Helpful Work-From-Home Tips: Shoulders and Upper Back Series Part 2
For many of us, the switch from working in an office to being at home has increased not only the amount of time spent at the computer but also changed the workspace environment that may now include our couch, kitchen table, or smaller screens. Accompanying these slight changes in scenery are new aches and pains that are felt by adults and children alike.
We have a few ideas you may find helpful to mitigate the OUCH and help you on your journey to true self and body awareness. Today we focus on our shoulders – let’s inspect our alignment with these quick checks:
✔ Quick Check 1: Stand with your best posture, keeping your eyes on the horizon and arms naturally at your side. Where do your palms face? If you notice them easily facing back, it may be a result of the tech-body we’ve discussed in previous newsletter articles.
✔ Quick Check 2: Sit at your workspace with your best posture and eyes on the horizon. Notice where the pointy sides of your elbows face. Many people find them pointing out to the sides, “winging” the elbows while sitting with their hands on their desk, keyboard, or armrests. With body-awareness, this common posture can be mitigated.
Suggestions:
When sitting at your desk, do your best to have your elbows hang below and in line with your shoulders. Check the height of your chair’s armrests: are they too high or too low? Some students simply remove the armrests as they were too wide and perpetuated the shoulder/elbow-winging behavior. Often the arm that maneuvers the mouse will need to reach forward, but as you develop the body-awareness, see where it returns to as you continue typing.
To help facilitate better shoulder alignment and combat the tech-body posture that often results in misalignment due to muscle imbalance, we suggest two exercises that can be done during breaks between your virtual meetings. (Disclaimer: consult with your physical therapist, doctor, and other healthcare professionals that these exercises are appropriate for your body’s needs.)
Exercise 1: Strengthening: Beginning on your hands and knees, find tabletop position with a neutral spine and proper pelvis and shoulder alignment. Splay your fingers apart, creating “starfish hands” and truly connect to the ground. With this foundation, gently press forward into the earth; your body won’t move, yet you may feel some muscles on the sides of your body and around your armpits start to warm-up. Double checking that you maintain neutral shoulder alignment, continue the exercise with what we call “puppy paws.” In this exercise, gently press forward with one arm, making the other side light on the ground so that it can easily raise up about a millimeter with a slight bend of the elbow. Repeat this movement slowly on the other side, but stop before you’re fatigued. Proper alignment and FEELING the correct muscles at work—in this case, the serratus anterior—is more important than quantity of exercises or length of time.
Exercise 2: Stretching (myofascial work): Due to long exposure to tech-body posture, there is a small muscle that has tightened up over time and needs special attention to stretch or, better yet, “roll out.” Most people have heard of rotator cuff muscles; the particular muscle is called the infraspinatus and resides directly on the scapula (shoulder blade). We’ve found students have success using a lacrosse ball to “roll out” the infraspinatus, either standing against a wall or lying on their back. WATCH OUT! It might be a bit painful at first, so find which method works for you. Place the ball slightly below the spine of the scapula and pause to feel that you are on the muscle on your shoulder blade. Double check that you don’t feel any tingling or numbing in your limbs—you want to impact the muscle and fascia, not the nerves. The duration and intensity depend on the person; it’s up to you and your body, so slow down and listen to your body.
Try out these exercises and let us know how they work for you. Want to learn more? Follow 2 Claps 1 Snap on Instagram for our Wellness Wednesday Series, where we provide weekly exercise and health tips and videos.