The Curse of the Millennium
With the advent of computers and the consequent use of them as business tools, job roles have changed dramatically in the last 10 years.
Business information is now stored on computers, people communicate via email and any and all information can be obtained via the internet. Gone are the days where everything was stored on paper, in filing cabinets. Basically, this means more and more people are spending more and more time during the day being predominantly desk-based. I call this development the “curse of the millennium”.
The human body is a wonderful at adapting – it will adjust to all situations/stress it is placed in/under. When it spends 6 hours of an 8 hour working day in a seated position it does just simply that.
The first thing to happen (and this is dependant on the individual and the amount of activity they do away from work as this will have a significant effect and how much time per day they are seated) is the shoulders become hunched.
The chest and the front of the shoulder become tight. This draws the shoulders forward and in towards the midline of the body. This also leads to the head moving forward and places pressure on the upper neck muscles and spine and weakens the muscles in between the shoulder blades.
This is a major reason why sedentary desk-based workers have a high incidence of neck pain. The diagram below illustrates how complex the pectoral girdle and vertebral column are and it only takes a millimeter deviation in bone placement to cause impingement in nerves.
The second area affected is the pelvis. The muscles at the front of the hip become shortened and tight and the muscles at the back become lengthened and weak which leads to the pelvis tilting forward placing considerable pressure on the lower back. All this combined is known in the trade as a slumped posture and imagine what happens when the body tries to perform exercise, especially load bearing, when these two major joints of the body aren’t functioning correctly … it’s not good.
This posture also leads to lower abdominal weakness as these muscles are not being used when seated, and is also another major reason back pain is so common amongst desk based workers.
But the good news is that all these abnormalities can be repaired. The first thing is awareness. Being aware of the difference between bad and good posture is a great start.
For a start. pull your shoulders and head back now and hold it for 10 seconds. Your ears should be in line with the shoulders. Incorporate this into your daily routine by doing this every time the phone rings or anytime you receive an email. Easy!
Secondly, sit up straight. Instead of rounding your lower back, sit so there is a concave curve in the lower back. When your mum kept telling you to sit up straight at the dinner table she was on to something.
Finally, try to incorporate a micro pause every hour in your working day. Stand up go for a walk to the water cooler and stretch your neck, legs, back and wrists. Once again use something in your day that happens on the hour to remind you that its time to take a micro pause.
Poor posture doesn’t just affect the lower back and neck. It is also a theory that poor posture is a contributing factor to OUS (Over Use Syndrome) as you place more pressure on working joints without even being aware of it.
Being Proactive in fighting this “disease” will help you to defend against the curse and keep your body functioning correctly for years to come. – Kennedy