It’s getting to be that time of year again, when high school and uni students start to hit the books in preparation for their end of year exams and assessments. No one feels great after spending hours hunched over a textbook or computer, however it is somewhat unavoidable for students at this time of year. Luckily, our team at Beyond have put together our favourite stretches to help you MOVE THROUGH LIFE this exam period!
We advise getting up at least every hour to stretch your legs, have a drink of water, rest your eyes from the computer and give your brain a little break. A great way to do this is to set a timer for 50 minutes, work solidly until the alarm goes off and then give yourself ten minutes to have a mini break and two or three of these stretches. These stretches have been handpicked to help with study related tightness and restriction as well as helping reverse the slouching posture we often assume when studying.
Try book openings and cat & cow stretches to mobilise your back and shoulders. These are great stretches to increase rotation through your trunk and extend and open up your upper back and chest. Just what you need after being stuck at your desk while studying.
It is quite common to experience neck pain whilst studying. We love using chin tucks and upper trap stretches to ease those tight spots in your neck during and after a big study session.
When writing out notes and summaries our forearm muscles get a massive work out. To help keep your forearms in fine note writing form, stretch them regularly during study periods using our wrist flexor and extensor stretches.
Do you ever find that after sitting as a desk studying for a prolonged period you’re feeling really tight in your sides and chest? In addition to the cat & cow and book opening stretches, doing our pec stretch and lat stretch is a lovely way to loosen off those muscles that get really tight whilst studying.
We hope you find these stretches helpful this exam period! Sometimes the combination of studying posture and exam stress can be too much for even the best stretching habits. In these cases, our team at Beyond are able to help you get back on track, be it with a myotherapy or osteopathic treatment, or fine tuning your stretching and strengthening your postural muscles in a pilates class!
