If you spend your 9-5 tied to your desk, use this 15-minute mobility workout to reduce stiffness, ease lower-back tightness and improve posture
Slot this gentle stretching routine into your lunch break
The downsides of long days spent hunched over your desk are well documented: rounded shoulders, tight hip flexors, lower back grumbles.
Using a standing desk, taking regular breaks and strengthening vulnerable areas can lighten some of this load.
But the best remedy to counteract the dreaded desk slump is to mobilize your body in all the ways it isn’t moving while you’re at your keyboard.
This 15-minute routine from certified trainer Maxwell Thompson of David Lloyd Clubs is designed to do just that.
“It’s ideal for anyone who spends six-plus hours a day at their desk or screen,” Thompson tells Fit&Well.
He recommends slotting the routine into your lunch break or whenever you feel your body seizing up.
How to do the workout
You will need a long-loop resistance band for the third move in this routine. Alternatively, you can use a towel to create tension in your upper back muscles.
Perform each exercise in order as a circuit, doing three or four rounds in total.
“It’s suitable for all training levels, including complete beginners,” says Thompson.
“Move slowly, lead with your breath and allow aches and pains to gently melt away.”
1. Cat-cow
Reps: 10 Rest: 30sec
- Start on your hands and knees with your hands under your shoulders and your knees under your hips.
- Inhale, then exhale to round your back, pressing your palms into the floor.
- Exhale as you arch your back, relax your belly and raise your chin.
- Continue flowing, synchronizing your movement and breath.
2. Thread the needle
Reps: 8 each side Rest: 30sec
- Start on your hands and knees with your hands under your shoulders and your knees under your hips.
- Raise your right hand overhead and rotate your torso to look at your right hand.
- Lower your right hand under your body to the other side, lowering your right shoulder to the floor.
- Breathe into the stretch, feeling it in your mid-back.
- Complete all the repetitions on one side, then switch.
3. Band pull-apart
Reps: 15 Rest: 30sec
- Stand or kneel with your feet or knees hip-width apart.
- Hold a long-loop resistance band with arms extended in front of your chest.
- Adjust your hand position to create tension in the band.
- Retract your shoulder blades slightly to engage your upper-back muscles, then pull the band wide apart out to your sides.
- Control the band back to the starting position and repeat.
4. Wall slide
Reps: 10 Rest: 30sec
- Stand with your back flat against a wall and your feet shoulder-width apart.
- Bend your knees and lower your buttocks into a quarter squat.
- Raise your arms out to your sides so your elbows are at 90° angles level with your shoulders, with your palms facing forward and fingers pointing up.
- Keep your lower back pressed into the wall, slowly slide your arms up and down, working through a comfortable range of motion.
- Keep your arms in contact with the wall throughout.
5. Half-kneeling hip flexor stretch
Time: 30sec each side Rest: 30sec
- Kneel on the floor, then step one leg forward, keeping your knees bent.
- From this half-kneeling position, tuck your pelvis (the reverse of sticking your butt out), then gently lean forward over your front knee into a deep lunge.
- Feel a stretch in the front of your hip on your back leg—avoid arching your lower back.
- Sink deeper into the stretch with each breath.
- After 30 seconds, switch sides.
6. Standing chest opener
Time: 30sec Rest: 30sec
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart.
- Interlock your fingers behind your back.
- Roll your shoulders back and lift your chest.
- Squeeze your shoulder blades together to stretch through your chest further.
- Avoid arching your lower back.
Maxwell Thompson is a CIMSPA-certified personal trainer, FRC-certified mobility specialist and David Lloyd Academy Trainer at David Lloyd Clubs. Since qualifying in 2018 he has specialized in mobility, strength and conditioning and stress resilience, adhering to an evidenced-based approach to long term physical wellness, helping clients build sustainable habits for a longer, healthier life.
