It’s Hump Day once again and the weekend is almost here. However, after years of working in an office environment you may have started experiencing the onset of lower back pain, tightness in the hips, and weakened abdominal muscles, all of which can put a damper on your weekend plans.

Others of you may exercise regularly after work at an on-site gym or a local YMCA, however, you’re still subject to suffer from the same diseases brought on by sedentary sitting behaviors.

We’re right there with you in the battle to retain a healthy lifestyle and prevent injury, but how is it possible to suffer long-term injury by sitting in a chair?

In an article titled, Sitting at Your Desk is Eating Your Muscles, Strength and Conditioning Coach Doug Dupont (Breaking Muscle) points out that,

Probably the biggest single problem from sitting all day that I see as a coach is back pain and signs of deteriorating spine health….When you exercise after sitting all day, the hips need to move, but their natural mobility is limited by muscle tightness. That movement needs to come somewhere, so it comes from the spine and the result is pain.

As a method of combating the slow onset of hip and lower back pain, we recommend an office workout. Getting up and moving will not only help to prevent injury, but stimulate blood flow and break stagnating thoughts by giving your body an energy boost to combat stagnation.  

You don’t have to get in a full 30 minute workout and break out into a full sweat, but take 5 or 10 minutes to step away from a problem, stretch, and return to it with less tension.

For more (animated) office exercises check out the Washington Post’s article, A Workout at Work?