How to Avoid the Effects of Prolonged Poor Sitting Posture

Attention home office workers!!

Being a school teacher, my wife spends a lot of her hours sitting – whether this is writing lessons plans or doing admin duties.

Given the new regulations imposed by our government, she is required to do all her work from home increasing her hours behind a computer screen as lessons have shifted to online conference based.

Whilst we are still potentially in the early days of this temporary new norm, she is already starting to feel the effects of the stress that prolonged sitting places on her body.

Common Effects of Prolonged Sitting

• Lower Back Tightness
• Neck Stiffness
• Headaches
• Numb Glutes 

So, for everyone in the same boat as my wife, here are my 6 Top Tips for How to Avoid the Effects of Prolonged Poor Sitting Posture.

1. Get up from your chair every 30 minutes –This is to avoid lengthy periods of time doing unbroken sitting
2. Create an ergonomic friendly home station set up – There are plenty of images on Google to show what an ergonomic friendly home set-up should look like
3. Get a foam roller – Sitting down can easily lead to prolonged flexion of your thoracic spine. So, to balance this out simply lie on a foam roller and extend your thoracic spine
4. Make a massage ball (aka peanut) – Get 2 tennis balls, tape them together and voila! Instant peanut massage ball. This is great for your neck. Similar to Tip 3, sitting down can easily lead to a forward head poke, especially if your monitor setup is poor. Lying down and placing a peanut massage ball on your neck can help relieve neck muscle tension and can also alleviate those nasty headaches
5. Wake your Glutes up! – Think of sitting like a prolonged massage on your glutes. What’s the purpose of a massage? To relax muscles. So it’s easy for prolonged sitting to cause your glutes to become way too relaxed. Do some bridges and crab walks to wake your glutes up, so they can their job and support your lower back
6. Get outdoors – The government still recommends that people exercise daily as they understand the mental and physical benefits of it. Try to get a walk or a jog in every day for at least 30 minutes. Prioritise this!

Please bear in mind that for each tip you still need to follow hygiene and social distancing rules. Other than that, we really hope these help everyone who is working from home.

This Blog

Was written by Precision Athletica Head of Exercise Physiology, Jason Oei. If you have any questions for Jason, please email them through to him, alternatively you can also book online consultations with Jason and he can help you without you needing to leave your home!