Office Chair Syndrome
The office chair syndrome, it is running rampant through Red Deer and beyond. There is a very good chance someone in your immediate family is being affected by office chair syndrome. Don’t worry it’s not a new super virus but it is responsible for the slouched, rounded shoulder posture that you will see each time you look around the office or around the family room. Office chair syndrome can be responsible for a number of aches, pains and headaches. The longer it has taken for this rounded posture to develop the more difficult and costly it becomes to correct. Don’t let this happen to you.Office chair syndrome as I call it occurs from spending many hours seated. Further compounded by the activities we generally perform while seated. Let me explain.
First by being seated for long periods we are in a position with bent knees and hips. This allows our thigh and hip muscles (quadriceps and psoas) to become short and tight. The position of our body while seated is a position of contraction for the quads and hips. Long contractions mean tight strong muscles. Adversely the hamstrings, low back, and gluteals may become weak. In these situations we’ll often find people with low back pain just above the hips or perhaps instances of sciatica.
While seated at our desks the common tasks of using our computers and talking on the phone can continue to deteriorate our posture. Focusing on a computer screen causes us to adopt a head forward posture and rounded shoulders. The muscles affected are our pectorals, anterior and posterior scalenes, trapezius, and rhomboids in particular. These muscles basically cover the area from the base our skull down to the tips of the shoulders and coming together just below our shoulder blades much like the shape of a kite. The exception is the pectorals and anterior scalenes which cover from the tips of the shoulders on the front of our body to the sternum and from our bottom jaw to our collar bones.
The focused, rounded position we adopt while in front of a computer causes the pecs and anterior scalenes to shorten just the same as the quads and hips do when seated. As a result all the other muscles of the upper back mentioned become very long, and weak. Unlike our thighs and hips gravity also plays a role to make the situation of our upper back worse. Gravity pulls the weight of our head down further into our rounded slouched position.
Office chair syndrome can be managed with a few simple habits. 1) Try to get out of your chair at least once ever hour, even if it’s just a walk to the fountain. 2) Stretch throughout the day. Simple stretches such as clasping the hands reaching overhead and as far back as you can or standing resting your arm flat against a wall and turning to look over the opposite shoulder to stretch the pecs. 3) Consider swapping your office chair for an exercise ball for 30-60min each day.
A final suggestion for anyone experiencing pain or who has been subjected to office chair syndrome for a long time will be to seek the help of chiropractors, massage therapists or a personal trainer. For more stretching ideas you may visit my website’s articles section for some pictures of common stretches. www.fitnessfx.com
Official Home Of:
