Office exercises help take the edge off that desk job

Exercises for people who sit all day:

1. A bridge, where you lie on your back with feet on the floor, legs bent and pushing your hips up to the ceiling while squeezing the glutes.
2. A bird dog. Begin on hands and knees, making sure wrists are under your shoulders, knees are under hips and your head and neck are aligned with your spine. Extend your right arm and left leg straight out at the same time.
3. A plank. The body is supported on the forearms and the toes, and you should try to keep the hips and the shoulders at the same height.
4. Do squats for strengthening the hips, and you can do them with just your body weight.
5. Do lateral raises to strengthen shoulders, but doing them with bent elbows really isolates the shoulder muscle and takes the strain off the neck.

Stretches:

1. To stretch the neck and shoulders, let your left arm hang down at your side and look over your right shoulder. Press your right hand into your chin. Do the other side as well.
2. To stretch out rounded shoulders, stand two to three feet in front of a wall, with your back toward the wall. Rotate the body to the right side and reach up and touch the wall with your right hand as if reaching for something on a shelf. Do the same on the left.
3. To stretch your legs, put one leg up on a desk or a chair and, keeping the knee slightly bent, reaching down and trying to grab your toe.
4. To stretch your shoulders, your trapezius muscles and your back, find a chin-up bar and allow yourself to hang freely.