Sitting All Day? 5 Stretches a Surrey Physiotherapist Wants You to Do

Desk work doesn't injure you in a day — it does it over a thousand quiet hours. Neck tension, rounded shoulders, tight hips and a stiff lower back are the classic pattern we see from Surrey's office and remote workers. These five stretches, done daily, push back.

1. Chin tucks — for the "tech neck"

Sit tall, glide your chin straight back (make a gentle double chin), hold 5 seconds, release. 10 reps. This wakes up the deep neck muscles that switch off when your head drifts toward the screen.

2. Doorway pec stretch — for rounded shoulders

Forearm on a door frame, elbow at shoulder height, step gently through until you feel a stretch across the chest. 30 seconds per side. Hours of keyboard work shorten these muscles and drag your posture forward.

3. Seated thoracic rotation — for the stiff mid-back

Sitting, cross your arms over your chest and rotate your ribcage left and right, slow and tall. 10 each way. The mid-back is built to rotate; chairs convince it not to. A stiff mid-back makes your neck and lower back do its job.

4. Hip flexor lunge stretch — for tight hips

Half-kneeling, tuck your tailbone slightly, shift forward until the front of the kneeling-side hip stretches. 30 seconds per side. Sitting keeps hip flexors short, and short hip flexors tug on the lower back every time you stand.

5. Standing hamstring hinge — for the chair-bound posterior chain

Feet hip-width, soft knees, hinge at the hips with a flat back until the hamstrings speak up. 10 slow reps. Bonus: it doubles as practice for lifting things properly.

The real fix is the pattern, not the stretch

Stretches manage the load; they don't remove it. Set a timer to stand every 45 minutes, alternate tasks, and remember: your next posture is the best posture.

When to stop stretching and get assessed

• Pain, numbness or tingling running down an arm or leg
• Headaches that start at the base of the skull most workdays
• Back or neck pain that persists beyond a couple of weeks despite moving more

Those are signs the problem has moved past "tight muscles" — a physiotherapy assessment finds the driver, and massage therapy helps unwind the accumulated tension while you retrain it.