Here’s a typical dad day: sit in the car for drop-off, sit at a desk until lunch, sit through the afternoon, sit in the car again, then finally sit on the couch after the kids are down.
By Friday, your lower back is tight, your hips feel welded shut, and getting off the floor after a Lego session comes with a groan.
You don’t need a yoga class to fix that. You need about 10 minutes and a plan you’ll actually do. Here’s one.
Why sitting adds up
Canada’s 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for adults give a useful frame. Alongside getting at least 150 minutes a week of moderate to vigorous activity and doing muscle-strengthening work at least twice a week, they recommend:
- Limiting sedentary time to 8 hours or less a day, including no more than 3 hours of recreational screen time.
- Breaking up long periods of sitting as often as possible.
That second point is the one desk dads miss. A workout before work is great, and our 15-minute morning strength circuit covers that. But it doesn’t cancel out eight straight hours in a chair. The fix is two-part: break up the sitting during the day, then do a short reset at night.
Part 1: The workday rule
Keep it simple: every time you finish a call or a meeting, stand up.
You don’t need a timer app or a standing desk. Just attach movement to something that already happens all day:
- After every call: stand, roll your shoulders back five times, and walk to refill your water.
- Phone calls without a screen: take them standing or walking.
- Lunch: eat away from the desk, then walk for 10 minutes, even just around the block.
- Bathroom trips: use the farther one, or take the stairs.
None of this feels like exercise. That’s the point. It gets you out of the chair a dozen times a day without needing willpower.
Part 2: The 10-minute evening reset
Do this after the kids are in bed, before you sit down on the couch. Put on a playlist and go. Breathe slowly through each one, and keep everything in a range that feels like a stretch, not pain.
1. Cat-cow (1 minute)
On hands and knees, slowly round your back up toward the ceiling, then let your belly drop and lift your chest. Move with your breath. This wakes up a spine that’s been locked in one position all day.
2. Half-kneeling hip flexor stretch (1 minute per side)
Kneel on one knee with the other foot flat in front of you. Squeeze the glute on the kneeling side and shift your hips forward gently until you feel a stretch at the front of that hip. Reach the same-side arm overhead for a little more. Hours of sitting keep these muscles in a shortened position, so this is the big one.
3. Thread the needle (45 seconds per side)
From hands and knees, slide one arm under your body along the floor, letting that shoulder and the side of your head come down. Hold, breathe, then switch. This opens up the upper back that rounds forward over a keyboard.
4. Figure-four stretch (45 seconds per side)
Lie on your back, cross one ankle over the opposite knee, and pull that bottom leg gently toward your chest. You’ll feel it deep in the hip and glute of the crossed leg.
5. Glute bridges (1 minute)
Lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat. Squeeze your glutes and lift your hips until your body forms a straight line from shoulders to knees. Pause at the top, lower slowly. Aim for 12 to 15. Sitting all day lets the glutes switch off; this switches them back on.
6. Doorway chest stretch (30 seconds per side)
Put your forearm against a door frame with your elbow at shoulder height, then step through gently until you feel a stretch across the chest. It counters the hunched-over-a-laptop posture.
7. Deep squat hold (1 minute)
Hold onto a counter or door handle and sink into a deep squat, heels down if you can, chest up. Shift gently side to side. If it’s too much, sit back onto a low stool instead. Your kids can probably do this all day; it’s worth getting back.
Your 10-minute cheat sheet
| Move | Time |
|---|---|
| Cat-cow | 1 min |
| Half-kneeling hip flexor stretch | 1 min per side |
| Thread the needle | 45 sec per side |
| Figure-four stretch | 45 sec per side |
| Glute bridges | 1 min (12 to 15 reps) |
| Doorway chest stretch | 30 sec per side |
| Deep squat hold | 1 min |
Make it a family thing
The kids will want in the moment you get on the floor. Let them. Give the moves silly names (cat-cow is an easy win, and “bridge” can become a tunnel they crawl under). It’s a few extra minutes of time together, and it shows them that taking care of your body is just a normal part of the day.
On nights the kids aren’t down yet, do the reset during their bath time or while they brush their teeth. Done imperfectly beats skipped.
Your move this week
- Pick your trigger for the workday rule: end of every call, top of every hour, or every bathroom trip. Just one.
- Do the evening reset three nights this week, right before you sit on the couch.
- Notice Friday. Compare how your back and hips feel by the end of the week to last week.
Ten minutes won’t undo a decade of desk work overnight. But stacked over a few weeks, it’s often the difference between groaning off the floor and getting up to chase the kids.
This is general fitness information, not medical advice. If you have back pain that’s severe, shoots down a leg, comes with numbness or weakness, or doesn’t improve, see a doctor or physiotherapist before starting a new routine.
Hero photo: “Home office” by Free-Photos via Pixabay, from Wikimedia Commons, released under CC0.