Sitting at a desk all day can be terrible for your health, stress out your joints, and increase your risk of aches or injuries. But a desk job doesn't have to derail your fitness, according to Cody Mooney, a two-time CrossFit Games athlete and director of performance for the fitness app pliability.
Mobility, or working to build strength through a greater range of motion, can help offset the negative side effects of sitting, allowing you to get more out of your gym sessions and reduce the risk of injury, he told Insider. It may feel less glamorous than lifting weights or crushing a high-intensity workout — but good mobility is necessary if you want to do the exciting stuff, or even just everyday exercise, for the long haul.
Mooney said he's learned the importance of mobility first-hand, as an elite athlete who suffered a serious shoulder injury, and now spends more time working at a desk.
He said adding some simple habits to your daily routine for healthy joints and muscles can also improve your performance whether your goal is to win the CrossFit Games, hit a new back squat PR, or just keep up with an active daily life.
"It's about giving people the ability to keep doing what they love, and better than they have been," Mooney said.
Minimize the damage of sitting all day with hip and glute exercises
The main challenge for weekend warriors or other athletes with desk jobs is that prolonged sitting can cause tension and pain in important joints and muscle groups like the back, hips, and glutes, according to Mooney.
"As a society, we sit so much and it's really tough to be able to go right from a desk job into the gym if you're not incorporating mobility somewhere," he said. "The back and hips are usually the big problems."
First, do what you can to avoid creating tension in the first place, like using a standing desk if possible, and avoiding habits like sitting with a wallet in your back pocket that can cause imbalance in your body.
Then, try exercises that specifically target your hip flexors and glutes to help relieve any tension from sitting, including pigeon pose. Taking short breaks for hip-opening poses throughout the day can help, but so can doing a longer session of stretching post-workout or before bed — choose a strategy that helps you be consistent.
Always activate your muscles with a proper warm-up
Another way to prevent your 9-t0-5 from clashing with your workouts is to get your body moving with a good warm-up before your main exercise, Mooney said.
"I rarely do anything now without putting the band around my knees to activate my glute or hips first," he said.
Warm-up by performing similar movements as what you'll do in the workout to help engage those muscles, priming your body to make the most of them.
For example, Mooney recommends doing lateral steps with a resistance band to prep for full-body or lower body exercises like squats, and moves like resistance band pull-ups before upper body workouts.
Cut your workout short to make time for stretching
Mooney recommends stretching at the end of the day, because it can help you wind down for a good night's sleep.
However, if you're guilty of neglecting your mobility, it may be worth sacrificing a few sets at the end of your workout, and using that 10 to 15 minutes to stretch instead, Mooney recommends.
"You're going to be ok if you can't do that extra piece of bodybuilding," he said.
Don't wait until something already hurts to take care of your body
Working hard in the gym is a great habit, but small aches can easily become larger problems if you aren't proactive about protecting your joints and muscles, Mooney said.
"It's not if you're going to get injured, it's when," he said.
Taking a proactive approach to mobility helps to make sure your body can safely get into and maintain different positions during exercise, such as a squat, overhead press, prior to adding any weight and intensity.
"If you can't get into a position and put weight onto it, the weight will force you into that position. That's where you'll get injured," Mooney said.
