Save Your Postural Health

Most of us spend over half our waking life sitting behind desks at our workplace, commuting to and from work, or sitting in front of TVs and computer screens at home.New data released by the Chiropractors Association of Australia shows that Aussie office workers spend almost 16 hours a day in a seated position, with nearly 70% sitting incorrectly, in a hunched over or collapsed position and with more than 50% never taking conscious breaks to stand and move around. This leads to muscle imbalances and inevitably, pain and injury.The most common areas affected are hips, shoulders, the head and neck. The typical office posture involves hunched over shoulders and a protruding head that just forward. Not only does that look pretty bad, it also causes head, neck and back aches and often leads to permanent inter-vertebral disc damage, as well as other injuries which impair functional fitness (the ability to perform common daily tasks with ease).So what exactly happens to our bodies after just a few months of sitting with incorrect posture?

• The muscles in the chest and at the front of the shoulders become tight and the muscles in the upper back become permanently stretched and weak, resulting in a forward shoulder posture.
• Forward head positioning puts strain on the muscles in the upper back and neck, imposing stress on the cervical spine. This often leads to serious injuries such as compression fractures of upper back vertebra, causing excruciating pain and headaches.
• Hip flexors shorten and become tight and glutes become weak, putting more load on the hamstrings, which then become quite tight as well. Contracted and tight hip flexors pull the lower back and pelvis forward, causing overstretching and weakening of the abdominal muscles, a common cause of lower back pain.
• If you often sit with your legs crossed over, you are likely to develop tight adductors (muscles that squeeze your legs together), which often leads to kneecap pain due to misalignment of the knee joint. This is most common in women.
• If you are a guy, it’s likely that you often sit with your legs apart, making your external hip rotators tight. This can lead to knee issues and sciatica (a shooting pain from buttocks down the leg).

So what can you do to fix (or even better, prevent) postural issues?Stretching tight muscles and strengthening weak ones will help to reset a healthy balance between opposing muscles. If you don’t know how to go about it, find a good personal trainer or exercise physiologist to help get you started, or ask your physio for a home program if you're motivated enough to stick to it.The little things you can do every day at work include standing up every 30-40 minutes to stretch your body, as well as regular stretching and conscious correcting of your posture whilst sitting at your desk. Just few minutes every hour will work magic!Too stressed to remember your stretching? It’s a great idea to hang a poster with easy ‘office-friendly’ stretches above your desk as a reminder to do them regularly (stretching also helps to alleviate stress by the way, promise!). After a while, it will become a healthy habit that can save you posture, looks and fitness.Check out our PDF of handy desk-friendly stretches – I recommend you print it off, stick it next to your desk and start getting familiar with regular stretching ASAP!