Our Osteopath Dr Jerome Smith put together a daily schedule to help people incorporate more movement into their day.
Working from an office, or anywhere that is not your home, requires a certain amount of incidental exercise. You might have to walk to a bus stop, or from a train station to your workplace. You might pop out for a coffee mid morning, or out to get some lunch in the middle of the day. Walk to a meeting, or to talk to someone in another part of your workplace. Commuting home. It’s surprising how many steps a day come just from this.
So you should try to stick to some of these routines. Even though you don’t have to commute, you should walk for 10 or 15 minutes in the morning before you start working. Don’t just get up, make a coffee and sit at your desk. Do this at lunchtime too – after having something to eat walk a lap of your block, get some fresh air and sunshine before resuming work. And once more at the end of the day.
Here is an example of a way to structure movement into your day:
Let’s say you start work at 9am. At 830, go outside, walk to the end of your street and back.
At 10 am you should lay on your back and stretch your glutes and hips
At 11am lay on your roller for 5 minutes
12noon stretch your neck
1pm Go outside, walk around for 15 minutes in the sun, then use the roller again for 5 minutes,
2pm do some theraband exercises (like seated rows) to strengthen your scapular retracting muscles
3pm do some neck retraction exercises
4pm stretch your hip flexors and hamstrings
5pm use your roller for 5 minutes while doing slow breathing (5 breaths per minute) – this has been shown to reduce stress in your fight or flight nervous system. That way you get to finish your work day, de-stress and feel good.
All you really need is a foam roller and a theraband and you can maintain your mobility and strength when working from home.
