Key Points at a Glance
- Very few people make a point of maintaining good posture in their daily lives.
- This posture is essential for minimizing the risk of potential long-term complications in the back or involving the intervertebral discs.
- Proper posture isn't just important when sitting at a desk.
- Basically, we have to keep working on ourselves to really take care of our backs.
Who hasn’t experienced tension in the shoulders and neck after spending a lot of time sitting at a desk? Who doesn’t know that such tension can be just the beginning, and that the pain eventually spreads to the back, where serious problems with the intervertebral discs can arise? That’s why it’s important to maintain good posture in all situations throughout the day.
Even when brushing our teeth, we forget to maintain a posture that’s easy on our backs
Sure, as mentioned, the biggest risk to your back, neck, and shoulders comes from sitting at a desk for long periods of time. However, it’s not just about your posture—it also depends on whether the desk is at the right height or if you’re sitting too high or too low. But even if all these factors align so that we can maintain good posture, it’s still extremely important to get up at regular intervals, walk around for a few meters, maybe do a few squats, and stretch.
Fitness and exercise (or almost any sport) are, of course, always good for strengthening the parts of the body that bear the brunt of the strain. But we often overlook the fact that we don’t just adopt poor posture while working at a desk. Pay attention to this yourself—for example, in front of the mirror while brushing your teeth: It’s extremely rare to do this in a way that’s gentle on your back; even when lying down, we put excessive strain on our spine, intervertebral discs, shoulders, and neck.
Many household chores are hard on the back
You’ve probably noticed yourself that your lower back hurts while preparing food. For example, when you bend too far over the cutting board while chopping. Or when you’re vacuuming. Or when you’re doing the dishes in an unhealthy posture. Even unloading the dishwasher puts strain on your back. If you make a point of keeping your back straight while doing all these activities, you can protect your back—you should only arch your back or bend forward temporarily.
However, the strain caused by poor posture—hard as it may be to believe—begins even when you’re standing. If you constantly put weight on the same leg, stick one hip out, and support yourself with one hand on your hip, you’ll end up curving your spine over time. “Chest out, stomach in” is also only of limited use as a self-instruction; it usually results in a hollow back. If you lock your knees while doing this, you’ll also put strain on your lumbar spine.
Office Supplies
Let’s return once more to the topic of posture at your desk. If you find that you often slip out of the correct posture while sitting there, you might want to get a standing aid. This helps you maintain a relaxed posture, and at the same time, it allows you to gently sway or rock back and forth, which improves blood flow to your back more effectively than standing or sitting motionlessly.
A Pezzi ball is also recommended. While you shouldn’t—and can’t—sit on it for long periods, it does help relieve stiffness from rigid sitting postures. Sit on the ball with your legs spread wide in front of your desk, and as you work on the computer, try rolling the ball a little while circling your hips at the same time.
