If You Sit 8 Hours a Day, Do This Before Bed

In this video, I'm going to show you a 15-minute mobility routine that will completely undo the damage caused by sitting at a desk for 8 hours every single day. 15 minutes. That is all you need to fix your body. So, stick with me until the end of this video to see how. Most people who attempt to do nighttime routines take it by doing stretching. They hold positions. They wait for their muscles to relax. But for the most part, your body doesn't respond well to passive stretching after a full day of being locked up in one position. Your body needs to move through the tension, not just sit in it. And when you've been compressed all day, hunched over a computer, locked into a car seat, or sitting in meetings, your nervous system is stuck in that pattern. So, we need to give it new information, movement information. So, this is 15 minutes of active restoration. We're going through three different phases. decompression, flow, and integration. Everything's connected. We are treating your body like the system that it is. If you do this routine, your sleep will improve. Your morning stiffness will decrease. Your body will actually recover overnight instead of just staying locked up. So, let's go. Starting with ground decompression. You're going to get into a child's pose and you're going to do lateral reaches. Reach your arms to one side. Feel that stretch through your entire side body. Your rib cage, your lats, all the way down to your hip. You've been compressed all day. Your rib cage barely moved. Your spine was locked in the same position for hours. We are creating space, actual space between your ribs and your vertebrae. So breathe into it. Don't force anything. Just let your body open up. Switch sides. Notice if one side feels tighter. That's information about how you've been moving or not moving all day. Stay here. Breathe. Let each breath create a little more space. You will do 10 reps on one side and 10 reps on the other side. Next, we move into cat cow to downward dog. You're going to do this very slowly. Start from your tailbone. Let the movement wave through each vertebra one at a time all the way up to your neck. This is spinal hygiene. Your spine is designed to move through these ranges, flexion and extension, but most people lose this because they spend all day in one locked position. Don't rush it. Feel each section of your spine as it moves. This will completely open up your whole posterior chain. Some areas will feel smooth, some will feel stuck. Both are fine. You are just gathering information. Every rep is restoring movement that your spine should have but probably lost. You're going to complete 10 reps of the transition up and down, making sure to push your hands away from the ground at each top position. Next, we move into supine knee circles. On your back, laying down, bring your knees to your chest. Start to make small circles with your knees. Let your hips move freely. Your lower back stays relaxed against the floor. Start small, then gradually make the circles bigger. Your hips carry tension from everything that you did today. Sitting, standing, walking, even how you slept the night before. This gentle rotation is how you release it. No force, just exploration. Feel your lower back releasing against the floor. Feel the tension melting out of your hips. You're going to perform 30 seconds to one side and 30 seconds to the other side. That decompression phase just created space in your body. And now we're going to move through that space and restore the range of motion that you've been missing. Now we're going to move into the slow flow, the quadriped hip circles. Position yourself on your hands and knees. Make slow circles with your hips. Let your hips lead the movement. Your spine follows naturally. Everything else is just along for the ride. Most people move their hips and spine as one locked unit. They've forgotten how to separate the movement. This is how you remember. This is how you restore natural independent hip flexion. Try to make big circles. Try to make small circles. See where you feel restricted. That restriction, that's your body telling you where you need more work. So, listen to it. Absorb it. You're going to perform 30 seconds to one side and 30 seconds to the other side. Next, we move into the low lunge flow. Now, we will drop into a low lunge, but we are not holding a static position here. You're going to rock forward and backwards, side to side. Explore that position. Your hip flexors have been shortened all day from sitting. We're not just stretching them here. We are teaching them to lengthen and shorten dynamically again. So, allow your body to guide you. Some days you'll want to go deeper. Some days you'll stay small. And there's no right answer. just what your body needs today. Feel the front of your hip opening, not because you're forcing it, but because you are giving it movement. You're going to perform 30 seconds on one leg and 30 seconds on the other. Now, we move into the active pigeon pose, but we're moving through it, not just holding it. So, you're going to lean forward and come back up. Rock side to side. Your hip needs movement to release, not just static pressure. That's how your nervous system works. It responds to dynamic input. So feel your hip open gradually. Feel the tension releasing. Don't push it. Don't force it. Just keep moving through the position and allow your body to respond. Some areas will release immediately. Some will take some time. Both are normal. Ensure that the weight of your body remains forward and there's not much use of your hands or anything else for support. Go as low as you are comfortable. And if you feel tension, you can elevate your foot onto a bench or a couch slightly. Complete 10 controlled reps on each side. Next, we move into the 9090 transitions. You're going to sit in a 9090 position, both hips at 90°. Now, transition slowly from one side to the other. Control the movement. Don't just flop over. This is hip mobility in its purest form. Complete control internal and external rotation. the movements that your hips lose first from sitting. Take your time. Feel the range of motion improving with each transition. Your hips are the foundation of everything else in your body. When they move well, everything else works better. When they don't, everything compensates. You're going to complete a total of 20 transitions, 10 per side. So, up to this point, your body has moved through tension. Now, we integrate everything and prepare your nervous system for sleep. We're going to start with supine pigeon bridge. So, you're going to get back onto your back, pigeon position. Place one shin across the opposite knee and push it the knee towards the floor. Then, lift the hips up gently, just enough to feel the stretch. Breathe into it. Feel the release through your entire posterior chain. Your hip, your glute, your lower back, even up your midback. Everything is connected. When you release one area, the tension in everything else decreases, too. Don't push too hard. Allow gravity and your breath to do the work. Your body knows how to release. You just have to give it the time. Switch sides and notice the difference. One side is always tighter. That's completely normal. That's your body's asymmetry showing up. Then we move into the happy baby flow. We're going to finish here. Grab your feet rock side to side. You're massaging your spine against the floor, letting the movement work through any remaining tension. Your back releases, your hips open, your entire nervous system starts downregulating. This gentle rocking motion signals to your body that it's safe to let go, that the day is done. Stay here as long as you want. Play around with different movements. Let the movements slow down naturally. Let your breathing slow down, too. This is how you transition from your day into your night. Not locked up, not tense, open and ready for sleep. And there you have it. 15 minutes decompression flow integration. You just took your body from compressed and locked up to open and ready to recover. You moved through tension instead of just sitting in tension. You restored range of motion that sitting all day destroys. Your nervous system got the information that it needed to downregulate to prepare for actual recovery overnight. Do this routine consistently and watch what happens. Your sleep quality will improve. Your morning stiffness will disappear. You will have more energy throughout the day and your body will actually feel different. This is how you maintain your body for the long term. Not through complicated protocols, but through simple, consistent movement practice. And guys, 15 minutes is all it takes every single night. That's all you have to do. So, enjoy the routine, practice it, and I'll see you in the next video. Let me know in the comments how it worked for you and what kind of routines you want to see