The aches and pains are starting - Time for Exercises
Complaints starting
This week we have seen an increase in people with issues developing in the backs, necks, wrists, shoulders, etc. Individuals are struggling to cope this due to the restrictions placed on the population and also individuals are struggling to alleviate any issues they might be experiencing.
In general, evidence talking about the health impact of prolonged workplace sitting comes from multiple sources. For example, life expectancy rates, diabetes levels, cardiovascular diseases and many, many more have all been attributed to increased sitting time. Ergonomics literature focuses on musculoskeletal disorders, where a part of the musculoskeletal system is injured over time through repetitive overuse. Jobs that require constrained sitting or standing postures are associated with an elevated incidence of musculoskeletal disorders, with estimates of the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms in computer users as high as 50% (Healy et al 2012).
In most cases when we think of workstation exercises we think of the classic neck and back stretches like retraction, SF, Rot, Flex/Ext stretching, but their long term efficacy has been challenged in recent times. For an assessment at the workstation, the neck is the key and this is why it is a great place to start. It is often the victim of other structures in the body not performing their duties correctly or it is under pressure due to poor positioning of other parts of the trunk. What if I told you that the neck was affected by other areas of the body.
Think Differently – The Neck is the Key
Firstly, the position of the hips can affect the neck. When in a slumped position it has been shown to increase neck muscle activity, ie. increase greater compressive load on he neck (Edmonston et al 2011). It makes sense though, that if your hips are down, it forces the head forward.
Second is the weight of the Arms. When the shoulders/arms are dragging or pushed up, it has been shown to increase tension in the muscles of the neck such as Levator Scap and Upper Traps. When these muscles are abnormally loaded or overly loaded, the movement of the neck is reduced and tension increased. (Behrsin and Maguire 1986). Maybe your neck isn’t as tight as you first thought, may be is just overloaded!!!
20 pairs of muscles in the neck muscle system and this reflects complexity of the area. If some don’t work then others will, but if the hips and shoulders/arms are working against this then it makes it much tougher to counteract. Both simply drag us down and when put into the context of sitting all day at a computer, over a long day and over several weeks, months and even years, this can have a detrimental effect!
Solution
The good news is that there are better solutions now. These are not the most common muscles talked about when discussing a workstation but they have been shown to be effective in counteracting the effects of sitting postures in desk workers.
Serratus Anterior
What does this muscle do?
It controls forward rotation of the shoulder and acts as a stabiliser for the shoulder, shoulder blade and indirectly the neck. Simply put it is the support structure for this whole area. So, if the top of your neck is the problem, it stands to reason that supporting it from below will help to take some of the pressure off it. It has been shown that increased trapezius muscle activity with movements often shows corresponding weakness in serratus anterior (Zakharova-Luneva et al 2012). So get serratus to work and it will help to spread the load!
Overall Effects: Overloaded upper traps, potential neck and top of the shoulders pain.
Signs of this affected: Constant neck tension and worse at the end of the day, reduced range of movement especially when you are turning the neck and previous neck stretching did not have any long-lasting effects
Desk Exercise: Shoulder Y Slide
Description:
- Place your arms and forearms on the wall
- Slide them up the wall in a “Y” direction and maintain contact with the wall at all times
- Slowly lower the arms down after going up as high as you can
- Repeat 10 times
Note: Start with no weight and progress as able. Again, you should not feel any tension in the neck
Tensor Fascia Lata (TFL)
What does this muscle do?
The reason why we rarely hear of this muscle is because it controls a rarely thought about movement of your hip - internal rotation. The hip is named the “wrong way round”. So when you cross your legs or ankles at work, you are actually putting your hips into external rotation by turning them in. Unfortunately, this habit is far more common in desk workers and so it reduces our hip internal rotation. Why is this important? Well the hip actually needs to rotate, to some degree, when we walk, run, lift, etc. So, we need it to be able to rotate in both directions. One of the tell tell signs of poor or stiff hip internal rotation when we sit is the crossing of the ankles. If you are constantly tucking one of your legs either up onto the chair wheels or up underneath you all together, usually your hips are forcing you to do this to find comfort or relief! This is so important to correct as it allows you to provide the rest of the body with a strong stable base to build from during your working day!
Overall Effects: It can actually influence the tension in your lower back and hips leading to pain and discomfort. Sometimes affect the knees when walking or running.
Signs of this affected: Unable to find a comfortable position for the legs while sitting. Always wanting to elevate them or tuck them in. They can often feel uneasy or dragging
Hips Desk Exercise:
- Sit on the edge of your chair, hips in a neutral (not slumped or not overly straight) position
- Lift your leg straight up and rotate outwards (the exact opposite to crossing your legs)
- It is important not to move the leg to either side, just rotate from the hip and keep the leg facing forwards
- Hold for 5 to 10 seconds, repeat 10 times
Note: Expect the area to feel like it is cramping
Progress to holding for longer, rotating the leg further outwards and then add a band or weight to the ankles if possible
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Conclusion
When it comes to effective desk exercises, it is time to think outside the box and get to the root of an issue rather than just continuing with the same old routine! Stable hips and shoulder and neck muscles working together is a great place to start!
Check out our other blog on Top 5 Pit Falls Around Working From Home
Also, CLICK on our: Quick Home Office Pre-Screen Questionnaire If you are interested in learning if your set up is good for you.
You can also contact us at: info@spectrumoptimise.com or visit www.spectrumoptimise.com for more information on how we can help.
References available on request.