Gentle office stretching exercises
  • Look up and away from the screen. Focus on an object more than 3 metres away e.g. look out of the window or at a picture on a far wall. Shift your vision back to the screen and refocus.

  • Holding your head straight, look up then look back to the centre. Look down, then look back to the centre. Look off to the left, then look back to the centre. Look to the right, then look back to the centre.

  • Raise the head to straighten the neck. Tuck the chin in and upwards, creating a double chin. This also results in a forward tilt of the head. Repeat several times.

  • Keeping your chin tucked in, gently lower your ear to your shoulder and hold for 10 seconds on either side. Repeat several times.

  • Circle shoulders forward several times, then backwards. Repeat 3 to 5 times.

  • Lift your arm up high, then relax and flop the arm down behind your neck. With the elbow held high, cradle your elbow with your opposite hand and lean. Hold for 4 seconds, then repeat on the other arm.

 

Resources

We have a short course that will take you through a number of simple stretches you can do at your desk.  To open it, click here and it will open in another Tab.  Remember to close that Tab to return here at the end.

Introduction

Introduction

Hi! My name's Ben Ly and I'm the UTS Fitness Centre Manager. This video been developed by the Safety & Wellbeing team in the Human Resources department at UTS to help you stay safe and comfortable whilst interacting with your workplace.

Now, with all exercise regimes, please consult a healthcare professional before you undergo any sort of exercise and if at any time you feel like you're experiencing pain or one of the exercises I'm doing is a little bit difficult, please stop and consult your doctor before you do anything else.

 

Produced by Video Production Unit / Events, Exhibitions and Projects (c) 2009

Safety and Wellbeing    University of Technology, Sydney

 

Eye exercises

Eye exercises

Changing your focus will stretch and exercise the eye muscles. Choose an object approximately three metres away, hold your gaze on that object and try to observe its size, its shape, its colour. Hold that gaze for five seconds. Then, bring your gaze in and choose an object close to you - let's say a cup on your desk. Observe the size, the shape, the colouring again and hold that for five seconds, bringing your gaze in.

With your eyes, you want to work on exercises that move the eyes up, down and around in all their different areas of motion. Holding the head nice and straight, looking up, looking back to the centre. Look down, look back to the centre. Look off to the left, back to the centre and off to the right, back to the centre.

Sitting in front of your computer you tend to blink a lot less than you would normally do. To refresh your eyes, you want to blink ten times in a row and hold the last blink for approximately five seconds. Sitting down in your chair nice and relaxed, keep your head nice and straight and your shoulders nice and loose, blink ten times in a row. One, two, three, four ... all the way to ten. On the tenth one, hold it for five seconds. Five, four, three, two and one.

That's your exercises for your eyes. Thanks for joining us.

 

Produced by Video Production Unit / Events, Exhibitions and Projects  (c) 2009

Safety and Wellbeing  University of Technology , Sydney

 

Neck exercises

Neck exercises

The first exercise involves something called a chin tuck. Sitting nice and relaxed in your chair, shoulders down, push your chin back trying to make a nice double-chin just down here in your neck. Push it back and hold. Now making sure that your head stays straight, just get that nice little goose-looking wobble just there, hold it there four, three, two and one and relax, push your head forward.

The second area we want to look at is down the sides of the neck. Keeping your shoulders nice and relaxed, making sure they don't move at all, tilt your head to the side keeping your head nice and straight, hold. You should be feeling the stretch down the side of your neck just down here and on the tops of your shoulders just here. Hold it there four, three, two and one and back to the centre. Nice and relaxed.

Now, stretching through the opposite side, tilt your head to the right hand side keeping both shoulders nice and flat, head nice and straight, be cautious not to bounce, keep your head nice and still. You should feel the stretch running down the side of the neck and the top of your shoulders just here. Hold it there four, three, two and one and relax. Bring the head back up, nice and relaxed.

 

Produced by Video Production Unit / Events, Exhibitions and Projects  (C) 2009

Safety and Wellbeing    University of Technology, Sydney

 

 

Shoulder exercises

Shoulder exercises

What I want you to do, sitting nice and relaxed in your chair, shoulders relaxed, head nice and straight, lift your shoulders up and squeeze. Sit nice and relaxed. Hold it there, five, four, three, two and one and relax your shoulders. Staying loose again, roll your shoulders forward, nice big circles. Big circles, relaxing those shoulders, four, three, two and one and back again the other way. Four, three, two and one. Give them a shake, stay nice and loose.

The second exercise we want to look at is lifting your arm up nice and high, relax, flop the arm down behind your neck, elbow up nice and high, cradle your elbow with your opposite hand and lean. Holding it there for me, four three, two and one. Sitting back up again, let the arms relax. Head straight, again on the other arm. Lift it up nice and high, flop it down behind your neck, cradle the elbow and lean the opposite way. Four, three, two and one. Back up again and down. Now you should be all loose, ready to get back to work.

So that' s your shoulders done. Thanks for joining us.

 

Produced by Video Production Unit / Events, Exhibitions and Projects (C) 2009

Safety and Wellbeing    University of Technology, Sydney

 

Wrist exercises

Wrist exercises

Placing your hand out in front of you, make a loose fist, use your opposite hand to provide just the slightest bit of resistance, and hold. Four, three, two and one. Release the hand and pull your hand back. Four, three, two and one. Give your hands a bit of a shake. Now for your opposite hand. Again, place the hand out in front, make a loose fist, using the opposite hand place just a little bit of resistance. Four, three, two and one. Release the hand, pull it back. Four, three, two and one. Give your hands a bit of a shake.

For your second exercise, interwining your fingers out in front, keep your elbows nice and relaxed, nice and loose, flare or extend the hands and stretch. Four, three, two and one. Bring the elbows in, release the hands. Give them a shake.

That's your wrist exercises. Thanks for joining us.

 

Produced by Video Production Unit / Events, Exhibitions and Projects (C) 2009

Safety and Wellbeing    University of Technology, Sydney

 

Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Boorooberongal people of the Dharug Nation, the Bidiagal people and the Gamaygal people, upon whose ancestral lands our university stands. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands.