Stop Letting Your Workspace Ruin Your Back
When you start working from home, especially now during the COVID-19 quarantine, at least one room of your house becomes an office. From one day to the next the dining room table, the armchair, and even the balcony became the place where we spent most of the day with our computer or notebook. However, your improvised home office may not count with ergonomic furniture and, perish the thought, a pain in your neck and/or back might begin to appear. Here’s how to improve your posture in front of the computer and what exercises to do so that your back, neck, or lumbar pain disappears.
- Neck: Always keep your gaze straight ahead, avoiding twisting it. The top of the screen should be level with the horizontal line of sight.
- Shoulders: We usually tense during the day, so it’s good to remember to relax our bodies every once or twice. Relaxing your arms and wiggling slightly might be of great help to stop your shoulders from tensing.
- Elbows: Leave your elbows supported and close to the body, maintaining an angle of between 90° and 100°.
- Arms: Do not type with your arms suspended. Locate the items you use most frequently so that they are comfortably within reach.
- Forearms: Rest your forearms on the desk if you don’t have a chair/couch with armrests.
- Wrists: They must be relaxed, aligned with the forearm, and avoid deviations.
- Back: The back must maintain its natural curvature and always be supported by the backrest. Always use a chair that provides support for your lower back.
- Hips: Maintain an angle between 90° to 100, with the thighs parallel to the floor.
- Knees: Should form an angle greater than 90°.
- Feet: Keep your feet supported on the floor. Remove the items that are under the table so that the legs can be positioned and moved comfortably. Use a footrest if your feet do not rest comfortably on the floor.
- Sight: Every so often, you should perform an exercise of looking at a distant point (or through the window) for a few seconds to relax the eye muscles.
At-home workouts
It is always advisable to do physical activity, yet in these days of quarantine, it becomes even more necessary. You can start with stretching or yoga tutorials from YouTube to strengthen the muscles around your back and abdomen. On Instagram, you can also find many videos with simple and short exercises that are very effective.
If you have a park near your house, go for a walk or a run. Remember that sun rays help us get the Vitamin D we need to feel energized and happy. And don’t forget you need to work out for endorphins to flow around your body and feel happy.
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Photo by Ekaterina Bolovtsova from Pexels
