Bad posture can lead to many problems.
Massage Therapist Glenn Halls shares tips on how to improve your posture, and how massage can help.
A commonly held misconception is that the benefits of remedial massage are limited to people who are either very active in their spare time or who work in physically demanding jobs.
While it is true that these groups of people may be prone to a variety of musculoskeletal issues, people who sit at a computer all day are also exposed to postural stressors that can lead to issues such as:
- headaches
- neck pain
- upper back pain
- shoulder pain
- lower back pain, and
- forearm and hand problems.
Sitting at a computer with poor posture can encourage us to slump forward from our chest, protract (roll forward) our shoulders and remain in a ‘peering’ posture with our neck.
4 tips for better posture
- Set your chair to an appropriate height: Visualise your ears, shoulders and hips aligned (careful not to stick your neck out). Without this, the following recommendations will be difficult to achieve.
- Raise your monitor so that it sits at eye-level: if your monitor is too low you will be encouraged to stoop forward in order to see the screen.
- Keep your keyboard and mouse close to your body: with good posture your shoulders should be in line with your hips – if you have to reach for your mouse and keyboard your shoulders will be forced into a protracted position.
- Take regular breaks and stretch your pecs / chest regularly: this will not only make good sitting posture easier to achieve but will also make you more aware of falling into bad posture again.
Most people can relate to the experience of having to sit at a workstation for an extended period of time and feel tightness in the shoulders, neck and back.
If this situation is a once-off, people will likely rebound quickly, however if you are exposed to this setting on a daily basis you may have more difficulty getting back to normal again.
This is where massage can help.
How massage can help to improve your posture
Remedial massage can loosen the muscles that give you tension headaches, free up your chest, shoulders, neck and back and allow you to sit in a position that does not put unnecessary stress on your body.
Massage can be used specifically to relieve pain or knots in your body, or used as part of a maintenance program to keep you loose and pain-free.
At Beyond Fitness, we believe that you play an important role in your ongoing health and wellness. So we explain what we are doing and encourage you to ask as many questions as you like.
We also instruct you on stretches to target any areas of pain and tightness we work on during your massage.
After all, we’d love for you to maintain your newfound good form!
Hope this helps, and feel free to give me a shout out if you’d like some help with your posture.