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Sitting All Day? Simple Movement Breaks for Desk Workers
Why Movement Breaks Matter If You Work at a Desk
If you work at a desk, whether that’s at home or in an office, you probably spend a large part of your day in the same position.
You sit down to work. You sit through meetings. You sit while answering emails, making phone calls and concentrating on your computer. Before you know it, several hours have passed with very little movement.
As a soft tissue therapist, I regularly work with people who spend much of their working day at a desk. Some of the problems I see again and again include lower back pain, neck tension and stiffness, discomfort in the hands, wrists or elbows, and changes in posture such as rounded shoulders and an increasingly rounded upper back.
The good news is that you don't necessarily need to completely change your working day to start moving more.
One simple habit can make a big difference: taking regular movement breaks.
What happens when you sit for long periods?
Our bodies are designed to move.
The problem with sitting at a desk isn't simply that sitting is "bad". It's the amount of time we can spend in one relatively fixed position without giving our bodies much opportunity to move in different ways.
When we stay in the same position for a long period, the body adapts to that position. Muscles can become tight and shortened, our posture can gradually change, and discomfort or pain can develop. Prolonged stillness is a key reason people can experience pain, stiffness and reduced mobility when working at a desk.
Think about what your body does while you're working at a computer.
Your hips remain bent because you're sitting. Your arms are generally held in front of you. Your hands and wrists stay in relatively small ranges of movement while you type or use a mouse. Your head may be held slightly forward as you look at your screen.
None of these positions are necessarily a problem for a short period of time.
The issue is spending hours repeating the same positions and movements.
That's why one of the most useful principles for desk workers is to introduce more movement variety into your day.
Move regularly — and move in the opposite direction
There are two important ideas behind an effective movement-break routine:
Move regularly.
Move in ways that are different from what you've been doing.
If you've spent an hour sitting, typing and looking at a screen, your movement break is an opportunity to change position and move your body in different directions.
Rather than thinking of exercise as something that only happens before or after work, think of movement as something you can sprinkle throughout the day.
The aim isn't necessarily to have a long workout every hour. A movement break can be very simple.
It could be standing up and walking around the room. Or, if you can't leave your desk, it could be a few simple movements you can perform where you are.
What is a movement break?
A movement break is simply a short period of movement that helps you change position and get your body moving.
It doesn't have to be complicated.
In fact, one of the easiest movement breaks is simply getting up and walking around.
Walk to the kitchen and make a drink. Walk to speak to a colleague rather than sending a message. Walk around your room or office for a minute or two.
These small amounts of movement can help break up long periods of sitting.
You can also use your movement breaks as an opportunity to perform simple corrective movements — mindful movements intended to address some of the tension that can build up when you're still for long periods, particularly when sitting.
How often should you take a movement break?
The most important thing is consistency.
Rather than waiting until your back, neck or shoulders start complaining, try making movement breaks a regular part of your working routine.
One simple strategy is to set a reminder every hour.
This could be a silent vibration on your smartwatch or a reminder that appears on your computer. If you have meetings scheduled throughout the day, you can plan your reminders around them so that they don't constantly interrupt your work.
When the reminder goes off, don't automatically dismiss it.
Use it as your cue to move.
If you can, get up and walk around.
If you can't leave your desk, do a couple of movements where you are.
The key is to create a habit that happens repeatedly rather than relying on motivation to remember to move.
Three simple desk movements to try
There are countless movements you could use during a desk break. You don't need to do all of them every time.
The important thing is to choose movements that help you move away from the positions you've been spending most of your time in. here are three examples:
1. Reach your arms overhead
If you've been sitting with your arms in front of you and your shoulders slightly rounded while working at a computer, reaching your arms overhead gives your upper body a chance to move in a different direction.
Simply stand or sit tall and reach your arms up towards the ceiling.
You don't need to force the movement or stretch as far as possible. Think about lengthening upwards and allowing your body to move out of its usual desk position.
This is one of the simplest examples of using a movement break to do something different from what you've been doing while working.
2. Gently drop your chin towards your chest
Your neck spends a lot of time supporting your head while you look at a computer screen.
As a simple movement break, gently allow your chin to move towards your chest to stretch the back of your neck.
Keep the movement comfortable rather than forcing your head down.
The purpose isn't to create an intense stretch. It's simply to give your neck an opportunity to move away from the position you've been holding while working.
3. Turn and look over your shoulder
Another useful movement is gentle rotation through your upper body.
Turn to look over one shoulder, then return to centre and repeat on the other side.
Again, keep the movement comfortable and controlled. You don't need to force yourself to rotate as far as possible.
This gives your spine and upper body some movement in a direction that isn't part of your usual typing and screen-watching position.
These are just a few examples. There are many different movements you can incorporate into your working day.
Your movement break doesn't need to be a workout
One of the reasons people struggle to be more active during the working day is that they think movement needs to take a significant amount of time.
It doesn't.
A movement break might take only a minute or two.
The purpose is to interrupt prolonged periods of stillness and give your body some variety.
You can also combine movement with things you already need to do during the day.
For example:
Walk around while you're on a phone call.
Get up when you finish a task rather than immediately starting the next one.
Walk to get a drink.
Use the stairs when practical.
Stand up during a short break.
Take a few minutes to move before returning to your computer.
The individual actions might seem insignificant, but building more movement into your normal day can be much more achievable than trying to fit a large amount of exercise into an already busy schedule.
Make movement a habit, not another task on your to-do list
Perhaps the most useful thing you can do is create a reliable cue for movement.
Set your hourly reminder.
When it goes off, move.
Eventually, that reminder can become part of your normal working rhythm.
If an hourly movement break feels difficult to introduce at first, start by simply becoming more aware of how long you've been sitting. Notice when you're beginning to feel stiff or uncomfortable and use that as a prompt to change position.
The ultimate goal isn't to sit perfectly all day.
It's to avoid staying in one position for too long.
Your body doesn't need you to find one perfect posture and hold it for eight hours. It benefits from movement and variety.
Don't stop at movement breaks
Movement breaks are a great place to start, but they're only one part of looking after your body when you work at a desk.
If you regularly experience areas of tightness or reduced mobility, it can also be useful to spend a little more time working on those areas outside of your working day.
In my Desk Reset: The Office Workers Movement Plan, I share more movement-break ideas as well as lifestyle habits designed to help you become more active both during your working day and in your leisure time.
The course also includes mini workouts that target areas that commonly become tight or lose mobility with prolonged sitting, including the hip flexors, spine, neck and shoulders, hands and wrists.
Start today
If you work at a desk, try this today:
Set a reminder for every hour.
When it goes off, get up and walk around.
If you can't leave your desk, take a minute to move your body in a different direction. Reach your arms overhead. Gently move your chin towards your chest. Turn and look over your shoulder.
It doesn't have to be complicated.
It doesn't have to take long.
And you don't have to wait until you're experiencing pain or stiffness before you start moving more.
The aim is simply to make movement a normal part of your working day.
If you'd like some guidance to get started, I've created a complementary Mini Desk Reset movement guide
with simple movements you can incorporate into your day.
Small movement breaks, repeated consistently, can be a simple way to bring more movement and variety into a desk-based working day.
Your next movement break could start in an hour. Set the reminder now.
