Stretching life, not hours

This was yet another week of stretching at AnyLinuxWork and the flamboyance on the face of the team members is pleasantly visible. That’s the best part about exercising. It gives us a great feeling. Even if we may be still far away from being healthy, exercising already gives us a feeling that are fit- a motivation we all badly need for treading farther on the fitness road.

AnyLinuxWork employees thus are learning to stretch their lives through exercising at work, instead of stretching hours of work. However, our trainers have also tried to keep a good balance between stretching and over-stretching. Last week thus the IO team re-learnt a lesson about over-doing things.

The key to a good stretching sessions, as all of us learnt, is to feel good and not strained. It may sound a bit paradoxical but stretching should not be stretched too far. Just the right note and we could be playing a melodious composition of health.

Coming back to our stretching exercises, IO is delighted to share some more easy-to-do stretching for which our body would really thank us.

Side neck stretch: To stretch the muscles along the side of neck, face forward and look straight ahead.

• Tilt head toward one side, gently pushing the ear toward the shoulder. Hold for 15 seconds.
• Lift the head into a normal, upright position. Relax, and repeat three times on each side.

Head turn: To stretch the muscles along the side and back of neck and at the top of the  back, start facing forward.

• Slowly turn the head and look to one side until the chin is parallel with the shoulder. Be sure to keep the shoulders straight ahead. Hold for three seconds.
• Repeat the same steps on the other side.
• Drop the chin gently to the chest before returning to the upright starting position. Repeat all steps five times.

Chin tuck: The chin tuck also loosens stiff neck and shoulder muscles.

• Start facing straight ahead.
• Keeping the back straight, pull the chin toward the chest until one feels a stretch along the back of the neck. Hold for 10 to 15 seconds. Relax, return to the starting position and repeat.

Shoulder shrug: The shoulder shrug targets tight neck, shoulder and upper back muscles.

• Slowly bring the shoulders up toward the ears. Hold for three seconds.
• Then, roll the shoulders back and down. Relax and repeat five to 10 times.

Back stretch: One can feel this stretch along one’s mid- and lower back muscles.

• Sit forward in a chair so that there’s a little room between one’s back and the back of the chair.
• Face forward and cross the right leg over the left.
• Put the left hand on the right knee, and gently pull toward the left side while slowly turning the head and shoulders to the right. Keep turning until one sees the wall behind one’s right shoulder. Don’t force the turn — go just until one feels a nice stretch in one’s back. Hold for eight to 10 seconds. Relax and repeat on the other side.

Remember these gentle moves should feel good — never painful.  That’s the code. Happy Stretching!

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