Exercise While Sitting at Your Computer
Its a problem for everyone, after the computer invaded our lives we spent lot of time working on them. For most office workers, being glued to their desks while typing away at their computers for an average of 10 hours a day is already a part of their normal routine.
However, sitting at the computer all day may not exactly be good for the body, as it can bring about backaches due to poor posture and eye strain, among other effects.On the other hand, being in a desk job does not have to be an ordeal for your health.
If you are one of those people who have to be at a desk all day long, there are some simple steps that you can follow in order to improve your posture and keep your health in check.
Steps
1. Observe the proper sitting posture in a good chair that is designed for desk work. Your back should be straight, your shoulders back, and the top of your monitor should be level with your eyes. If you have to look down or up, then you need to adjust the height of your screen. Also, make sure that your wrists do not lie on the keyboard or on the mouse pad (unless you have a pad with a wrist rest). This will help prevent Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Keep your legs bent at the knees so that the knees are only slightly higher than your hips. Feet should be flat on the floor or on a step stool of some sort.
2. Do simple stretching exercises. Stretch your arms, legs, neck and torso while sitting. This will help prevent you from feeling stiff.
* Neck: To stretch your neck, slowly flex your head forward/backward, side to side and look right and left. This can be done almost anytime to lessen tension and strain. Never roll your head around your neck. This could cause damage to the joints of the neck.
* Shoulders: Roll your shoulders forward around 10 times, then backward. This helps release the tension off your shoulders.
* Arms and Shoulders: A good stretch for your arms and shoulders is to brace your hands on the edge your desk, each about a shoulder width away from your body. Twist your hands in so they point toward your body and lean forward, hunching your shoulders. Take this a step further and push your shoulders and elbows closer to the desk.
* Wrists: Roll your wrists regularly, around every hour or so. Roll the wrists 10 times clockwise, then 10 times counterclockwise. This will help prevent Carpal Tunnel Syndrome if you spend a lot of time typing.
* Ankles: Roll your ankles regularly. As with your wrists, roll the ankles in a clockwise motion 3 times, then counterclockwise. This helps improve blood circulation, and prevents that tingling feeling you can get when blood circulation is cut off, also known as "Pins and Needles".
* Chest: Notice if you tend to hunch in front of the keyboard. To counter that, perform the following exercise:
Open your arms wide as if you are going to hug someone, rotate your wrists externally (thumbs going up and back) and pull your shoulders back. This stretch is moving your body the opposite way to being hunched and you should feel a good stretch across your upper chest.
* Abdomen: Contract your abdominal and gluteal muscles, hold them there for a few seconds, then release. Repeat this for every few minutes all day long while you are working at your desk. You can also perform Kegels (pelvic floor exercises) while sitting.
* Calves: Stretch your calves. While sitting, lift up your legs on the balls of your feet and set them down. Repeat until your legs are comfortably tired. Repeat after about 10 minutes later, and continue doing this routine for about an hour or so. This will exercise your calves, and will help prevent blood clots from developing in your legs. Blood clots are very common among middle-aged computer users.
3. Stand up every half hour to walk around a bit. This will ensure continuous blood circulation in your arms and legs, and will keep them from getting too strained. Take walks to the water station to refill your glass. If you can afford to take longer breaks, take a short walk outside your building, and use the stairs instead of the elevator to go down. Aside from giving your legs and heart a good workout, you would be able to take in fresh air as well.
4. Give your eyes a break from focusing on your screen. Every 30 minutes or so, shift your focus from the computer screen and scan around other subjects in the room, such as a window, clock, desk, or door. This helps promote eye movement and lessens chances of eye irritation and headaches. Another technique to relax your eyes would be to rub your hands together, then place your cupped hands over your eyes.
5. Take advantage of the downtime created by rebooting or large file downloads. Get up and take short walks around your floor. If you can afford to do it and do not have many co-workers around who would be bothered, try something more ambitious such as doing a few push-ups, sit-ups, and/or jumping jacks.
6. Do exercises with the help of a few tools. Acquire a hand gripper. They are cheap, small and light. When you have to read something either on the screen or on paper, you probably won't be needing to use your hands very often, so use this opportunity squeeze your gripper.
It is an excellent forearm workout. Acquire an elastic band (also cheap, small and light) and use it to do the actions mentioned above (i.e., when stretching your arms, do it by pulling apart the elastic band). This will stretch and work the muscles slightly.Invest in a large size stability ball or stability ball-style desk chair, and sit on it with back straight and abs firm.
