9 Simple One-Minute Stretches That Can Keep You Loose And Alert While Trading

Let's face it, sitting at your computer for long periods trading of time can give you tension in muscles you never even knew you had.

If your full-time gig is also a desk job, then you are going to start feeling the effects of this lifestyle sooner or later…if you haven't already.

In this post, I'm going to show you 9 super-simple exercises that you can do at your trading desk to release the tension that can build up when sitting for long periods of time.

Each exercise will literally only take 1 minute and you can mix and match as you choose.

Doing these exercises can put you in a better mood, since you will probably be less tense and doing the exercises throughout the day can break up the monotony of quiet periods while trading or at work.

And they are only one minute each, so you have no excuses!

Before we get started, I'm not a doctor, nor to I play one on the internet, so although I believe that these exercises will help you, please consult your physician before engaging in these exercises if you have any doubts as to if they are right for you.

Relieving Tension In Your Shoulders

This is probably the most common issue among Traders, I know it is for me, at least. Stress can cause you to naturally shrug your shoulders and like your mother said: if you do that too much, it will stay that way.

Try these simple stretches to loosen your shoulders:

Got Lower Back Problems?

Yes, tightness in your lower back might be a result of all of your time at the gym and your massive pectoral muscles.

Hey, it's your story, tell it any way you want.

But it's (much) more likely that you have bad sitting posture or have just been sitting for way too long.

The first thing that you want to check is if you have a comfortable chair and that it has enough lower back support.  If not, see about changing your chair or buying an inexpensive lower back pillow or mesh support thingy. I saw one at a dollar store in my area for…yes, $1.

Also experiment with your monitor level. I would recommend getting it as close to eye level as possible. If you are looking down at your monitor, that will cause you to slouch.

Yeah that seems obvious, but sometimes we don't think about it until someone mentions it.

I'm no ergonomics expert or anything, but those are things that worked for me. You might also want to try a standing desk. If you have that stuff squared away and simply have just been sitting for too long, then try these stretches:

Loosening Your Hips

Your hips are probably the last place that you would think of stretching, but I have to tell you, this is probably the most satisfying of all of these stretches…at least to me.

Give them a shot and judge for yourself.

There Is Also A 10th Thing…

One last thing that you can do to relive tension is simply get up and walk around occasionally.

Experiment with different time periods and set an alarm to tell you when to get up and move around before you start growing roots.

Try starting with 1 hour work intervals.

Set an alarm on your phone or watch to repeat every hour and when that bell (or Justin Beiber ringer) goes off, get up and take a short tour of your office or get some fresh air.

Return refreshed and ready to go.

Conclusion

So those are the 9…err, 10 simple exercises that you can do to keep you productive and alert while at your trading station or at your job.

I hope you find them helpful.

What do you do during the day to stay loose? We would love to hear about it in the comments below.