A large number of my patients have occupations that require them to sit for most of their working day.
Unfortunately, this seated position is not a healthy posture to maintain for your back and neck.
Our bodies are designed to be in motion, not in a static sitting position.
After a long day of sitting, you will feel tired, sore, stiff, and unmotivated. As well, sitting in the same position for prolonged periods of time can have a longer term negative impact on your posture.
Even if you have spent the money to have your work area made ergonomically correct, your body is still in an immobile state all day.
This alone can negatively affect how your body feels and functions.
To explain what happens to your body when you muscles are stuck in the same position for long periods of time, I will quote an article written by Jack Wilson, a health and fitness writer, lifestyle fitness instructor and ACE certified personal trainer.
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When your muscles are stuck in the same position for hours on end, day after day, they begin to resize themselves to accommodate these habitual, long-term sitting sessions.
Let’s take a snapshot of how working in a seated position for years has taught your body to semi-permanently alter itself.
Your back and posterior shoulder muscles are overextended from having your hands placed on a keyboard or writing on a desk.
Your chest muscles and biceps have learned to remain contracted from having your hands and arms out in front of you.
The low back and shoulders have rolled forward, which can cause low back pain and increase your chances of shoulder injuries.
Your hip flexors and quadriceps have tightened from staying locked at or near a ninety-degree angle.
All of this causes uncomfortable knots in the muscle groups that have been contracted while you are sitting.
Are you familiar with that uncomfortable, hunched over look that most of the older executives, bosses, and managers at your company have?
Terrified of the back, shoulder, and knee joint pains that your bosses complain about around the water cooler?
Take a good look, because that is going to be you in a few years if you don’t do something about it.
I’ve found that the majority of my friends and clients (age ranging from mid-twenties to early thirties) who work at desks during the day are already beginning to have postural changes, aches, and pains.
The majority of them experience shoulder issues and injuries, low back pain, tight hips, and poor form when bending and lifting, which can lead to knee injuries and exacerbate existing back pain.
Altering natural muscle lengths affects posture and strength, and can also decrease circulation to certain muscle groups and areas of the body.
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In my office, I have been encouraging my patients to buy a “foam roller” from myself or a fitness store so that they have a method of addressing these tight muscles on their own at home.
By using the foam roller in specific positions and over specific areas of the body, many of the tight and fatigued muscles can be released or loosened. I will once again quote Wilson’s article:
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Foam rolling is an excellent way to alleviate pain, help muscles return to their normal lengths, increase circulation and decrease your chances of injury in both work and activity.
Think of it this way: the muscles that are contracted all day while sitting at a desk have developed knots in them. These knots limit the range of motion of your joints and muscles, which also decreases circulation.
Imagine it like a tangle or knot in a Slinky. Putting pressure on those knots with a foam roller or other SMR tools like a lacrosse ball will help massage the knot out so the muscle group can return to its intended length. Here’s how you go about it.
1. Using a foam roller or ball, roll over the belly of the muscle group until you find a trigger point or pain point.
2. Avoid rolling on or close to your joints.
3. Apply pressure to that point for at least ten to fifteen seconds, but no more than 45 seconds if you are just starting out.
4. Rest as needed, and repeat this process for the rest of the muscle group.
5. Keep in mind that the ”rolling” itself is only used to identify the knots in your muscles. The static pressure you apply to that trigger point or knot is what flattens it out.
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If you have any questions about how a foam roller can help you feel and function better in short and long term, please don’t hesitate to make an appointment for me to explain it further.
Dr. Colin Gage was born and raised in Merritt. He’s been helping patients from his clinic at Nicola Valley Chiropractic since 1996
