Think less about posture and more about regular movement
By Paul Bolger. Chartered Physiotherapist at Nano Physiotherapy, Kilkenny (www.nanophysio.ie).
Posture is not all that important when it comes to back pain and health. So many other things are much more important to consider if you wish to care for your body in the long run. I believe you could lead a perfectly healthy life without ever giving posture a second thought. Let me explain…
Our ancestors
In my last article I discussed how modern-day hunter gatherers, who lead lives that likely resemble those of our ancient ancestors, often sit around 10hrs per day. They don’t use chairs, so their positions and postures vary. They rarely sit for longer than 20 minutes – breaking up those bouts of rest. Also, they sit quite actively – often squatting or kneeling, lightly working their muscles.
Another very important consideration is that their lives vary in other ways that are so important to health – like a varied diet that isn’t so calorie-dense and regular physical activity.
Today we will stick to the topic of sitting at work and how we can lead healthier office lives.
Don’t think posture, think movement
The body of research looking at how posture impacts pain is inconclusive. Some researchers find a link, while many others don’t. If posture was as important a factor as many of us always thought, you would think that we would have overwhelming evidence from studies supporting this point. The simple truth is that we do not.
I’ve written about posture here before – you can search ‘posture’ on the Kilkenny Observer website for more on this.
If you catch yourself in the coming days thinking “uh-oh, my posture is bad, better fix it” – think instead, “I’ve been sitting still for a while, better move!”.
These bodies of ours get good at what they do regularly. If we use our entire range of motion on a regular basis, we are less likely to stiffen up in the long run. Plus, joints, muscles and the other tissues of the body love movement – it helps to keep them healthy and mobile.
What to do
Sustaining any posture for long periods, day in day out, without changing positions often or moving our body through its available range of movement is not a good idea.
Here are some things that you can try in the coming days – see if you can make them a part of your usual work routine.
Set a reminder to get up and move every 30 minutes (there will be times you can’t for different reasons but stick to it when you can).
Move through your full range of movement often during the day – if you slouch a lot, try extending your back, opening your chest, pulling your shoulder blades together and reaching your arms as wide as you can. Twist, turn and bend your way around in any way you can. Get those legs and hips moving too. A little bit and often is the trick here.
Put a visual reminder somewhere you will see, like a sticky note on the desk or on the wall. Changing habits takes some effort. Reminders help.
If you have trouble with any of these suggestions, it is worth discussing it with a physiotherapist to see how you might bring healthy office habits into your day. We will continue to explore this area and help us all to lead healthier lives, even if we spend a large portion of them at our desks.
