Most of us spend long hours at the computer. At eight – hour working day (Throw in a couple more if you’re self – employed) must also add our leisure hours playing online, catching up with our favorite series or watching YouTube videos, for example. In total, more than 10 hours a day that we spend sitting in front of the screen.
During those hours we spent at the computer and move and stir up the chair, we move, we move, we sat in Indian plan, we scurried to almost fall over the seat … And rarely we are sitting with good posture; perhaps the first three minutes. Can it take its toll on our health? Well, yes, and that’s how we can help.
What happens in our bodies when we sit?
We need to be aware of everything that happens in our Mintras body we are sitting: although we are in a proper position to work, the mere fact of being in the sitting position and involves subjecting our bodies to a position that is not the nature. And it is that our body is designed so that we are moving, not sitting for more than 10 hours a day.
From the moment we sat down and we stopped moving, our body begins to consume less energy (muscles require less calories since they are at rest) and the circulation of blood starts to become slower. They can be experienced peaks insulin and blood glucose. The back muscles become weaker since their use is not giving their support function.
Your back asks you to get up
Bio-mechanically, the position in the form of “four” that we adopted when we sit is not the best for us. In this position the pressure they are under the inter vertebral disks that are part of our column is much greater than if we are standing or moving. These discs, which act as “shock absorbers” between the vertebrae, capture nutrients when they are in motion. As we sat what we are doing is compressing the discs, causing them to lose mobility and flexibility. This can make us perfect candidates to suffer in the future protrusions or herniated discs.
Our spine is specially designed to keep standing: its design in the form of “S”, with its four curves alternating form (cervical lordosis, kyphosis, lumbar lordosis and sacral kyphosis) proves it. If our column was completely straight would not be able to sustain the weight of our body or run many of the movements that demand it.
When we sat down, the end of the “S” that forms our column, where the sacrum, flattens and crushes thus losing its function. How are you vertebrae and are not working as they should, we must compensate with another part of the body: the other vertebrae (cervical, thoracic and lumbar) pass to receive a higher pressure, paving the way for the emergence of lumbago, the query number one between orthopedic surgeons and neurologists.
The symptoms are worse if we sit incorrectly
All this happens while sitting, assuming that we are maintaining good posture in our chair. If in addition to spending a lot of sitting daily hours do incorrectly, these symptoms become severe and may trigger the onset of early injuries or diseases.
Very often we begin our workday sitting in our chair properly but as they pass the hours, especially if you did not get up from the chair, we lose awareness of our body posture and ended up sitting anyway. Very common, for example, is to reach the final hours of the working day sitting on the edge of the chair, with back arched and supporting only the top of our back on the back; almost half are lying in front of the computer screen. This position creates great tension in the lumbar area: our huddle vertebrae and inter vertebral discs suffer as ever.
Another major mistake we make when working at a computer is put to an incorrect screen height; It is very common in people who work with laptops where the screen is at approximately chest height. Look long a screen that is so low relative to our line of sight makes us to spend many hours with the neck in an awkward and incorrect position. If you notice that after a hard day’s work you neck hurts and you feel tension in the upper back area it is very possible that part of the solution to your problem through to place the screen at eye level. Special lecterns for laptops we work with a separate keyboard are perfect for this purpose.
The correct posture of our back while sitting will straight upright (maintaining the natural curvature of the spine) and fully supported by the back of the chair, especially the lumbar area. Thus the muscles and ligaments of the central area of our body are not in a forced position, but relaxed and in a natural position (as natural as we allow the fact of sitting, of course). It should also remember the distance that must be maintained computer screen (about30 45 or 75 centimeters generally, but depends on the size of it): a too small or distant screen does not make us spend eight hours bent over the keyboard to see something.
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Poor circulation and poor posture when sitting
One of the things that seem the most normal thing in the world, especially in the case of women, is cross your legs when seated. We do it almost unconsciously, usually always with the same leg over the other, and may cost us a lot to find a comfortable position to sit with your legs uncrossed. Three words: do not.
If already the fact of sitting supposed impede circulation and venous return, especially in the lower half of the body, do cross – legged is even worse because difficulty further around the blood through the veins to the heart. This has implications on both health (may promote the development of venous insufficiency and thrombus) and aesthetically (favoring the appearance of the known veins or spider veins).
The solution, however, is simple. Just make sure that the height of our seat is suitable for our knees form a 90 degree angle when both feet are firmly planted on the ground (supported fully, not just the tips, as may occur in some cases) and, as it indicates the user, with a space of about four centimeters between your knees and the chair to allow good circulation. Good ideas to sit properly and encourage the movement of the legs are to use an ergonomic footrest under our table.
Of course, impossible positions such as sitting “to Indian” or not able to put legs under the table because no drawers or anything else, are totally ruled out when it comes to maintaining good postural hygiene.
Some tips to maintain proper posture while sitting
- Place the worktable at a suitable height: We can keep forearms resting on the arms and elbows are at right angles. In this way we avoid excessive tension in the upper back area that can lead to contractual and cervical problems.
- Place the screen, peripherals (mouse, keyboard) and accessories that we will use (calculator, notebooks …) before us: this will prevent or have to be bowing to the side while working.
- If we are to talk on the phone for a long time, it is best to use a headset or speaker: forget about holding the phone between shoulder and neck as you type without stopping information you receive through the earpiece. If you have to take data that are hands free.
- Get up and do active pauses every few minutes: ideally up from the chair about two or three minutes per hour of work, although it is somewhat difficult. Take a break and get up whenever you can: go to the bathroom, to the kitchen to refill the water bottle to make photocopies, to ask something to that partner instead of calling the internal line … This not only eliminate the muscle stiffness and favor the oxygenation of tissues, but also to sit back you’ll never be more aware of your posture.
Stretches in the workplace
Avoid stiff muscles when we spend hours sitting is easy if we get up every so often, we move a little by the office and perform a discrete stretches and exercises.
- Improves circulation of your legs: In addition to get up and walk a little, we can do some exercises to help us improve the circulation of our lower body. As we sit in our chair we can slightly lift one foot off the floor and draw circles on the ground to one side and the other.
- Relax your shoulders and reduces stress on the neck: Move your shoulders up and down and drawing small circles with them. To mobilize the neck, we can make turns back and forth in a slow not. We can also stretch the muscles by tilting your head to the side and gently placing his hand over his head to exert some pressure.
- Mobilize your column: Sitting in the chair takes a couple of dynamic turns from side to side, as if you tried to look back while keeping your legs forward. You can also inflected hip, tilt your body forward and try to touch your toes: Try to be aware of how you move each of the segments of your back when you go up and come down.
Remember that we are designed to live on the move!