A personal trainer has criticised office workers who spend their days sitting “shrimp-like” at their desks, and revealed three key stretches to help improve your posture.
Adam Richardson, a physiotherapist whose main aim is to make moving and “wiggling” easier for everyone, regularly shares informative videos on TikTok.
Recent video He focuses on desk workers, who at the end of an eight-hour workday can find themselves slumped in their chairs in a posture that can only be likened to that of a crustacean.
He also demonstrated three stretches that workers can do without leaving their desks.
“You’re sitting like a shrimp right now, aren’t you?” Adam asked his followers. “When was the last time you removed a shrimp?”
The first exercise requires you to first cross one leg over the other, “as if you’re reading an imaginary newspaper,” Adam says.
“As you sit up straight, you’ll feel a stretch in your outer hips,” he says, “but it doesn’t stop there.”
Then place your hands on your bent legs and rotate your torso until you’re facing away from your back, or as far as you can, for a “fruity little twist.”
“Take a few big, deep breaths here,” Adam added, before suggesting that if the stretch in your knees is too much, move your bottom leg further apart so you’re not sitting as upright.
Then cross your other leg and repeat this stretch on the other side.
For the second stretch, Adam begins by saying, “Next, I want you to spread your arms wide so you make a big T-shape and hug me, and I’m going to put some lube on both sides. That’ll be cute.”
Next, twist your palms toward the ceiling and thrust your chest forward, says Adam, stretching and “squiggling” in this position before taking a few deep breaths.
Then do the opposite, dropping your shoulders forward, arching your upper back and twisting your arms forward until your hands are pointing toward the ceiling again.
“Repeat this as many times as you like,” Adam adds. “If you want to get more elaborate, you can even use your other hand in the opposite direction.”
And for the final shrimp exercise, Adam instructs you to “slap your hands behind your head and slowly draw your chin towards your chest.”
Then, push your chest out as you go back in the opposite direction.
Once you’re upright, bend one elbow down to the side and repeat on the other side.
Slowly bend to either side to return to the starting position, then clasp your hands together and reach them over your head as far as you can before returning to the starting position.
Post-pandemic, Adam founded a “mobility library” called “You, Me and the Floor” to get people moving and do stretches and exercises without the need for equipment or a gym membership.
And her desk-bound TikTok followers were quick to thank her for helping them stay cool and sharing some quick stretches they could do while seated.
“I felt pretty attacked when I was called a shrimp, but I’m totally fine now. Cheers.” [laughing face]” one person said.
Another wrote: “I have muscular dystrophy and sitting exercises help me so much. Thank you for including me.” [heart face].
And one pregnant woman said: “This really helped me as I was so tired being pregnant. I’d just been sitting all day so stretching felt really good.”
