Move More At Your Desk: Reduce back pain and increase your energy at work

by Kerrie-Anne Bradley

A practical guide to show you small, simple, varied and doable ways to move more so that your body is less stiff, stronger, more energized and feels good. It focuses on movements you can easily do throughout the day – whether in the office or at home.

Most of us sit still for the majority of the day at our desks, not to mention hours binge watching Netflix. No self-respecting cat gets up without stretching, but humans have forgotten this need for regular movement. Back ache, migraines, RSI and even digestion issues can be aggravated by sitting still for too long. Move More At Your Desk shows you how to improve your sitting posture, strengthen, stretch and improve flexibility, to counter the issues caused by too little movement.

Illustrated throughout, the book is divided into 5 sections presenting movement snacks you can choose throughout your Neck and shoulders * Moving your spine * Legs and hips * Hands and wrists * Breathing. Each section provides exercises, tips and tricks targeting areas that are badly affected by stiffness and pain.

Build new habits, learn how to move just a bit more each day, and within four weeks aches and pains will be gone, you will feel more energized, positive and alive at work. Move More At Your Desk will give you everything you need to improve your overall health, posture and core strength.

Genres: Health, Nonfiction, Self Help

192 pages, Paperback

Published March 8, 2022

Reviews

[Literary Redhead · Rating 5 out of 5]

So glad I found this helpful guide to using simple movements at work or home to keep agile, stronger and more energized. I found this invaluable as I sit at my desk writing review after review. Out Mar 8.

Thanks to the author, Watkins Publishing, and NetGalley for the ARC. Opinions are mine.

#movemoreatyourdesk #watkinspublishing #netgalley

[Rena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rounded for 3.75 stars. I thought this book was a good resource for various exercises, stretches and moves to use throughout the day while siting behind a desk working on a computer for long hours. I have been researching all kinds of exercises and movement techniques for years, to use as part of movement therapy with clients and for myself. Move More at Your Desk offered number of different stretching exercises I was happy to add to my collection. I didn't find pictures/illustrations at all helpful, to understand how every exercise worked, I had to read carefully several times and perform each move. I will be implementing several of exercises learned through this book daily to relive tension and ache in my hands and shoulders.
Thank you NetGalley for ARC copy of this book.

[Isabel Hinen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the movements are kind of goofy, but overall I think it helped me remember to be more mindful of how I stand, sit, and move in general. I stand and sit a lot for my job so I'm putting these tips into practice a ton already!

[Renata || chicklitknygos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Naudinga ir aktuali knyga, tik per daug teksto, tokio tipo knygose norisi daugiau pažingsninės vizualizacijos, kaip kokį pratimą atlikti - man to pritrūko.

Labai ačiū #netgalley ir #kerrieannebradley už galimybę perskaityti!

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 out of 5 stars~

I received a copy via NetGalley for review~

I was excited for this one, specifically because we've just returned back to the office after a short stint of working entirely remote. When you work at a desk and end up being tied to it most of your day, it's important to find new ways to move where you are.

This book gives many different stretches and movements that can be done [for the most part] conveniently from your desk or office. Although, not everyone has the benefit of an office they solely have to themselves or the time between meetings to do these stretches - especially if a lot of meetings require team collaboration. I don't think many people would feel comfortable doing the majority of these stretches in front of their team and/or boss.

That being said, this was a solid little guide full of helpful stretches and the science behind why we need to stretch. It also went over muscle anatomy and different persons and their personal testimonials - including job titles, hours sedentary vs moving etc.

While I did like it, better pictures with step-by-step guides would have been preferred. There were not pictures for each and every stretch or instruction, and they were hard to see in the Kindle copy. I would have liked a better way to navigate to each body part and their relevant stretches as a "quick guide" to actually use on the fly.

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 2 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

This is a very frustrating book. I was extremely excited to get this, having especially been looking forward to guidance on stretching at my desk every hour so I wasn't sedentary too long. What I got was one of the poorest executions I've seen in a long time: information all over the place, pictures that do not help at all, not enough visual representations of the exercises, and a LOT of superfluous information that just clutters the book.

The book is organized by sections of your body. That means you have to scroll through pages of text you really only need to read once in order to get to the actual exercises. In order to create a routine, you will have to be scrolling back and forth endlessly and annoyingly unless you memorize everything in advance. There is a small section near the end with some suggested routines - but the accompanying photograph or two hardly help you remember what you are supposed to do for each of those sections. Instead, yep, you have to scroll back up and find the section across the ENTIRE book for each exercise to figure it out.

Adding to the issue is that the photographs are extremely unhelpful. For one, the author uses a stool - which makes her exercises easy to do but for most of us, we have office chairs with backs and cannot easily do the same exercises. As well, there are very wordy detailed steps for exercises and often only 1 or 2 photographs of a smiling sitting person. Not very useful when it comes to actually doing the exercises and realizing you have to sit and read through to figure out what to do with them. Cluttering this up, there is an illustration of a person sitting on a chair that appears everywhere and for no apparent purpose other than to 'pretty it up.'

Interspersed in each section of feet, back, neck, etc. are testimonials that are about as useless as you can imagine. We really don't need to know that moving more at the desk is useful and it is ridiculous to have to scroll through them to get to each exercise. At that point, it felt more like this is a marketing pamphlet for her online services (which are referenced OFTEN).

The book needs to be redone. A whole section at the back should be of either many small photographs or illustrations (preferably) of the steps of each exercise routine. There is way too much text and unnecessary info that should be cut. Testimonials can be excised and all the information about health, physiology, and hleath can be done all in the beginning and isolate the exercise descriptions in the middle (all together), for easy access. Then the last section can be the routines, with more photographs and better descriptions.

