Work Office Exercises - Train Your Legs While Sitting At Your Desk

Office jobs have to be the worst factors for tight hamstrings. Not only are you sitting all day but most women will wear high heels. The majority of office jobs like this are a 9-5 grind for 5 days per week. This type of repetition in damage shortens the hamstrings, which in turn leads to a plethora of problems.

Knees will be the first to complain slightly but just enough that most ignore it. You get up, walk it off, take some ibuprofen and forget about it once it's silenced. Depending on your foot plan, you may lean more to the outer foot or inner foot, which will dictate if the medial or lateral collateral is irritated.

Eventually your hips and lower back will be next. The soreness on this is a bit more relentless. You try stretches, ice, pain killers and then the next day you get back in those heels, go to work and sit for another eight hours. The pain then sets in for your whole day while you sit and gets worse to where it affects you during sleep as well.

At this point you decide to try some physio, maybe get adjusted at the chiropractor and may even get some deep tissue massage. These are all excellent and should be used to help you heal. The thing is they are not the solution, just the band aid. You have to find a balance in avoiding the cause of the problem to really affect the outcome of this. You cannot quit and probably cannot change your job description but there are small modifications you can make which will over time be your solution.

Take every hour to stop, get up, walk about, get water, and stretch. It takes a few minutes but helps get the lubrication in the knee going and pulls you out of the same position you have been holding for an hour.

If you can, try to slip off the high heels during your seated time at your desk. Better yet, if you can use runners at the office, perhaps you work behind the scenes and not directly with the public, then take advantage of this. Most office jobs will have no issues with professional shoes which are practical. Consider this over fashion for now. Save those fancy heels for nights out and dates.

Hamstring and calve specific stretches can be done nightly just before bed, on the bed and takes a matter of a minute per leg. This small commitment makes a HUGE difference in the end. You can do it more than once per day but the minimal would be once per day.

My last suggestion is to use a body ball for your seat at your desk. This helps you use your postural muscles and letting the hamstrings off a bit. Again this is only something you can do with the okay of your company but for most of you who are not dealing readily with the public or in the public view would be able to do this and be encouraged to do so by your company because in the long run your health means they save money. Think over some of these modifications and save your hamstrings today!

By Linda Cusmano