According to the World Health Organisation, a sedentary lifestyle is one of the most serious yet insufficiently addressed public health problems of our times.
"We've got all the lifestyle diseases such as heart disease, atherosclerosis, stroke, obesity and type 2 diabetes due to a sedentary lifestyle," says Marazban S Doctor, founder of Movement by Design, and a certified pilates matwork (a form of pilates) professional from the Pilates Institute, UK, and a certified master rehab trainer, conducted under the auspices of The Australian Physiotherapist Association.
Marazban, who has been working with the general, as well as clinical population from the last 15 years, stresses the importance of workouts, movements and stretches during office hours. Buttocks, he believes, are one of the most important muscles, it propels you to move forward and when you are sitting continuously, they get severely affected. Most often it affects posture, causes associated pain and with age, complications also increase. He suggests a few easy workplace workout exercises...
Shoulder circles:
Sit upright in a stable chair and tuck your chin in to align your ears with your shoulders.
Bend your elbows and gently place your fingertips on the same side of the shoulders. Touch your elbows together in front of your body and then circle them upwards and outwards. Repeat 10-15 times.
Seated rotations:
Sit upright in a stable chair and tuck your chin in to align your ears with your shoulders.
Join your hands together in front of you, as if in a prayer position and touch the thumbs to the centre of your chest/breast bone. Align your head with your hands and breathe out as you turn left.
Breathe in as you return to the centre and then repeat on the other side. Repeat 10-15 times trying to gently increase the range on every repetition with each release of a breath.
Leg extensions:
Sit upright in a stable chair and tuck your chin in to align your ears with your shoulders.
Breathe out as you straighten out the left leg, keeping your spine and ankle in neutral position. Breathe in as you slowly lower the leg.
Repeat for 15 counts and then change leg. To increase difficulty, add resistance to the moving leg by using an exercise band or ankle weight.
Seated extensions:
Sit upright in a stable chair and tuck your chin in to align your ears with your shoulders.
Sit towards the edge of the chair with your feet firmly planted on the ground. Place your hands behind each ear with bent elbows.
Keep your spine in neutral as you breathe in and slowly lean back as far as you can, without the feet lifting off. Breathe out as you return to an upright seated position. Repeat 10-15 times.
Seated gluteal stretch:
Sit upright in a stable chair and tuck your chin in to align your ears with your shoulders. Cross your right foot over the left, so that the ankle is resting just above the knee.
Rest the right elbow on the right knee keeping a neutral spine. Maintain the neutral spine, breathe out and lean into right knee till you feel a stretch in the right buttock. Hold for 20-30 seconds and change legs. Repeat once more on both legs.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "workplace-workout")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}