I found the book unusable as it is presented - just too much filler and useless info everywhere and having to endlessly scroll back and forth just to create a routine (unless I memorize each routine). As well, it was frustrating having the author using equipment none of us also use such as a stool. So be prepared to buy a stool and spend extra space/time having to store and then swap out your backed desk chair with wheels each routine. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Move More at Your Desk, Kerrie-Anne Bradley sets out a series of exercises and wellbeing tips to improve the health and flexibility of those sat at a desk for the majority of their day. Some of the exercises in this book, by the author’s own admission, will guarantee you some strange looks from your colleagues, but this is also aimed at the growing army of us who work from home. If you are back in the office post-Covid, fear not, there are plenty of more discreet exercises here for you - or you could get your colleagues involved in your new regime. As someone prone to back and shoulder pain, I tried out some of the exercises in this book over the course of a few weeks. These moves are simple and can indeed be slotted into your day while you’re on the phone, while you’re waiting for a program to load - or simply when you need a moment’s break from the screen. The effect is most impressive - no back or shoulder pain for me now. For those of us who are chained to a computer for a living, I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Thank you to NetGalley and Watkins Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Lizz Axnick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a short easy read (with pictures for reference) of how to move more when we sit all day. Kerrie-Anne has a way of engaging the reader and letting us know that even the smallest movements are important towards overall health and just wiggling your toes is good for your body and your soul. I have no doubt she is a delightful instructor in person.

This book is very readable and feels like you're having a conversation. I appreciated the pictures demonstrating the various poses. Though it was a bit hard to read on kindle, I felt that this book will certainly help me move more at my desk and I would consider purchasing a hard copy.

Highly recommend! My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC. My opinions in this review are my own.

[Emma Bray · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent resource for those who want to begin their journey into understanding their bodies better and moving more. It’s incredibly difficult to write movement and Kerrie-Anne has done an excellent job of breaking down complex movement patterns into simple well explained movements. I really like that there is an online platform and Instagram account so you can look at what the movements are and get ideas for new ones. It’s great to have a handy resource to help with the everyday niggles that come with working at a desk. I’ve bought this for a few of friends already and imagine it will be a firm favourite for some time!

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick and easy read that is meant to be a guide on reducing back pain and increase energy while you're working. And to be fair these exercises do work. But doing them in a regular office is likely to get you some odd looks...if you're actually able to get the type of chair needed to do the sitting exercises. Ir not ger sacked for standing on a chair and hanging your leg off! However what I have found is doing some of these BEFORE I start work has been beneficial. I have limited mobility and was able to do many of these exercises reasonably easily. And I definitely felt the benefits. But as an exercise book for doing at your desk it just didn't work.

[Julie Tudor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book came at the perfect time for me, having broken my foot I suddenly went from an active lifestyle to being non-weight bearing and on crutches for quite a while. The exercises gave me opportunities and ideas to keep myself moving and sane while my foot recovers.

The upper back/shoulder/neck moves are also useful for relieving the effects of being on crutches for so long.

The format makes it easy to dip in and out and the suggested lists of movements is really helpful.
Thank you Kerrie-Anne!

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this little book. It read like a good friend with your best interests at heart chatting with you over tea. Yes, tea. Must be: the author is British. Early on, she mentions her Instagram... so of course I looked her up so I could "hear" her voice while I read. Tons of great tips for staying somewhat active at our desks, whether at home or in the office. I plan to incorporate as many of her tips as I can! And as I mentioned, the tone is super friendly. Like she's your pal and just wants to help you cure your backache. Loved it.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Move it or lose it

On the face of it Kerrie-Ann’s book is about getting people in sedentary occupations to move more. In reality it’s about getting all of us to keep our bodies moving.

Many, if not most, of the exercises can be done, or adapted, to keep us moving whatever we’re doing and wherever we are. Whether we’re working at a desk, watching TV, travelling, or have mobility issues the exercises in Kerrie-Ann’s book give us simple ways to build more movement into our lives and be more flexible and healthier as a result.

[Candace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since the Pandemic hit 2 years ago more people have ended up working at home. We are now moving less and less and have gained weight because of this. I wanted to read this book to get more ideas for exercises in front of my computer and desk. The book had more talk than exercises so I was a little disappointed.


Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read The Party at Number 12 by Kerry Wilkinson.

[Steph Hay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this one, good moves and a useful reference.
I'm not sure about the layout and some of the other pieces around the main section were a little same-y. The case studies didn't really lend anything but liked the addition of other contributors giving exercises they liked.
Good for anyone feeling a bit stuck with where to add in movement

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who has a hereditary disc disease that causes issues with my sciatic nerve, a book like this is a blessing. Most of the moves are very simple and have seemed to ease my aches and pains. While there are some exercises that may appear strange to others, the majority are innocuous enough to be used every day.

[Kimberley · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's always a good idea to remind people to move more and to move correctly. Some of the stretches and movements are great, but there's way too much other stuff that I wasn't interested in and took away from me reading more in depth. If this is your cup of tea, great, but it wasn't mine. 2.5 stars rounded up.

[Katie Haasch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked up this book from the library because I’ve been dealing with a lot of neck and upper back pain. There is a lot of great information in here.

[Bozhena Levine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great sets of exercises to do at one’s desk or nearby. Am so glad I discovered it now, but it would’ve been even more useful during the COVID lock-in.

[Ania Gaska · Rating 4 out of 5]

So handy!