9 Tips for better posture in the office
Supply your office with this useful advice
Let’s be honest, working in an office is hard work on the body. Sitting for hours at a time is stressful, and it’s easy to let the hours slip by as you sit motionless at a computer. Practicing to maintain a good posture while sitting at a desk is a great exercise you can do to improve your performance, and create muscle memory.
1. Straighten up!
It’s easy to forget, but lean back a little so that your ears are in line with your shoulders. Rember this trick if you feel like you are slouching a little. Sitting up straight improves oxygen intake, which leads to increased concentration and cognitive performance.
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2. Do a 1-minute posture exercise
Find a minute in your day to lean against a wall and do some posture exercises. Maybe take the stairwell down to lunch from your office, there is hardly ever anyone in the stairwells so you won’t get caught. Make it a part of your daily routine for perfect posture in 6 weeks.
3. Don’t cross your legs
The correct way to sit in a chair requires you to place your feet flat on the ground. Crossing your legs raises your blood pressure and makes you feel stressed. Feeling stressed leads to tiredness and poor posture. Two possible mechanisms have been proposed to explain why leg-crossing might lead to a temporary rise in blood pressure. One is that the action of putting one knee over the other sends blood from the legs up to the chest resulting in an increased quantity of blood being pumped out of the heart, raising blood pressure. An alternative explanation is that blood pressure rises because isometric exercise of the leg muscles (exercise without the joints moving) increases the resistance to the blood passing through the vessels.
4. Buy a lumbar support pillow
Buy a lumbar support pillow from a good office supply company. The pillow will allow you to naturally sit more upright, and hold your body in a better position. Initially uncomfortable, but well worth the correction in posture.
5. Pull your shoulders back
Take a minute in your day to roll your shoulders around to give the muscles in your shoulders a stretch. By readjusting your shoulder position on a regular basis, you can naturally correct your poor posture. Every time you receive a new email, hold your shoulders back for 5 minutes.
6. Get a massage
Massage can help get your body back on track. Allowing the body to reinforce healthy and natural movements can be one of the most beneficial aspects of massage therapy. Massage can relax and loosen the muscles made sore by bad posture, allowing your body to position itself in its natural-and pain-free-posture. If you’re looking for a corporate massage therapist for your Vancouver office, we recommend Squeeze Vancouver who will bring a chair and masseuse to your Vancouver office.
7. Go for a walk
If you haven’t already got an office walking club, ask HR if you can start one. Alternatively, make sure you have a good walk during your break, and remember to hold your posture correctly as you walk. Imagine you are a puppet being held up by an imaginary string.
[bctt tweet=”I’m beginning to suspect I might have bad posture……call it a hunch.” via=”no”]
8. Do some exercises at your desk
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9. Practice makes perfect
Keep practicing and within 6 weeks your posture will change. Remember to do your exercises as part of your daily routine and get your co-workers and management in on it too. At Fruitfull Offices, we believe a healthy office is a productive office.