Physio tips for office workers and students

You may be sitting “correctly” at work or at home, but how long can you sit in one position before your body starts to suffer?

Today I’m taking a departure from my psychological and philosophical musings to share some (hopefully) useful information from a physiotherapy perspective.

When I finished my first degree and was working in a desk-based research job, I had all sorts of problems with my back and hips from sitting down most of the day. I actually decided to train as a physiotherapist after figuring out that I was much more comfortable when I was on my feet and moving around. In my work over the last few years I have seen many people in the same state I used to be in – low back pain and other problems from being in a static position for long periods. There really are good reasons for those recommendations that we take stretch breaks during our working day. While some people contest the value of stretching, I have found it extremely useful in the short term for relieving pain, as well as over the long term by increasing and maintaining my muscle flexibility to prevent injury. It doesn’t hurt (well, it shouldn’t if you’re doing it correctly!) so if you find yourself sitting for more than 30 minutes at a time, why not give it a go and see if it works for you too? At the very least it will give you a pause from your work to refresh your headspace.

First, a brief anatomy and physiology lesson. Your spine arises from your pelvis which gives you the foundation of your upright posture. The pelvis has many muscles that attach to it at various points, and when these muscles are tight, restricted or imbalanced it affects the position of the pelvis, and hence impacts on the movement and position of your spine. This answers the question “what do my tight hamstrings have to do with my back pain?”. Not only do we get sore from tight muscles, but if we sit for long periods without moving, we get less circulation into these muscles so metabolites (such as lactic acid) accumulate and make us achey.

The next question I will help you with is “what can I do about it?”. There are many ways of addressing muscle restriction, and we each respond differently to various methods. Some people respond well to massage, others to flexibility exercises, some to acupuncture and dry needling, or other less common approaches such as muscle energy technique. I am only presenting a few of my favourite flexibility exercises here as a way you can help yourself at home or at work, and if these don’t work for you please find a good practitioner that will help you with your specific questions and concerns.

Three of the most common muscle groups that give people problems with their back and pelvis are the hamstrings, hip flexors and piriformis muscles. If these are tight or uneven, it causes a “tug of war” between the tissues that places strain on the body and makes us more susceptible to injury. So here are some stretching ideas you can use to optimise your muscle lengths and give yourself an enjoyable work break!

Hamstrings

The hamstrings run from the sitting bone to behind the knee at the back of each thigh. When they are tight they pull on the sitting bones to restrict the movement of the pelvis and cause the lower back to slump. When our knees are constantly bent in sitting positions our hamstring suffer, so one way you can help them out is just to straighten your leg out while sitting in your chair. If you don’t mind getting on the floor, these options are great too:

Stretch both hamstrings by extending your legs out in front of you, and tip forward from the hips, folding at the hip crease rather than slumping the spine.

To stretch one leg at a time, lie down and draw your thigh towards you. Your leg can be straight or softly bent, and the bottom leg can be extended out or bent with the foot flat on the floor.

Hip flexors

These run from deep inside the abdomen from the spine and over the hip to attach to the front of the thigh. Their job is to move and lift your leg in front of you and help you stay upright. When they are restricted they commonly cause overarching of the spine and limit our hip movement. If you are comfortable in a kneeling position put one knee on  the floor and lunge the other leg forward, squeezing your buttocks a little to enhance the stretch at the front of the hip.

If kneeling or lunging isn’t your thing, try placing one foot up on a sturdy surface and then lean forward slightly until you feel the stretch at the front of the hip or thigh (I do not recommend doing this on a wheeled office chair!):

Piriformis

The piriformis runs from the tailbone to the hip and is one of the main muscles that helps rotate our thigh. It often becomes overactive when the core muscles are underactive, and can cause pain around the buttock area, into the back or even running down into the leg. Cross your foot over your opposite thigh and drop the knee down to where you can, then lean forward to enhance the stretch. I love this one!

When holding these stretches, take it to the ‘edge’ of discomfort but don’t push into pain. I find these stretches effective just from holding for 20 or 30 seconds, although some people advocate holding them for up to 5 minutes at a time to allow all the connective tissues to release. Go with what feels right for you. Remember that sometimes these muscles become tight and overactive not only because of prolonged positioning, but also because they are making up for other muscles that are weak or underactive. For many of us stretching is just one part of the picture, and other forms of exercise are required to strengthen and balance our bodies.

Acknowledgement and thanks to Visou and Nesa for the use of the pictures from http://www.physiotec.org.