Friday, January 30, 2009

Are you a Ticking Ergonomic Time Bomb?

By the end of the day do you have pain in your neck, upper back, shoulders, elbows, wrists, lower or mid back, hips, knees, or feet?

Do you strain your eyes to the point that by the end of the day they feel like they did back in college after you and your friends smoked a funny cigarette?

Do you generally feel stressed out, or perhaps you feel a low level of anxiety that seems to always be there under the surface?

Do you feel like you want to 'go postal' on someone at the end of your day?

Then you, like many people, are a ticking ergonomic time bomb.

What do you do about it?

How about you try this: (and hey, don’t just read it, follow along and actually do it!)

Come to sit at the edge of your chair, feet spread comfortably with your hands on your knees. (and ladies, if you’ve got high heels on, take them off. We love ‘em and all, but they wreak havoc on your body). Get those feet flat on the floor.

From this position, let your abdominal muscles relax, and push your belly out. Not a big movement, but a nice, small one (don't use a lot of effort). 

Return to the starting position. 

Do this several (8-10) times.  Do it with attention.

Your pelvis should be rocking forward as you do this movement.

Strive to make the movement as refined as possible (i.e. no jerkiness).  Make it smooth like butter.

Now relax.

Pay attention to your breathing. Is it easy, or do you strain to breathe? Just listen.

Come back to sitting at the edge of your chair.

This time pull your belly in. Again, don’t do a forceful movement, but a small, easy one. Your pelvis should be rocking backwards as you pull your belly in and round your spine.

Do this several (8-10) times.

Again, listen to your breathing. Strive to do the above movement without holding your breath.

Now relax again.

The slower you do it, and the more you pay attention to your movement, the more you will get out of it.

Now come back to the edge of your chair.

Let’s put the 2 moves from above together. Push your belly out, then pull your belly in. Your pelvis should be rocking forward and backward as you do this movement. Again, do this nice and easy. 

Repeat 8-10 times.  And while you're doing it, think about the following:

- How far up your spine can you feel this movement?

- Do you get taller when you push your belly out? 

- Are you getting shorter as you pull your belly in?

Pay attention to the way you move.

Paying attention is the only way you’re going to begin to notice what it is that actually causes you pain and discomfort.

This will then allow you to create move beneficial movement patterns that don’t cause you pain.

And the easier it is for you to move, the easier it’s going to be for you to do what you need to do.

… Let it be someone else who ‘goes postal’ because they’re stressed out.


LET ME ASK YOU SOMETHING…
What do you do so that you’re not in pain by the end of your day?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
Try the exercise above a couple times today and let us know what it does for you.

*****

Chad Estes
Movement Specialist
cestes@etmconsultants.com

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