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Faaaaar tooooo maaaaany bits in that routine, I can't even bother counting beyond ten. How about just six and repeat then two or three times? I won't need it myself as I have a standing desk with a bar stool if I need some rest and go to the gym during winter and roadbike in summer, but at the gym I have a muscle routine (turns out cyclists only have muscles in their legs) that is just eight stations with the classic 3x10-15 repeats.


Standing desk doesn’t do squat for your flexibility.

You should be able using both hands to reach every spot on your back or there about.

You should be able to sit down on the floor with your hips bent at 90 degrees whilst both your legs are straight and your knees pointing upwards and unbent.

You should be able to sit at 90 degrees to the floor straight on your ass whilst having your legs inter locked (“Indian sitting”)

You should be able to sit down on your shins by bending your knees the top of the foot should be in line with your shins and your ass should be comfortably sitting on your ankles. (Japanese sitting)

You should be able to touch your toes without bending your knees and preferably without flexing your back especially the lower and mid back.

If you can’t do all 6 you need a routine to work on at least your weak spots.


I agree, but looking at the routine it doesn't seem to do much for ham/mobility except the deep squat hold. What part is supposed to help with what you mention, assuming I'm missing something


It wasn’t a comment about this specific routine but more a reply to the GP.

One of the reasons why I don’t like this specific routine is that it doesn’t stretch under load, to actually improve mobility your stretches need to be accompanied with a dynamic load such as body weight, balancing, free weight or a resistive band or cable.

I also do not think that a routine that does not have a test to identify which muscles are too weak and which are overused and one which does not allow you to set specific mobility goals is going to be productive either.


I guess I agree and disagree with that sentiment. If you do at least this routine frequently, it'll probably be a good thing, but you won't necessarily progress anything in any measurable way.

Whenever I know someone who wants to become a bit stronger or feel better, but hates the routine or gym or doesn't feel like they have time, I always recommend just showing up to a gym as frequently as you can, but 3 times a week is a good number. You can't optimize what you aren't already doing, so it's not really necessary to tell someone to fet into any particular exercise until they're there and feel comfortable with that.

To that effect, this routine doesn't seem like it's for someone who already has literally any existing training experience, it's for someone who sits all day and doesn't really have anything in movement.

As for my comment, I just mistook you for OP, it was early.

I personally love pullups, bench etc.. and that changes over time, but I'm usually chatting with people at the gym and making connections, which inspires me to try what they're doing and keep the habit strong. If I wanted to apply more rigor to it, I'd probably note my progress in some meaningful way, try to ingest more protein, pay attention to more detailed nutrition elements, but that's like a tertiary optimization that doesn't interest me too much.


What you "should" be able to do when it comes to flexibility is highly subjective and relative to each person and their needs.

Lack of flexibility is touted as this bogeyman that needs to be fixed. Saying people "should" be able to touch their toes without bending their knees has no basis in science and unless your job or daily life requires that kind of flexibility, you don't need it.

If anything, strength training should be what a person spends their times doing to increase quality of life.


> You should be able to...

I'm afraid quite a few of those have become a no-can't-do since they've put a few plates and screws around one of my hips... result of a cycling mishap, of course.

One thing the standing desk allows me as a music fan is to sway or even dance a little when I listen to music during my workday. A sitting desk is simply more restraining and will (in my case) often lead to that bad habit of placing my legs on the corner of the table. The curse of freelancing my my own office.


For this first version I followed the recommended guidelines of holding stretches for 30s (and if they are different for left and right then it would should as 2 exercises but in reality it's one if that makes sense). Having said that, still working on the best formula so thanks for the feedback!


Yes, make one out of the two, people pick up the mirroring instantly. Assuming a five-day work-week it's okay not to stretch every part every day, is it like with muscle exercises where you actually need a rest day to give the muscles some time to grow?




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