09/01/2020
-Those who spend 12 or more hours/day seated, are at greater risk for diabetes, heart disease and life-threatening falls.
-1 out of 4 adults in America have suffered back pain in the last 3 months
-7.6 million adults are disabled with back pain
-People with chronic back pain control their posture and balance differently. With poor posture, muscles are recruited to hold up the body which are typically not used to perform that job. This causes them to move inefficiently when they are supposed to perform their regular duties, which then forces them to use more energy causing stress and tension throughout joints in the body, resulting in pain.
By starting with addressing your postural muscles during sitting, you can then strengthen the body to sit, stand and exercise with good form. This can decrease stress and tension that you may have in low back, upper back, shoulders and neck. This is especially important for those who work a "desk job" and those working from home during these times. Make sure you have a good, comfortable chair, that will allow you to sit upright and work on good sitting posture. It's easy to get focused on what you are doing at your desk, at the computer, on your phone, but try to pull yourself away for a minute to check where your posture is positioned. Pull your shoulders back and down as seen in the images to begin strengthening your upper back and neck. Perform this exercise several times throughout the day, holding the position for 3-5 seconds, relax and then repeat.
