Core · Shoulders
Desk plank lean
Activation · Standing
- How to do it
- Hands on the desk, walk the feet back until the body is in a straight line from head to heels. Hold without sagging the hips or shrugging. Use forearms on the desk if wrists complain.
- Dose
- 30s
- What you should feel
- Your middle holding you steady
- Common mistake
- Sagging hips or shrugging shoulders.
- Make it easier
- Lean less and hold for less time.
- Avoid this movement if
- Weight through your wrists hurts.
- Why DeskBreak uses it
- A little trunk and shoulder work using the desk. Standing up to do it is half the benefit.
Stop this movement if it causes sharp or worsening pain, numbness, weakness or dizziness.
Evidence
Emerging evidence.
- Effectiveness of small daily amounts of progressive resistance training for frequent neck/shoulder pain: randomised controlled trial (Pain, 2011)
- Effectiveness of exercise in office workers with neck pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis (South African Journal of Physiotherapy, 2017)