Our bodies are amazing machines that adapt to the challenges we throw at them. Try and lift something heavy, you won't be able to straight away but your body will get stronger over time so you will be able to eventually. The same applies to running, you might be slow and not go far to start but the more you run the easier it will get and the faster you will go. This is the basic principle behind any athletes training, keep pushing the limits and your body will try it's best to adapt in order to meet the demands you ask of it.
So what if the demands are to sit at a desk 8 hours a day followed by a couple of hours commuting in a car? What does this do to our bodies? Unfortunately our bodies will still try to adapt to these demands too. The down side is that rather than make us stronger and faster postural adaptations occur instead which can predispose us to pain and injury.
When we are sitting at a desk our hips are flexed, our shoulders internally rotate and we jut our heads forward. If we continue to spend long periods of time in this position our soft tissue responds.
For example the muscles in the front of our hips shorten. When we then stand up the shortened muscles pull on the pelvis where they are attached this in turn pulls the front of the pelvis forward and down. This will lead to increased pressure in the lower back region and can also lead to associated weaknesses around the lower back and abdomen. Higher up around shoulder level the soft tissue and muscles around our chest and arms pull our arms in and forward resulting in weaknesses in the upper back and shoulder blades. This can lead to abnormal movement patterns in the shoulder. Finally by jutting our heads forward we put pressure on our upper spine and cause the muscles in the back of our neck to become tight, this can lead to neck pain and head aches.
This is a very simple analogy of what happens but if people were a little more aware of the risks of bad posture they could take small steps to improving it before it leads to pain and injury.
There are some very easy steps you can take to helps prevent yourself from developing these postural changes.
So what if the demands are to sit at a desk 8 hours a day followed by a couple of hours commuting in a car? What does this do to our bodies? Unfortunately our bodies will still try to adapt to these demands too. The down side is that rather than make us stronger and faster postural adaptations occur instead which can predispose us to pain and injury.
When we are sitting at a desk our hips are flexed, our shoulders internally rotate and we jut our heads forward. If we continue to spend long periods of time in this position our soft tissue responds.
For example the muscles in the front of our hips shorten. When we then stand up the shortened muscles pull on the pelvis where they are attached this in turn pulls the front of the pelvis forward and down. This will lead to increased pressure in the lower back region and can also lead to associated weaknesses around the lower back and abdomen. Higher up around shoulder level the soft tissue and muscles around our chest and arms pull our arms in and forward resulting in weaknesses in the upper back and shoulder blades. This can lead to abnormal movement patterns in the shoulder. Finally by jutting our heads forward we put pressure on our upper spine and cause the muscles in the back of our neck to become tight, this can lead to neck pain and head aches.
This is a very simple analogy of what happens but if people were a little more aware of the risks of bad posture they could take small steps to improving it before it leads to pain and injury.
There are some very easy steps you can take to helps prevent yourself from developing these postural changes.
- Get up and move! It's so simple but it works. I've already said how your body adapts to what you ask of it, if you ask it to move regularly it will not adapt into a position which inhibits you doing so. Try standing up after every phone call and going for a walk at lunch (rather than sitting at another table!)
- Set up your work station properly. Moving is great but in reality some of us have no choice but to sit at our desk for long periods. If this is you, the least you can do is make sure your work station is set up to limit the stresses and strains put through your body in that position
- Think about what you do away from work. Challenge your body to move into different positions when you are not at your desk. Even lying flat on your back on the floor helps!
- Stretch. We've highlighted how areas become tight through prolonged sitting posture. Help them relax and encourage the tissue to maintain length by stretching. This could just be a couple of basic stretches when you get home or you could try foam rolling in the evening in front of your favourite TV show.
- Strengthen. This goes hand in hand with stretching. You will want to strengthen the areas that will help you maintain a good posture. These exercises are simple and can be done at home. For example drawing in your belly button towards you spine will help strengthen the muscles around your lower back and squeezing your shoulder blades together will help open your your shoulders
- Be aware. Ask you friend and family to point our when you slouch. Posture is a habit, if you try hard enough and work long enough at it you can turn a bad habit into a good habit.
These are some easy ways in which you can help your body and maintain a good posture. If like many of my clients you participate in sport in your spare time it is even more important that you maintain a good posture when working. Sport often requires a greater range of movement from our bodies, for example the range of movement required from your hip joint is greater when running than walking. Therefore if you are going to ask a task of you body like running don't spend 8 hours of your day restricting its movements.
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| A perfect example of the range of movement needed for sport Image via www.news.com.au |
If you would like more information about posture feel free to contact me on here or on twitter. I also offer full postural assessments that highlight postural changes and design personalised postural improvement plans for clients wishing to improve their posture and thus reduce risk of pain and injury. In addition to an exercise plan I also use Postural taping, manual therapy techniques and other clinical methods to help clients.
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