Sitting in front of a computer for a third of your daily life can be detrimental to your health. If you feel tired and achy coming off from work, it is highly likely that the cause of these issues can be attributed to chronic sitting posture. In recent years, the number of injuries and issues like muscle tightness and stiffness, soreness, headaches and numbing or tingling of the hands have risen.
If you see a chiropractor New York City locals trust, one of the most important pieces of advice he’ll give you is to look into the set-up of your workstation. Often, people have to adjust to the set-up of their workstations (instead of the other way around), resulting in the strain in muscles, joints, ligaments and tendons that office workers experience.
But how do you set up an ergonomic workstation?
When sitting down, pay attention to your posture. You should sit tall. The pelvis, on the other hand, should be in a neutral position. In a neutral position, your lower back will have a slight arch. If you are having a difficult time maintaining this position, you can place a pillow or an object that provides lower back support. The head should be positioned in such a way that the chin is slightly tucked while the ears are aligned to both the shoulders and hips. The shoulder blades should be slightly pinched together while the arms are either relaxing at your sides or on your chair’s arm rests. The elbows should be bent between a 90 to 100 degree angle, while the wrist should not be bent. Adjust the height of your office chair such that your feet are flat on the floor and your knees are level to the hips.
Apart from taking regular and frequent short breaks, it is also worthwhile to learn and practice exercises that you can perform at the office throughout the work day.
For your neck, perform neck stretches by bending your neck toward one shoulder. Try to hold that position for about 15 seconds and then do the same move on the other side.
To relieve tension on your shoulders, raise your arms to elbow level. From there, stretch your arms backward as far as you comfortably can and then raise your hands overhead. Perform this about five times.
Another exercise that you can perform in the office is to squeeze your shoulder blades together, holding the position for about 10 seconds. Repeat this thrice.
To relieve tension in the chest and upper back, you can perform the thoracic extension exercise. This is done by interlocking your fingers and placing your head behind your head. Afterwards, push your chest forward while extending from your middle back.Repeat this three times.
