5 simple exercises for beating your 9-to-6 fatigue
It a well-known fact that having a 9-to-6 desk job can take a toll on your health! Spending 40+ hours sitting on a chair can severely strain your body by decreasing the blood circulation, especially, in the lower body. The poor blood flow increases the risk of health problems like neck and spine disorders, diabetes, depression, obesity, and cardiovascular diseases. Moreover, being inactive for long periods of time can affect the lymphatic system (that fights infections) as it exclusively depends on body movements, unlike blood circulation. Needless to say, this decreases one’s natural resistance to common cold, flu, and other forms of infections.

Here are some simple workouts that can help improve the health of employees with a 9-to-6 sedentary job.

Neck
Staring at the desktop or laptop for a long time can build tension in the neck, shoulders, and back muscles. So move your neck every hour to release the pressure on your bones and ligaments. All you need to do is sit straight and lower your right side of the head toward the right shoulder without touching it. Hold this position for a few seconds and repeat this exercise with the left side as well.

Shoulders
Experiencing pain and stiffness in the shoulder area? Then try shrugging! It is just as easy as it sounds. Just lift your shoulders and keep them aloft for a few seconds. Keep repeating this exercise for just a few more minutes to effectively relieve all the rigidity in the shoulder and upper back area.

Chest
All of us have been admonished for slouching while being seated, a habit is hard to beat! However, while being engrossed in reading or working on your laptop, your unintentional slumping stresses the spine as well as the chest. To ease the tension in this area, try the chest opener exercise. In this exercise, you sit up in a straight posture while moving your hands behind your back, and gently press your palms together for a minimum of 5 seconds.

The upper and lower body
In order to encourage blood flow to the upper and lower body, you can try these simple stretching exercises. For the upper body, interlace your fingers and slowly extend them upwards as high as you can. On the other hand, for activating the upper as well as lower body stretch both your hands skywards and gradually bend forward to touch your toes.

Legs
To stimulate the blood and lymphatic circulation in the legs, using a bent knee raise your left leg and keep it close to your chest with the help of your arms. For the right side repeat the same exercise. Make sure that you hold this position for at least 5 to 10 seconds.

As you follow these simple workouts at your desk, make certain tweaks in your daily schedule to be more physically active. This could be something as small as taking the stairs instead of an elevator, walking or cycling instead of using your car for short distances, take 5 to 10 minutes break and stretch or walk a few steps every couple of hours, and keep yourself constantly hydrated.