You burn calories stabilizing your core and body on the ball. While an actual stability ball is more effective, the chair is a more viable option to use in an office environment. While sitting or talking on the phone, you can bounce or do basic toning exercises. Use the actual ball form in moderation when typing, as this is probably not the most supportive seating to prevent carpal tunnel and tendinitis.
7. Take a few deep breaths. To work your abdominal muscles, hold your stomach for a few seconds when breathing in, then release when breathing out. If possible, get some fresh air in your lungs by taking a walk outside, as mentioned in a previous step.
8. Have a bottle of water by your side and make a habit of drinking some every half hour. If you do this consistently you will begin to feel more alert. Take trips to your water refilling station to refill your jug or glass, so that you can also walk around and exercise your legs at the same time.
Computer Posture: Dos and Don'ts
Sometimes the smallest adjustment to your desk environment can make a huge difference to your computer posture and consequently your level of comfort. Not only does finding the best sitting position relieve your aches and pains, it makes you more productive.It's not easy to concentrate when you are aching and have to keep moving around to find a comfortable position.
Most companies invest considerable sums of money in ergonomic seating and chairs but even if you have the latest and most expensive model available it won't ensure that you will sit correctly.
So what can you do to ensure the best sitting position?
DO
check the position of your screen
have your chair at the right height so your eyes are level with your screen and your knees are slightly
lower than your hip joints
let your wrists rest on the desk
have you computer in front of you
let your feet sit flat on the floor and not tucked under your chair
keep your shoulders and back relaxed
take regular breaks away from your PC
DON'T
try to sit up straight (more below)
fix your eyes on the screen
lift your shoulders when typing or clicking the mouse
have any equipment where you need to twist
constantly to access it
collapse your neck as you read the screen
use your PC in low light conditions
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Compare the two photographs above. Even slight adjustments in body position will make a difference to how much stress is put upon the body. In the GOOD computer posture you will see the head is sitting directly on top of the spine and its weight (approx 4.5kgs/10lbs) is passed down to the pelvis and into the chair.
In the NOT SO GOOD computer posture, the neck has dropped forward and the weight of the head is no longer completely supported by the chair.
Because the spine is curved forward the muscles in the middle of the back are required to do more (inappropriate) work to keep the head up.
Also to look at the screen she has to pull her head slightly backwards, this over time will cause the spine to curve more.
Improving Your Computer Posture
Because the majority of us spend so long sitting at a desk it's within our interest to focus on our sitting posture. Whilst ergonomic chairs can help, we still have to take responsibility for ourselves and not just put our faith in the furniture. Here are two useful approaches you can use.
Are you sitting comfortably?
Taking the stress out of sitting at your PC
'Perfect Computer Posture' is available in ebook format, if you don't have a Kindle or ereader, to download to your PC for just $4.99. This very useful guide has a few unconventional ways to improve your computer posture. You probably spend many hours a day at your PC so find out how you can make it easier on your body.
Or get this guide free when you download my posture program below.
Improve Your Posture Without Exercise.
Your posture will suffer sitting at a desk five days a week - if you sit badly.
My complete posture program contains 10 short videos, plus quick and simple techniques that you can apply whilst sitting at your desk, walking to work or during your physical activities.
There is no need to waste 30 minutes a day on posture exercises that fail to deliver long-term benefits! This program will help you unlearn the bad habits that have caused poor posture. Once you get rid of the bad habits, your posture will naturally improve on a daily basis.
Early warning signs that should not be ignored.
Any discomfort experienced at your computer is a sign you are doing something wrong. You may not be too concerned if the aches and pains you associate with sitting at your computer disappear at weekends. But prolonged periods (and we could be talking years) of sitting in a poor position will alter your posture gradually until you begin to suffer all the time.
More serious signs that require you to take instant action are tightness or numbness in your fingers, hands, wrists, elbows or shoulders. This could soon lead to upper limb disorders, also known as repetitive strain injury (RSI).
This is a difficult condition to treat successfully and in a many cases the sufferer has to change job completely to one not involving computers - not an easy career move to make in today's hi-tech world!
If you experience any of the above symptoms, talk to your Occupational Health Advisor or visit your doctor. The longer these conditions persist the harder it will be to treat.
So your computer posture can have a huge influence on not only how productive you are at work, whether you get aches or pains, but also your body shape! You probably don't want to look old before your time, but if you pay little attention to how you sit at your PC you could be rapidly attaining the stoop normally associated with old age.
Remember, you don't have to sit up straight with your chin in, shoulders back ...and all the garbage, you just have to allow your body to be poised. Not as easy as it first sounds but either try one of my programs (see below) or find an Alexander Technique Teacher in your area and try a lesson or two. You never know what you might learn.
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