Office Staff Backcare Tips
A customer reminded me last night of a simple suggestion I gave to him, that worked brilliantly for him, so I thought I would share it with you all and added some of my top eight tips for relieving back pain in the workplace….
1. If you have back problems, use a fitball to sit on during work (if that’s possible) or when you are using a computer or even when watching telly. It helps you to sit up straight & puts your pelvis in the correct position, taking pressure off your back.
2. Go out for your lunch & go for a brisk walk in the fresh air even for 20mins…Not only will this stretch out your legs but it will fill you up with lots of those happy hormones..endorphins.
3. Stretch at your desk. Small simple stretches of your neck & shoulders can make a huge difference to loosening up your muscles & relieving any tension from using a computer all day! If your not sure of what type of stretches, please email me & I will send you a copy of Stretches at you desk;-)
4. Make sure your computer desk is at the correct height and adjust your chair to ensure you are sitting in a comfortable position, not too high or too low. If your unsure what the best position is then book an ergonomic assessment in your work place, believe me it will help your back enormously.
5. Join a Pilates Course on your Lunch time, in the evening or at the weekend. Pilates is excellent for backcare, it strengthens your core muscles, thus helping to alleviate back strain.
6. Sitting all day causes your glutes to tighten. Imagine you are putting your hand in your back pocket and the area that your heel of your hand rests has three trigger points, use a splitter, indoor cricket ball or hockey ball (not a tennis ball, its not hard enough) and sit on the trigger points with the ball everyday for two weeks and it should help relieve the tension in your glutes.
7. Massage is amazing for back pain, it helps to relieve tension, ease pain, alleviate headaches, de-stress the body and mind. A 15-min Chair massage can do wonders for a quick neck and shoulder pain reliever in the work place or book a one hour massage and include your lower back and whole body to promote total relaxation.
8. Something I recently took up myself…swimming. I can swim but not with my head under the water and when you swim with your head above the water you can put extra strain on your neck. Overarm with your face in the water is a super exercise, just 15mins a day before or after work will do wonders for your neck and strengthen your back, it really makes your body feel amazing. As for me I booked a swimming lesson and I am practicing to get my breathing right…
Hope these tips help. Remember we are a long time working and our backs are incredibly important, if your body is in pain it is trying to tell you something, Listen and do something about it, Your Not Supposed to be in Pain.
Take excellent care of yourself
Pam