The Ultimate List Of Stretches: WFH Edition
Updated December 2023.
In the ever-evolving landscape of work, many of us have transitioned from the initial work-from-home setup during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic to a more flexible, hybrid, or work-from-anywhere system. While we relish the newfound freedom from dressing up and commuting, a new array of challenges has emerged—juggling work responsibilities with family life, managing the delicate balance between professional and personal spheres, and more.
To combat the aches and the lethargy that can accompany our modern work setups, we invite you to join us for a quick 15-minute stretching exercise. These easy-to-follow stretches are designed to rejuvenate your body and provide a much-needed break from the demands of work. Whether you find yourself working from home or returning to the office in this era of flexibility, these workouts are tailored to keep you feeling energized and focused.
Another challenge we may also face is experiencing muscle tightness and pain due to prolonged sitting and inactivity. Most of us have everything within reach—the bathroom is five steps away, drinks and snacks are piled close to us (we no longer need to walk all the way to the pantry!). Although convenient, it also results in us always being seated on our chairs.
Therefore, to prevent aches and feeling lethargic, follow along to our short 15-min stretching videos to rejuvenate yourselves and take a break from work. This is a compilation of all the stretches you can do easily when working from the comfort of your home or returning to the office in this era of flexibility, these stretches are tailored to keep you feeling energized and focused.
1. Seated Stretches
What type of stretches can you do while being seated? Here are some simple stretches you can do easily at home or at the office. Besides that, our founder, Gina Chan, has also provided us with informative yet easy to understand instructions on how to have a good upright posture when seated.
Major muscles stretched in this video:
1. Neck
2. Chest
3. Upper & mid-back
4. Butt
2. Standing Stretches
Since we have done some seated stretches in our earlier video, we thought you may feel tired of being seated the entire day. Here are some stretches you can do standing up, as well as some breathing exercises to relax.
Major muscles stretched in this video:
1. Chest
2. Forearms (wrist mobilisations)
3. Hamstrings & thighs
3. Neck & Shoulder Stretches
One of the most common aches that come with prolonged sitting is at the neck and shoulders. This is due to long hours of hunching over the desk as most of us do not keep an upright posture when sitting down. Watch these neck stretches and shoulder stretches you can do easily at home.
Don’t wait till you feel the pain. Get up and start stretching!
4. Hip Stretches
When we are seated, the muscles at our hips are flexed. Sitting down for long periods of time will allow these muscles to constantly be contracting, therefore stiffness can be felt after extending your legs when standing up. As these muscles are connected to other surrounding areas of the body, besides feeling pain at the hips, you can also experience lower back pain and/or knee pain.
Frequently getting up to stretch in between periods of sitting down will reduce muscle stiffness. Here are exercises for lower back pain to lengthen and relax these muscles.
5. Floor Stretches
Stretches you can do on your floor.
Major muscles stretched in this video:
1. Hamstrings & thighs
2. Lower back
3. Butt
6. Back Twist Stretches
One of the most favourited stretches, back twist stretches can feel refreshing when done properly. Open up your chest and ease back pain by executing these stretches on a regular basis.
7. Butt Stretches
Butt stretches are often neglected as compared to stretching out our hamstrings and thighs. However, stretching our butt is important to relieve tightness and avoid discomfort in our lower back, thighs, and knees. Here are lower back stretches you can do to relax your butt and the surrounding muscles.
8. Bed Stretches (Upper Body)
Lazing on your bed? Don’t worry, you can still stretch out your upper body with these back stretches. Perfect for those with WFH jobs.
Major muscles stretched in this video:
1. Chest
2. Upper back
3. Mid-back
9. Bed Stretches (Lower Body)
Here’s yet another bed stretch for those who love their bed as much as we do, especially beneficial for those with remote work. This time we will be doing lower body stretches.
Major muscles stretched in this video:
1. Hamstrings
2. Butt
3. Lower back
10. Deep Chair Stretches
Making good use of our surroundings, we can depend on objects for extra support to further stretch our tight muscles. In this video, we will use a chair to help us with our stretching.
Major muscles stretched in this video:
1. Hamstring
2. Butt
11. Wall Stretches (Upper Body)
We’ve done floor stretches, bed stretches, and chair stretches. This time, we are using the wall to help us stretch further.
Major muscles stretched in this video:
1. Chest
2. Shoulders
3. Upper back
12. Wall Stretches (Lower Body)
After using the wall to stretch our upper body, we can use it to stretch our lower body as well.
Major muscles stretched in this video:
1. Hamstrings
2. Thighs
3. Butt
4. Lower back
13. Partner Stretches (Upper Body)
It is always more fun when we have someone doing the stretches with us, and more so when we are helping one another stretch! Not only that, when done right, partner stretches can also help to increase the range of the stretch, making you feel even more refreshed.
14. Partner Stretches (Lower Body)
After doing some upper body stretches with a partner, we can also do lower body stretches. The resistance from your partner will help you be more flexible in the long run.
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