Feeling sore working from home?

Here’s why…

At St. Kilda Beach Osteopathy we are now seeing many patients that are suffering the effects of working from home.

There are two key reasons for this:

Work Station

The work station or home office set up that we addressed in our previous email. If you missed it you can find the tips here.

Movement

Ultimately to reduce the effects of sitting we need to move more.

Sitting at your desk creates static compression that results in tightened muscles and squashed joints that fatigue the longer we sit and that can create strain leading to pain. This is why you get sore & tight when you sit too much, and for too long. And even more so when you’re not sitting properly due to an incorrect work station set up.

Email your SKBO osteopath if you would like some personal advice on setting up your home office. Or send us a message here

Two Key Factors

In the current climate of working from home, here are two key factors exacerbating the effects of sitting, and compression.

Lack of incidental activity

Normally, when we are commuting to and from our work place, on public transport, between offices, coffee meetings, lunch etc that results in on average up to 8-10,000 steps per day without really trying. What we have found from patients is that when this is removed from your daily schedule, due to working from home, this number is often around 2-3000 steps!!!! And that’s not enough!

nb: heard a caller to radio this week comment that during his work day of 8 hours he recorded a total of 53 steps!!! yes, a little funny but so bad for your health!

Exercise routine

Most of us are used to doing our regular exercise sessions or classes each week. This might be Pilates, gym based, strength work, a swim etc, but these are not possible at the moment and again we are missing out on this vital movement that keeps our bodies and spines more supple and mobile.

This is what helps to decompress us after all that sitting and we are suffering as a result. We need to incorporate some of these movements or exercises into our daily routines, even it’s just 5-10 mins worth. There are loads of good ideas available online and free.

Here’s a good ten minute yoga routine to get you started – click on the image and you’re away!