Work from home tips: For every 30 minutes of sitting, stand up for at least 3 minutes
Highlights
- Perform a few stretches during your long sitting hours
- Sit on the floor to prevent back and neck pain
- Create a footrest for yourself when sitting on a chair
Long sitting hours can pose major risks to your health. From neck pain to back pain, poor posture and weight gain, there are many risks associated with sitting for long periods of time. In one of her recent posts on Instagram, celeb nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar talks about a few stretches, exercises and activities that you can do to prevent or reduce risks associated with sitting hours.
Work from home tips: How to reduce neck pain and back pain caused by long sitting hours
1. Firstly, Diwekar advises people to sit at a place with a view from outside. It helps in changing the focal length of your eyes and can give you a breather from staring at your laptop all the time.
Also read: Digital Eye Strain During Lockdown: Follow These Expert Tips To Keep Your Eyes Safe
2. Create a footrest for yourself. You can take a bolster or stack a few pillows to rest your feet on them. It allows the back of your knees to open up so that there's blood circulation and you are not ruining your spine.
3. Sit crossed-leg on the chair. Train yourself to be able to sit in this posture on the chair. Sitting cross legged can lift your spine up and reduce back pain.
4. For every 30 minutes of sitting, stand up for at least 3 minutes.
Doing a few chair exercises can help in reducing back pain caused by long sitting hours
Photo Credit: iStock
Also read: Prevent Long Sitting Hours With These Simple Chair Exercises
5. You can also perform a few stretches. Spread your legs wide (while sitting on the chair), and lower yourself down. Make your back flat, and stay for 5 seconds.
6. Hold the sides of your chair and lift yourself up. Watch the video below at 5.25 to see how Diwekar does it. Hold in this position for 5 seconds.
7. Another stretching exercising that you can do during long sitting hours is sitting up straight and lifting your leg up. Repeat 5 times.
8. As you get stronger, try to work by sitting on the floor. Fold a blanket three times (watch video at 6.48) to see how its done. Take wall support if needed. When you feel you don't need wall support, then come forward. Change the cross of your leg regularly.
Also read: 4 Simple Exercises To Relieve Back Pain Almost Instantly
Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.