Is exercising part of your new year's resolutions? Here are a few easy 10-minutes or less exercises you can do seated or standing in front of your desk during mini-breaks *no special equipment needed*:
Shoulder/neck warmup. Rotate your shoulders down and back. Move your head side-to-side.
Quad stretch. Put one arm out or hold onto something stable. Take the other hand and reach back and grab the foot. Switch sides.
Hamstring stretch. With feet together, bend forward, head between arms, holding onto the front edge of your desk.
Side stretch. Put your arms up, hands over your head, and gently lean to the left and then to the right.
Seated leg stretches. Sit in a chair, cross one leg over the other above the knee, bend forward, then switch using your other leg.
Seated cat-cow stretch. These stretches open the chest and back. Sit upright with your hands on your knees, look up and arch your back. Then round your spine while dropping your head forward, like a cat stretching.
Toe-touch. From a standing position, reach down and touch your toes (or as far as it goes). Then cross your legs at the ankles and touch your toes to increase the power of the stretch. This is for lower back relief.
Shoulder roll. Move your shoulders up, forward, down, and back in one direction and then the opposite direction.
Neck stretch. There’s nothing like a good neck stretch to work out the kinks after staring at your monitor for long periods. Place one hand on the side of your head and gently pull in the direction of your hand; then switch hands to the other side of your head and repeat.
Strength building. Reverse lunges (step back, sink down, then straighten back up) strengthen the quads and butt. An incline pushup (stand a couple of feet away from your desk, keep your body straight and lean in for pushups) strengthens the chest, arms, and abs. Squats build muscle and strength in the quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves. (Keep your arms out and squat up and down, keep the weight on your heels, push hips back while lowering your butt.) To focus on the triceps, try triceps dips. (With your back facing your desk, grab the edge of the desk, and bend your arms and dip up and down.)
You can see some of these exercises in action here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Dp2rL397jA
