BY NIAMH DAVIS: We are all guilty of sitting too much. It’s second nature and we never think twice about jumping in the car or on a bus, sitting, catching up on our favourite soaps and programmes.
We sit and work on the computer and more often than not our jobs include sitting as well.
Even worse than that our postures are usually a hunched position; shoulders forward head down, hips flexed and back in an unproductive curve.
This will eventually lead to a permanently poor posture with restricted movement and pain in your back, hips and other places
Our body is designed to be moving more often than not. One hour of exercise a day is great but what about the other 23?
Put it this way, there are 8,760 hours in a year, 2,920 spent sleeping and if you are in an office job you spend, at least, 2,555 hours sitting.
That’s not including travel, relaxation or anything else! That’s a lot of unnecessary sitting.
Because of this we are all slowly forgetting how to use our body and our body is forgetting how it should function.
What can you do about it though?
Walk to work for a start. If it’s too far, park up early and do a short 10-minute walk to set you up for the day.
Take the stairs and during the day get up and do things, take a lap of the office or work place, volunteer to do the coffee run anything that gets you up and moving.
When sitting is unavoidable keep your posture in mind, don’t let your body hunch forward all the time. While rounding the shoulders off keep upright, strong and mindful.
There are plenty of exercises that can be done discreetly at your desk.
Try glute squeezes (clench your bum for 30 seconds and release). Calf raises, there doesn’t need to be any weight on them as long as you’re moving, another is putting something in between your knees and squeeze on and off for 3 minutes.
A not so discrete stretch which can be done at home is “the couch stretch” .
The easiest way to do this is to place one knee against the back of your couch and the other on the floor.
Slowly raise your torso and squeeze your glutes with a nice tall stance. Hold the position for a minute or two and switch legs. You should feel this really stretch the front of the leg and into the groin area (quads and hip flexors) just don’t push yourself too hard.
Yoga is a great way to stretch out after a long day of sitting. Attending a class a couple of times a week is not only helpful for your muscles and body but also your mind.
If you “don’t have time” to attend a class set aside 15 minutes a day to complete some poses such as, the pigeon pose – it will stretch out your glutes (muscles in your bum) and give you relief from sitting all day.
Downward facing dog is another yoga pose which can be frustrating to master but is great for stretching your hamstrings and calves while strengthening your arms and shoulders.
Child pose is a simple and effective pose to stretch the hips and thighs but can also relieve back and neck pain.
Although it is easy to get directions on each pose on the internet it is best to attend a yoga class to make sure these poses are being carried out in a safe manner.
Sitting has become the new norm. More people are coming into my clinic with a tight chest and weak, sore backs.
Don’t let your posture get any worse. Get off your seat and take steps (even if they are small) towards a more active day.
Guest Columnist Niamh Davis is a neuro-musclar physical therapist based at Fit-Hub, Mountain Top, Letterkenny.
Her Facebook page is here:
https://www.facebook.com/Neuromuscular11/?ref=ts&fref=ts
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