Revitalize Your Workday: Essential Stretching Exercises for Office Workers

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Vocabulary

• Stretching – A form of physical exercise in which a specific muscle or tendon is deliberately flexed or stretched to improve the muscle's elasticity and achieve comfortable muscle tone.
• Office Workers – Employees who perform administrative or clerical tasks in an office environment.
• Posture – The position in which someone holds their body when standing or sitting.
• Ergonomics – The study of people's efficiency in their working environment.
• Sedentary Lifestyle – A type of lifestyle with little or no physical activity.
• Neck Stretch – A stretching exercise that targets the muscles in the neck.
• Shoulder Shrug – An exercise that strengthens and stretches the shoulder muscles.
• Trunk Twist – A stretch that targets the lower back and abdominal muscles.
• Seated Forward Bend – A stretching exercise that targets the lower back and hamstrings.
• Hamstrings – The three muscles at the back of the thigh that affect hip and knee movement.
• Wrist Stretch – A stretching exercise that targets the muscles in the wrist.
• Flexibility – The quality of bending easily without breaking.
• Muscle Elasticity – The ability of a muscle to return to its original length after being stretched.
• Muscle Tone – The state of tension or resistance to stretch in resting muscles.
• Desk Exercises – Exercises that can be done while sitting at a desk.
• Physical Activity – Any body movement that works your muscles and requires more energy than resting.
• Lumbar Region – The lower part of the spine between the diaphragm and the sacrum.
• Cervical Region – The upper part of the spine, also known as the neck.
• Thoracic Region – The middle part of the spine, also known as the upper back.
• Spinal Mobility – The degree to which individual vertebral segments move within the spinal column.
• Muscle Endurance – The ability of a muscle or group of muscles to perform repeated contractions against a load for an extended period of time.
• Repetitive Strain Injury – A condition in which the prolonged performance of repetitive actions, typically with the hands, causes pain or impairment of function in the muscles and nerves.
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome – A painful condition of the hand and fingers caused by compression of a major nerve where it passes over the carpal bones.
• Physical Fitness – A state of health and well-being and, more specifically, the ability to perform aspects of sports, occupations and daily activities.
• Musculoskeletal Disorders – Injuries or pain in the body's joints, ligaments, muscles, nerves, tendons, and structures that support limbs, neck and back.
• Occupational Health – A field of healthcare that focuses on the well-being and safety of employees in the workplace.
• Workstation – A place where work of a particular type is done, typically one that is fully equipped for a particular type of work.
• Office Ergonomics – The process of designing or arranging workplaces, products and systems so that they fit the people who use them in an office.
• Stretch Breaks – Periodic breaks during the workday to perform stretching exercises to reduce muscle stress and fatigue.
• Joint Mobility – The degree to which an individual joint or group of joints can move before being restricted by surrounding tissues.
• Muscle Strength – The amount of force a muscle can produce with a single maximal effort.
• Dynamic Stretching – A form of stretching beneficial in sports utilizing momentum from form, and the momentum from static-active stretching strength, in an effort to propel the muscle into an extended range of motion.
• Static Stretching – A type of stretching exercise where a specific position is held with the muscle on tension for a certain period of time.
• Chair Yoga – A gentle form of yoga that can be done sitting on a chair or standing on the ground while using the chair for support.
• Deep Breathing – A type of breathing that slows the heartbeat and can lower or stabilize blood pressure.
• Mindfulness – The quality or state of being conscious or aware of something, especially present moment.
• Health and Wellness – An active process of becoming aware of and making choices toward a healthy and fulfilling life.
• Physical Health – A state of physical well-being in which a person is physically fit to perform their daily activities without restrictions.
• Mental Health – A person's condition with regard to their psychological and emotional well-being.
• Eye Strain – A condition characterized by symptoms such as fatigue, pain in or around the eyes, blurred vision, headache and occasional double vision.
• Body Mechanics – The use of one's body to produce motion that is safe, energy conserving, and anatomically and physiologically efficient.
• Occupational Therapy – A form of therapy for those recuperating from physical or mental illness that encourages rehabilitation through the performance of activities required in daily