If you are putting in more than eight hours of work in your desk bound job for more than a year now, and seldom take work breaks in between, you have probably developed muscle aches and pain on your neck, shoulders, and throughout your back. To enhance your spine health, you need consciously have a good mix of exercise and good sitting habits.
You body will hint to you when you need to begin taking note of the way your sit, the way you slouch in your seat, the type of heels you wear, and literally the lifestyle you lead. Body aches in different parts of the body like neck, shoulders, arms, legs and back can develop from overtime work, bad sitting habits, lack of exercise, and especially a lifestyle of decadence. In fact, even simple lifestyle changes like a new work desk or chair, a new car or a new sofa could literally give you bad body aches.
Sufficient knowledge of keeping good posture and good ergonomics in all daily activities is an important first step towards good spine health and maintaining good posture and reducing body aches. Ignoring ergonomics is the root of your back aches and pain. Whenever in a sitting position, straight your spine, align it all the way from your ears through your shoulders to your lower back and hips. Use ergonomic desk chairs whenever possible so that your body is subconsciously nudged into the correct position effortlessly.
Whenever you are walking, lifting heavy objects or typing, you need to pay attention to keeping good posture. Back injuries are most common as we move about our work stations and lift objects in sudden movements, giving rise to unnecessary work place or home injuries.
A lot is said here about keeping good posture and ergonomics. However, you need to know when to stop and avoid overprotecting your posture. Sometimes, when one is overtly conscious of keeping good posture, they often forget to relax and hence this could give rise to tensed muscles, which in turn, could cause tired, strained and aching muscles instead. Being overtly tensed limits your mobility, locking in muscles unnecessarily. Limitations of motion of muscles over a long period could create even more pain and aches over time.
Hence, you need to practice moderation and avoid being overtly conscious of your posture, in case you end up hurting rather than enhancing your spine health.
