Stretch break timer

How to use the stretch break timer

1. Pick a work interval. Thirty minutes is the default. If you are in the middle of deep work, 45 or 50 minutes may interrupt you less; if you have been sitting all day and feel stiff, try 20 or 25.
2. Pick a break length. This is an upper limit. The timer fills the break with as many stretches as fit and never runs over, so a 3-minute break might come out at 2 minutes 45 seconds.
3. Choose where to focus. "Whole body" takes the areas in turn, as many as fit in the break. The narrower options suit a particular complaint, such as "Wrists and hands" after a long stretch of typing.
4. Press Start and get on with your work. A chime marks each change of step. During the break, the current stretch's instructions are shown under the clock, and the next step is named below them.

Use Skip step to move past a stretch you do not want to do, or to end a work interval early when you reach a natural stopping point. Reset goes back to the start of the whole session. Changing any setting resets the timer with the new schedule.

How the break is put together

The break is built from the stretch library: 29 common desk stretches, gentle movements and eye breaks in 8 areas, each with a picture and its own page. The method is simple and has no hidden scoring:

• Stretches are taken round-robin from the chosen areas, one area at a time, so a short break still reaches every area before doubling up on one.
• A held stretch lasts the hold length you chose on each side. A stretch done on both sides therefore takes twice the hold time. Movements such as shoulder rolls have their own fixed length.
• Five seconds are allowed between stretches to change position, and they count toward the break length.
• A stretch is added only if it fits in the time left. When nothing else fits, the break ends.
• Each later break starts one stretch further along each area's list, so consecutive breaks differ.

Worked example

With the defaults, 30 minutes of work and a break of up to 3 minutes across the whole body with 20-second holds, the first break takes one stretch from each area in turn: neck side bend (40 s), shoulder rolls (30 s), seated chest opener (20 s), seated twist (40 s) and make a fist, spread the fingers (30 s). With 4 changes of 5 seconds that is 3 min. Anything else would take the break past 3 minutes, so it stops there; the next break starts one stretch further along each area's list. Four cycles take 2 h 11 min in all, of which 11 min 45 s is stretching and getting ready.

Settings at a glance

What this timer does not do

It does not know how you are sitting, what hurts, or why. The stretches are general-purpose and gentle, the kind found in most workplace ergonomics leaflets, but they are not a treatment for anything and the library is deliberately small. The break is also not a substitute for moving about: a short walk to refill a glass of water changes position as effectively as any stretch, and the sit-stand planner and break planner cover that side of the day.

The timer runs entirely in your browser, so it stops if you close the tab or your computer goes to sleep. The chime is generated in the page and plays only after you have pressed Start at least once, because browsers block sound that a visitor has not asked for. Nothing you set here is saved; the page opens on the defaults each time.

If you would rather stretch now without a work interval, the routine builder plays a routine straight away, and the ready-made routines can be printed for your desk.