Today’s digital age has resulted in a host of unnatural and damaging postures.
Activities like sitting in front of your computer all day and constantly texting on your phone can have long-term effects on your hands, neck and back.
1) Texting
While typing on your phone or computer isn’t the most strenuous activity you do during the day, the repetitive motion can cause more damage than anything you do in the gym. It can lead to pain, tingling, numbness, tendinitis, carpal tunnel, and ligament damage. Additionally, because texting typically only uses your thumbs, thumb spasms can become a bigger risk if you don’t take precautions.
– Stretching your arm out in front of you and flexing your fingers downwards whilst gently stretching your fingers backwards open up your wrists and stretch your fingers, allowing them to take a well-deserved break from all that typing. Do this as often as possible during the day to counteract the demands of typing and texting.
2) Sitting at a desk
Sitting at a desk all day and most likely a laptop all evening, puts your back under an immense amount of pressure, especially so when most people don’t sit up straight during the day, if at all. The constant strain of being bent over at a desk can cause pinched nerves, tense muscles and sore necks.
– Sitting on your knees with your chest on the floor and arms stretched out in front of you can stretch out your back gently and allow pressure to be taken off your back. Alternatively, lie on your back with one knee bent and brought over to the floor on that knee’s opposite side. This all helps relax tight muscles and prevents future problems.
– BODYTEC’s EMS training is another great way to alleviate the pressure on your back from sitting at a desk all day. Electrical stimulus activates major back muscle groups and, more importantly, the deeper muscle groups which are typically more difficult to activate through conventional training methods. This can help stretch your back muscles and undo the rigidity of sitting in your work chair for an average of 8 hours a day.
3) Sitting on your phone
Most people these days tend to be looking down at the cell phones all day. This creates quite a stiff neck and puts your necks at an unnatural angle for most of the day. It may not seem like a lot of time when it’s mostly broken up, but added up, this is a long time for your neck to be burnt over. This can create spasms in the neck muscles and tension in the neck joints over period of time.
– Make sure you stretch your neck regularly by looking up towards the sky (not just up from your phone), and pulling your ear down to your shoulder gently as often as possible. Stretching your neck will help prevent any future pain and give your neck a break every now and then.
