Working from home and its effect on posture

Have been really noticing just lately at the impact of so many people working from home. Often the ergonomic set up for computer work is not in place and I can foresee the amount of tension and injuries that will be occuring in the future. As people are working from laptops it means the screen very often isn't at the same height as the eyes and means the head has to tilt forward. Heads are very heavy bits of kit which then means the muscles and tissues of the back have to work hard to support the head. This is not a problem over short periods but over long periods the muscles become hardened and exhausted which can lead to a very painful neck spasm. When clients come to me when their neck is at this stage it's very hard to treat and will need time off work for the body to repair itself. I cannot stress enough how important it is to have the right set up, exercises, diet, hydration and self care to avoid damaging a priceless possession which is our body.

I will be offering home ergonomic assessments for people if they need them where I will have a look at their current set up and then see how I can improve it for them. This will also include a bespoke assessment of their current movement restrictions in their body with exercises and stretches to alleviate tension and prevent future injuries.

Thank you for reading and I hope this has shed a bit of light on how to care for you body whilst working from home.

Movement as Medicine

In this article I wanted to share in a bit more depth how beneficial the right kind of movement is to the body and mind. I think we are often told to move more to burn fat and get fit but is that all it is about?

Firstly I'd like to touch on how movement affects the mental and emotional areas. I often describe different types of movement are like different pieces of music. Boxing is like a fast dance track and yoga is more like a slow symphony. Boxing will bring about a charged up and excited kind of mind set whereas yoga is more likely to bring a more peaceful and steady state of mind. Walking mindfully and noticing things in nature will make you feel different from interval sprinting through the park.

Whatever movement patterns you choose to help you in life I would recommend that you choose something that is sustainable. High impact movement will ultimately wear the body out a lot quicker and sadly joints don't replace themselves after a certain age. I find it deeply concerning that big glamorous events like the olympics don't really talk about what happens to these athletes later in life? The average premiership footballer has roughly the same wear and tear on their knee joints as a 60 year old. You don't hear about these long term injuries very much as you just tend to see them at their peak only.

Circulation is another massive part of movement. Your heart can do so much of it alone but when we get moving the heart gets a lot of help. The body is a system of a lot of one way valves in the vessels. When we contract a muscle fluids are pushed through the vessels and when we relax the muscle fresh fluids are sucked in and so on and so on. So any form of movement is going to boost our circulation thus healing tissues quicker, removing waste faster, circulating nutrients and helping us to feel well and energised.

Also the connective tissue of our body loves to connect. It will do this when it shouldn't. I can't say it any better than Gil Hedley's Fuzz Speech so please have a look at his video https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2po928. As you can see when we stop moving the body can end up becoming knitted together so dynamic and varied movement is vital.

Thank you for reading and I hope you found something in here that is useful in your life.

Be well,

Roland