Short and Weak

Now, for a short piece on a subject nearest and dearest to my heart in the general arena of all things Health and Fitness: 'Posture'....or if I were to be totally accurate: 'Man's Total and Complete Abuse of Posture Since the Invention of the Chair'.

Six hours a day, five days a week, forty weeks a year; a conservative estimate on the time an average office worker spends seated at their desk year in, year out. Add on commuting time, television and meals, and those hours spent in a sedentary state become considerably higher.
Now combine those yearly figures with the common postural position adopted by such office workers: slouching, shoulders raised, eyes strained, jaw tensed, and what we have ladies and gentleman is a prime candidate for any number of ongoing complaints: backache, headache, migraines, herniated discs; and that is only the short-term problems. Over time this becomes sciatica, degenerative disc disease, bone spurs; to name only a few.

These conditions are becoming increasingly prevalent within Western cultures. Along with obesity, general back pain is putting a never before seen strain on National healthcare schemes around the globe and is second only to the common cold for the causing the most days absent from work.
To give a spedific idea of how our sedentary lifestyle is contributing to these problems, let us take a look at one likely sequence of events leading to one of the more common conditions; Sciatica.

Through prolonged sitting;
1. The abdominal and buttock muscles weaken and the lumbar spine muscles shorten.
2. The body’s natural movement patterns are thrown out of balance leading to faulty modes of walking, standing and everyday activities.
3. The shortened muscles along the spine begin to pull on surrounding tissues leading to trigger points (extremely tender spots of tightened muscle fibers) around the lower back and pelvis
4. The sciatic nerve (which starts at nerve roots in the lumbar spine) becomes compressed by these shortened muscles – it only takes one point of compression to cause sciatica-like symptoms
5. Pain then radiates down through buttocks and down into upper (and sometimes) lower leg resulting in numbness and weakness

To further complicate things, as a result of this initial chain of events our body alters its posture to minimise the pain and protect itself; muscles that are weaker become weaker, muscles that are shortened become shorter. It is a self-perpetuating cycle.

Now, when you consider that these occurrences are a natural consequence of a posture that a large majority of us adopt every single day, it is no wonder that the statistics point to at least eighty percent of people dealing with some degree of lower back pain at some point in their lives.

I could go on and describe in detail all the other potentials results of a life spent seated, however I find this unnecessary. Most of us only need think about our last headache or our colleague's recent hernia to find out how far-reaching this problem has become. And while I do love this topic, I find it a touch more helpful to actually find solutions rather than continue to spout forth my wealth of knowledge on the topic.

So what to do? Realising that a more exciting 'You Tube' clip is only a click away, below are five short and sweet things that you can do immediately, to lessen the likelihood of causing yourself undue pain and strain;

1. Get moving: if you are one of the millions of sedentary office workers out there, get up at least every hour and walk around; grab a cup of tea, go to the toilet. Also include a minimum of three days activity that increases the heart rate and gets the whole body working: eg. walking/running, cycling, swimming.

2. Stretch: the main areas you will need to concentrate on can vary, but a good place to start is: neck, chest/shoulders, lumbar spine, hip flexors (the ones that allow you to lift your knee toward your chest), hamstrings and ankles/calves

3. Strengthen: again this can vary but if you are spending a lot of time sitting down then it is likely that the following areas will need strengthening: upper back, abdominals (avoid sit-ups and crunches as these can actually aggravate many conditions), buttocks/gluteals.

4. Breathe Deeply: promotes any number of great health benefits but in short it can; circulate more oxygen, get vital nutrients to major organs of the body and even alter negative emotional states – eg. decrease stress and promote relaxation.

5. Eat Well: more studies are showing that the nature of the foods we eat are the cause of internal mechanisms that seek to further weaken and inflame the muscles of the abdominal cavity.

Of course, if you are already suffering from some degree of pain then the key is not to do anything that increases the pain. The usual deal applies here: consult a medical professional, find a practitioner that suits your needs and most importantly, change SOMETHING about your current lifestyle that currently contributes to your current state. Too often I hear people complain of back pain and expect a therapist to discover a cure all remedy. What they do not realise is that no matter what is ‘fixed’ on the treatment table, will only rear up again as soon as you walk out the door and into your old contributing patterns. Change the pattern and you break the cycle.