Do small exercises like twirling your ankles to keep the blood flowing whilst you are sitting down

• Take a stretching break every couple of hours (see yoga tips above)

• If you need to go to a kitchen and there's one on another floor - use the furthest one away to get some extra time in on your pins .