Sebastian Brosche · 5 min · 832 words
Previously titled: Stretch at Your Desk - Full Body
Hi guys and welcome to the office. Today we're going to talk about how we can counter this computer rat slouching position that most of us are stuck in at work. So this is not as you imagine not the optimal position for Jiu Jitsu. It would be if we could play guard at the computer but we really can't because of stupid rules at the office.
So what we're going to do instead is use a belt or something that you have at the office and then sit back with your butt as far back as possible. We're going to use the chair to our advantage today instead of our enemy. So stretch your arms up and this is not so much of a shoulder stretch. It's more a release for the chest and the neck.
So instead of sitting forward at the computer we'll lean back and look up. If your neck is suffering here you can do this. You can place the belt around your neck and just take a minute here. And for sure you're going to feel uncomfortable the first time you do this because you're leaning forward for so much of the day.
So just leaning back for a minute will feel very much weird but just endure it. And then stand up and place your foot on the chair and the knee close to the backrest of the chair. And then grab the backrest with the opposite hand and twist. So stretch the bottom leg, lift your chest and twist your spine.
Take a minute here and then switch sides. I'm assuming you have to learn these poses by heart. So I'm going to I'm assuming you have to learn these poses by heart because watching Yoga4BGJ videos at work will probably not be acceptable unless you have a really cool workplace. So first with the upper body, now we're doing the spine.
And then next up is the hip flexors. They are getting punished brutally by sitting in a permanent flexion here. Leaning forward your hip flexors get super tight. And if it's one thing we want to stretch for Jiu-Jitsu, it's the hip flexors.
So what you do there is you place the knee on the back on the chair and the foot on the backrest. And then just King Arthur's pose. Squeeze your butt, engage your belly and stretch the hip flexors. The more you lean back the more intense it's going to be.
What I like about these poses is that we can still be productive. You can still watch the screen, talk to your colleagues who are on the phone and still be productive. So these are poses you can get away with no matter your workplace. Do both sides.
And then it's time for the glutes and the back, your butt muscles. And this is a very nice way to stretch it. You sit down on the chair with it's like a pigeon pose and then you cling on to the backrest and move your hips away from your foot. And this feels super duper good.
And if you're a competitive guy tell the guy next to you that you're going to compete in how many spins you can do and stretch at the same time. That would be a nice competition. You're going to get dizzy but it feels so good for the hips. We do both sides for a minute.
And then last one is either just interlace your fingers behind your back and fold forward which is equal to a cup of coffee. A minute here is like a cup of coffee. Or if it's too much to fold all the way down just place your head on your chair and straighten your legs like this. So just inverting will get blood flowing to your head and the pressure in the head here is going to feel so good when you release it and stand up again.
So this is not a pose you can get away with for more than maybe a minute every hour. But my idea of this sequence of five poses, we did the upper back, we did this one and we did three hip and back stretches. Five minutes in one hour, that's 40 minutes in a day in an eight hour work day. And 40 minutes of this is you're going to feel amazing compared to not doing it.
And showing up for jiu jitsu after eight hours seated completely still, motionless, is not healthy. And if your job actually cared about your well-being, if you want to work at your place for a long time, then five minutes an hour is an extremely smart investment because you're going to be more productive for the rest of the hour and your body is going to feel great. So good luck at the office guys and let me know if you like this video. I'm going to record more of them.
This is the transcript. Become a member to watch the video.
Watch now →.avif)