Have you been working at home during the lockdown or just found that your desk setup is causing your body some issues?
It is a story all too common in our clinic right now; our practitioners have been seeing quite a number of patients with neck, shoulder, and upper back issues related to their home desk setup and posture. Here are some exercises that can help to counter the effects of poor desk posture.
Book openings
This targets a lot of those troublesome areas when it comes to desk posture. Combining rib mobility with a chest muscle stretch can help to open up the chest after a long day of sitting in front of a computer.
Chin nods
These are great to strengthen the muscle that will help bring your head back over your shoulders instead of in front of them. Forward head carriage is a contributing factor to headaches, upper back pain, jaw pain, and many other areas. Chin nods are a gentle way to activate the deep neck stabilisers to counteract this.
Bruegger’s pose
The perfect desk work exercise, designed to reverse the common desk posture. Relieving the neck of increased pressure, opening the chest, releasing tension in the shoulders, and taking deep breaths – what more could you need?
Diamond press
A perfect way to gently encourage some extension of the upper back when we can fall into a curved upper back position. Strengthening the upper back muscles and lengthening the chest wall to reverse those hours of being hunched at a desk.
Cat stretch
A good one for general spine mobility, which is important if you have been rigid and still in your spine for a number of hours at a time. This will help to stretch the spine into their reverse curves to encourage the joints to move and is also a great position to activate the deep back stabiliser muscles.
Take the time to listen to your body and make adjustments so that your workday is comfortable and pain-free. Take regular breaks throughout the day, and consult one of our healthcare professionals for advice on your symptoms if needed.
