Sports Orthopedic Surgeon & Joint Preservation Specialist
This article is based on an expert interview with Jonathan Frank, MD, conducted by wikiHow Staff Editors. Dr. Jonathan Frank is an Orthopedic Surgeon based in Beverly Hills, California, specializing in sports medicine and joint preservation. Dr. Frank's practice focuses on minimally invasive, arthroscopic surgery of the knee, shoulder, hip, and elbow. Dr. Frank holds an MD from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine. He completed an orthopedic residency at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and a fellowship in Orthopedic Sports Medicine and Hip Preservation at the Steadman Clinic in Vail, Colorado. He is a staff team physician for the US Ski and Snowboard Team. Dr. Frank is currently a scientific reviewer for top peer-reviewed scientific journals, and his research has been presented at regional, national, and international orthopedic conferences, winning several awards including the prestigious Mark Coventry and William A Grana awards.
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By now you probably know that sitting at a desk all day can actually be bad for your health and cause problems like muscle strain and body aches. Fortunately, regularly doing some stretches at your desk can prevent some of these issues and help you feel more comfortable sitting for long periods of time. In this video, orthopedic surgeon Jonathan Frank breaks down some of the easiest, most effective mobility stretches you can do while sitting down.
Key Takeaways
- Stretch your neck at your desk by tilting your head to one side and putting your hand on your head. Repeat on the other side.
- Bring your arms up over your head and gently pull one over to the other side to stretch your shoulder. Repeat with your other arm.
- Stretch your back by periodically standing up, bending over, and touching your toes.
Video Transcript
Especially now with COVID, we see a lot of people who have a lot of neck strain, a lot of shoulder pain, and they'll get hip and back pain. And that's just from sitting in one position for a long period of time. So, working from your head down, you want to work on some neck stretches. You can gently tilt your head to the side and put your hand on your head, and do the same thing on the other side to stretch out your neck. You want to bring your arms up over your shoulder, then take one and bring it over to the side gently to stretch out your shoulder. For your back, you want to stand up periodically and bend over and touch your toes. And vice versa, you want to bend backwards while at the same time squeezing your glute muscles to support the back. And then you can also stretch down and reach for your toes while you're sitting in your chair to stretch out the hamstrings. And then finally, you can cross your legs like a figure four and then lean over, and that helps stretch out your glutes.
