Mr. Sato is wiser, and healthier, than people think, and he’s here to help you stay loose and limber.

With the coronavirus pandemic ongoing, more people than ever are working from home. If your job isn’t something that involves a lot of kinetic activity, like, for example, being a lumberjack, alligator wrestler, or ninja, you might think working from home isn’t any different, physically, from working in the office, but that’s not necessarily true.

Office desks are usually configured with their surfaces higher than home ones, and if you’re working with a company loaner laptop instead of a dedicated monitor, the screen you’re staring at for eight hours a day is also going to be lower than what’s ergonomically ideal. The result is increased strain on the muscles at the base of your neck and across your shoulders, as well as the tendons and stabilizers of your shoulders, elbows, and forearms.

▼ SoraNews24 writer Yuichiro Wasai demonstrating the problem areas

So to help everyone stay limber, our ace reporter Mr. Sato is here with a stretching routine you can do at home to loosen up the parts of your body that are being overworked from teleworking.

“Wait a minute,” you might be saying. “Mr. Sato? That guy who drank a one-liter tapioca milk tea? The dude who ate the 1,000-bacon strip Whopper? No thanks. I’ll get my health and fitness tips elsewhere (but call me next time he’s eating something crazy).” What you may not know though, is that Mr. Sato takes fitness seriously. He’s even a competition-level pole dancer.

And so, without further ado, here’s Mr. Sato’s six-step stretching routine to help keep your upper body as loose and happy as he is.

Stretch 1

Let’s start with the shoulder socket. Hold your left arm horizontally in front of you, with your palm facing your face and your fingers pointing to the right. Wrap your right arm underneath your left, then use it to pull your left arm towards you. Switch arms and repeat the process.

Stretch 2

Next up are the interior shoulder muscles around your armpit. Stand up straight and slip your left arm behind your back, with your hand hanging down towards your shoulder blades. Bring your right hand onto your left elbow and gently pull it towards the center of your back. Switch arms and repeat.

Stretch 3

Moving on to the chest muscles, for this one you’ll need to be standing near a wall (and if you’re practicing good social distancing and staying at home, you should have lots of those to choose from). Facing away from the wall, extend one arm behind you and place it flat against the surface with your fingertips pointing down. While keeping your hand against the wall, gently stretch your chest forward, while trying to keep your shoulders parallel with the wall. You should feel a slight tug where your chest muscles meet the front inner edge of your shoulder. Switch arms and repeat.

Stretch 4

Let’s loosen up those shoulders a little more! This one is pretty simple: just cock your arms and slowly roll your shoulders. To make sure you’re getting a full range of motion, not just bouncing your shoulders up and down like pistons, imagine you’re trying to draw great big circles with your elbows. Start with rolling your shoulders back to forward, then later switch and roll them forward to back.

Stretch 5

Don’t forget about your wrists! Since they’re part of the network of muscles and tendons that flows from your neck to your fingers, neglecting them will have adverse effects on the other members of the team.

Start by stretching out your hand in front of you, with palm out and fingers pointing down. Grasp your fingers with your other hand and pull them gently towards yourself. Gently is the key word here: don’t use any amount of force that produces pain or discomfort. Once you’re done, rotate your wrist 180 degrees and repeat the process with your palm facing towards you, then, as always, switch arms and do everything again.

Stretch 6

Last, clasp your hands together in front of you and give them a series of shakes. Again, not too hard. Imagine it’s the final scene of your triumphant biopic, people are applauding after you perform your hit song/pass landmark legislation/succeed in finally creating the ultimate Japanese curry. You raise your hands and shake them in triumphant celebration, but not so quickly that it causes motion blur for the camera.

Stay safe, everybody, and stay loose…and stay Sato.

Photos ©SoraNews24
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