3 Minutes Every Hour for People Who Sit All Day: Six Stretches You Can Do Right by Your Office Desk

Here are six moves you can do right by your office desk: stand up and march in place, reach both arms up, roll your shoulders back, slowly tilt your head to each side, hold the desk and stretch the back leg, then sit back down and twist. Each one takes about thirty seconds, and doing them in this order adds up to exactly three minutes. Do one round every hour. You don't need to change clothes or find an open space.

The scenario in this article is adapted from everyday office life, and the names are made up. The moves are only a suggested daily routine. Adjust how far you go to suit yourself, and stop if anything feels off while you are doing them.

Yating's morning: she sits down at nine and looks up at noon

Yating does layout work at a design company. She sits down at nine in the morning and opens her files, and the next time she looks up, the clock in the corner of her screen often says twelve. The only times she leaves her chair all morning are to get some water once and go to the restroom once. She does want to get up and move around, but once she is in the zone she forgets to check the time, and by the time she remembers, the morning is gone.

The coworker at the next desk has a habit. Every hour on the hour, they stand up, do a few simple moves beside their desk, and sit back down three minutes later to keep working. Yating asked what they were doing, and the coworker laughed and said, "It's just a reason to get myself up and moving."

Yating decided to try it too, but she set some conditions for herself: no changing clothes, no hunting for open space, and nothing too noticeable to do in the office.

The three things holding her back

When Yating talked about this with a few friends, she found that what held them back had little to do with willpower. It mostly came down to three things.

The first is forgetting. When work gets busy and nothing reminds you, the time just slips by. The second is standing up and not knowing what to do, so you stand in the aisle for a few seconds and then just sit back down. The third is worrying about standing out. Making big movements next to a row of coworkers quietly typing always feels like someone is watching.

So this routine sticks to just three principles: a reminder at a set time, moves in a set order, and movements small enough to do right by your desk. All the moves and tips below were put together around these three rules.

The six moves, in order, and how to do them

This is the set Yating now does every hour. Do each move slowly and stop where you feel a stretch but aren't forcing it. Don't bounce and don't push hard. Keep breathing at your normal pace.

1. Stand up and march in place (thirty seconds): Get up from your chair and march in place beside your desk, letting your arms swing naturally. Think of these thirty seconds as setting your work down for a moment.
2. Reach both arms up (thirty seconds): Lace your fingers together and push your palms up toward the ceiling. Hold for a count of five, then lower them. Do this three times.
3. Roll your shoulders back (thirty seconds): Let your arms hang at your sides and slowly circle your shoulders up, back, and down. Do ten circles, then ten more in the other direction.
4. Slowly tilt your head to each side (thirty seconds): Slowly tilt your head toward your right shoulder and hold for a count of five. Come back to center, then switch to the left. Do each side twice. Keep it slow, and don't roll or swing your head around.
5. Hold the desk and stretch the back leg (thirty seconds): Put both hands on the edge of the desk and take a big step back with your right foot. Keep your back heel on the floor and bend your front knee slightly. Hold for a count of ten, then switch to the left foot.
6. Sit back down and twist (thirty seconds): Once you are seated, put your right hand on your left knee and slowly turn your body to the left. Hold for a count of five, come back to center, then switch sides.

The order itself is planned too. The first five are done standing, and the last one puts you right back in your chair, so once you finish the twist you can go straight back to the file you were working on.

In the first week, you may need to keep a note open on your phone and follow the order from it. After a few days, you'll remember the next move the moment you stand up.

How to remember when the hour comes

The easiest way is to set a reminder on your phone or computer that repeats every hour, and title it "Up for three minutes." When you see that line, you don't have to think about what to do.

If you don't like alarms going off, you can tie the round to something you already do: after you save a file, after a meeting ends, or when you walk back to your desk after getting a glass of water, just do a round. If you already use the water break as a cue, you can pair this with tying your water breaks to three fixed times, and go straight into these three minutes when you get back with your water.

If you're worried about being watched, find a buddy. Yating later got the coworker next to her to join in. When the hour comes, they both stand up at the same time. It has become a small routine between them, and nobody thinks it's strange.

How to adjust for meetings, narrow aisles, and pencil skirts

On days when you're stuck in a meeting room all afternoon, you can do just the third, fourth, and sixth moves: rolling your shoulders back, slowly tilting your head to each side, and the seated twist. All three are done sitting down and the movements are small, so the people around you probably won't notice. When the meeting is over and you're back at your desk, find a moment to make up the standing part.

If the aisle by your desk is narrow, swap marching in place for standing beside your desk and lifting your heels, and take a smaller step back for the desk leg stretch. Getting up every hour matters more than doing each move as fully as possible.

On days you're wearing a pencil skirt or high heels, skip the leg stretch for now and spend those thirty seconds marching a little longer. Just do what your clothes and shoes allow.

Start with the 10 a.m. round tomorrow

You don't have to do it every hour starting on day one. Pick one time first, say ten tomorrow morning, set a reminder, and try one round. Once the ten o'clock round works for you, add eleven and two in the afternoon, and slowly turn them into a few regular short breaks in your day.

If you'd like to plan out your lunch hour too, take a look at splitting your lunch break into three parts. And if you want to tidy your desk before you leave, the steps in dividing your desk into three zones in the last five minutes before you leave can also be done right by your seat.

Every week, the FP Duoduo team puts together a few small everyday routines like this one: how to move a bit during work breaks, what to order when eating out, how to choose a drink. If you'd like to get them, you can subscribe to the weekly newsletter below by Email or LINE, and you can unsubscribe at any time.