Jewelry maker Haiyi Tan does 45 minutes of indoor cycling most days to fight the neck and back pain from sitting ten-plus hours at his workbench. He burns about 600 kcal per session and adds three quick stretches for his shoulders and neck, which he says help him sleep better and feel less guilty about eating.
As I mainly talk about jewelry-related things on my channel, you might find this video a bit weird, but I want to share some behind-the-scenes stories. And if you happen to have some neck pain because of sitting for long hours, hopefully this video can help you at some point. I sit more than 10 hours a day. I didn't have any problem in my 20s and 30s, But I'm in my mid-40s now. I exercise about 1 hour a day for both of my mental and physical health. This video is about the behind-the-scenes exercise I do daily when sitting for more than 10 hours working.
This exercise is mainly for my general health and mental health. Because it creates endorphins. Monday to Friday, I exercise on my bike for 45 minutes.
All I do is to set the program and follow the machine.
Naturally, I'm not a very sporty person, and I enjoy staying indoors a lot. The furthest I want to go is my enclosed garden. If I could not exercise, and eat all day long. That's definitely my type of lifestyle. Unfortunately, I have the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Without regular exercise, I feel weak and become very easy to get sick. So I need this section of exercise to improve my physical health. Then I can eat almost whatever I want. Without feeling guilty. For mental health, I need this to make me feel good. Also, exercise improves my sleep at night. Sometimes, if I remember, I also work on my 3-kilo dumbbells while exercising on my bike to strengthen my muscles. To make the time go faster, I watch Netflix at the same time. Each of these exercise sessions burns about 600 calories. Once this is done, I feel I have looked after myself for the day, and I can spoil myself with all kinds of food and still feel good.
I used to run on a treadmill for 45 minutes a day, but I worried my knees might start playing up. So I changed it to a cross trainer to protect my joints. But the machine was too big for my place. I sold it on eBay a few years back and got this small electric exercise bike instead. Compared with all the 3 machines I have tried, I enjoy the treadmill the most. After exercising on the treadmill for a year, I didn't feel tired even after a 5-hour hike. But for watching Netflix on a small screen, this bike is the best. Also, I have a very limited space here. This bike works best for my current situation. The cross trainer was something in between.
As I mentioned earlier, I didn't have any neck problems until I was 43. It was so bad that I felt my neck couldn't support my head anymore. That's when I made a video 2 and a half years ago. If you have similar problems, The link to that video is in the description below if you're interested. So these days, besides the bike, I do 3 other types of exercise to look after my neck. Altogether, they only take a few minutes.
For exercise 2, what I do is to stand straight next to a wall. My right arm outstretched, and bring my left arm to meet the right, palms together. Now, keeping my eyes locked on my left hand, I move my left arm away from my right, all the way around until it stretches out opposite. Arms open wide. My head follows the movement of my hand. Freeing up any tension in the neck and spine. I repeat this movement 5 times and then do the mirror opposite of this movement facing the other way. When I need to ease the pain in my neck, I find this very useful. Sometimes I don't have enough time to exercise on the bike for 45 minutes, But I won't skip this for my neck. It only takes 1 to 2 minutes. For exercise number 3, this is also a very quick one. It requires no special equipment either. Leaning forwards onto a low table, resting my body weight on my hands. I move one hand around my body and stretch as much as is comfortable. I hold this position for a few seconds and then repeat with the other arm. This helps me loosen up the shoulder muscles and relieves aches and strains from sitting immobile for long periods of time. I found the previous one and this one are the most effective ways to ease and prevent any neck pain in my case. So I try to do these two almost every day. If I happen to not do it for some time and my neck starts to play up, these two exercises are the ones I will go back to. 90% of the time, The pain will go within 24 hours. For exercise number 4, this is the last one I do. Sitting on the table is not a must. I do it so it's easy to place my camera. Sitting cross-legged, I twist my body to the left and place both hands, palms down, on the flat surface. With my head up looking forwards. Hold this position for 5 to 10 seconds and then repeat in the opposite direction. This is another good exercise for relaxing the tension that builds up in the neck and back over many hours hunched over the jury bench. I do this sometimes when I can find a place to sit down. With my legs crossed.
These are all the exercises I do to look after myself after sitting in a chair for long hours. What about you? Do you do any exercise? I'm very curious to know what you do, especially any quick ones that don't take a lot of time but work really well. If you don't mind, let me know in the comment below. I will see you in the next video.
This ring took me 3 hours just for the stones #howitsmade #jewelry #craftsmanship
