Workout Exercises for Laptop Stand Desk Users

22 April 2021

Whether in the office or in a pandemic-forced WFH station, it’s common knowledge that sitting in front of a computer for long periods of time harmful for your health. Sitting puts excessive stress on the low back, shoulders, and neck and can lead to low back pain, neck pain, shoulder impingement, carpal tunnel, and more stated by Caleb Ridgway, a chiropractic sports physician specializing in athletes. 

Those aches and pains are driving people to look for standing desks and laptop stand desks.  Anything to assist them to set up a droop-proof desk while working without suffering from the ill-effects of sitting. Simply owning a laptop stand desk doesn’t guarantee it will help unless you know how to align your back properly.


This is why reaching out to chiropractors, sports doctors, and physical therapists for advice on which ergonomic office accessories can actually help prevent slouching, improve posture, and get better focus on work better. It’s imperative to find a laptop stand desk that is sturdy, adjustable, and easily adjustable the height to have a seamless transition from a sitting to a standing position and vice versa.

 Experts recommend spending no more than an hour standing each day for the first couple of weeks and gradually increasing that amount of time. Some will think that standing is a cure-all for posture problems, but the experts explain that it’s more about changing the position throughout the day, including a combination of standing and sitting. 


Prolonged sitting has a tendency for workers to roll their shoulders forward leading to poor postural and stress on the shoulders. This causes rotator-cuff injury and adaptive muscle shortening. To balance out the sitting and standing time, experts recommend using the Pomodoro Technique, a simple system of getting up and standing for five minutes after every 20 to 25 minutes of sitting. 





How sitting for long periods affects the body



Sitting for extended periods of time can tighten the hip flexors and lead to low back pain. It is attached to the anterior part of the lumbar spine, pelvis, and femur, thus their tightening results in a constant strain on the back. This also has a domino effect and can affect the pelvis, rib cage, and diaphragm as well as weaken the glute muscles. 


The function of the glutes is to provide stability for the pelvis and low back. If they are not functioning well, it further aggregates back strain as well as the increased workload of the hamstrings to relieve the pressure. Prolonged sitting creates myofascial tightness, joint malalignment, muscle weakness, and overall instability culminating in pain and dysfunction.


 Glute muscles tend to relax while sitting in a chair all day.  Try concentrating more on them when exercising. You don’t need to go to the gym to start working on these muscles. Doing glute squeezes at the standing desk or chair help activate the muscles.




Exercises while working on laptop stand desk


  1. Chest opener


Sitting tall with feet on floor hip-width apart, hands interlaced behind head and elbows wide. Lift through the spine and look up to the ceiling, taking the weight of the head back into the hands. Return. Close the elbows, then gently round the upper spine to stretch the back of the neck. Repeat five times.


  1. Downward dog


Press into your hands and feet, hands shoulder-width, feet hips-width. Bend the knees and lift up the hips. Lengthen your tailbone up and release the crown of your head down. This allows the spine to stretch and the vertebrae to decompress after sitting all day.


  1. Ragdoll fold  

From standing, bend your knees and hinge forward at your hips. Shift the weight into the balls of your feet and drop the head heavy to release the muscles that support the neck and low back. It increases the flow of fresh blood to the brain and releases compression and stagnation from sitting.

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  1. Half-kneel stretch

Start in a half kneel, posterior tilt the pelvis (flatten your low back) and inhale. Shift your body weight forward as you exhale.  Think of an X on the front of the hip of the back leg. Imagine pushing this X forward while not letting the back arch. 


  1. Spinal twists


Sitting tall with feet on the floor hip-width apart, lift through the spine and rotate keeping your core tight. You can use chair arms to gently assist the twist. Hold for 5 seconds and repeat on the other side. Repeat five times.




Wireless devices to gather standing desk exercise data


Wearable devices measure the spinal posture and send the data to an app on your phone or tablet. Some people can find benefits from posture apps and wearable devices, it is essential to note that some people may not see the benefits of exercising while working. But there is still the need for more research to determine the effectiveness of standing desk postures and exercises.




Conclusion:


These laptop standing desk exercises can help attain a healthier lifestyle and better posture. Daily exercise can help in many other ways and an active sitting employee is better than a sedentary sitting worker. Yet a chunk of exercise is not enough to counteract the effect of a sitting job. Consistent, regular movement is must always be observed.


The EdgeRiser Standing Desk Converters M8B – 27 is a perfect example of a laptop stand desk. It is portable enough to take it anywhere. Just pop it on a table and you are good to go. It not only gives you ergonomic benefits but also helps do some exercises while working.