Is slouching that bad for you? – part 3
Modern man is born to slouch. But he rarely considers the long term potential consequences:
In addition it may also make you…
Sad and Shy
A study of 110 students by San Francisco State University last year found those who walked with a slouched body posture reported feeling more depressed and having lower energy levels than those who were more upright.
Study leader Erik Peper, a professor of health education at the university, says sitting or standing up straight with shoulders back does not just give other people a good impression, but also sends a message to the brain that makes us feel better about ourselves.
‘We tend to think the brain and body relationship goes one way. In fact, the passages go both ways.
‘When you choose to put your body in a different mode, it’s harder to drop into depression.’
Meanwhile, in a 2007 study at Colorado College, students with the best sitting posture felt more confident — and scored significantly higher on tests — than those who sat slumped. Interestingly, though, the trend was only true for male students.
Women felt more confident if they’d slouched, possibly because men tend to determine how they feel according to internal cues, while women think more about how they look to others — for them an upright posture made them feel pressured and self-conscious.
So sit up straight!
Related Posts
What can help carpal tunnel syndrome?
Previously, I discussed what carpal tunnel syndrome is and how desk based workers have an increased risk. So what can you do to help youself:
- Vitamin B6 - Carpal tunnel syndrome has been linked to low levels of vitamin B6, so suplementing with the vitamin may help. In fact, several trials have found B6 may alleviate the symptoms, even in people who are not deficient in the vitamin.
- Yoga - In one study a yoga based therapy was more effective at easing carpal tunnel syndrome than improving grip strenght than wrist splints or no treatment.
- Acupuncture - In one radomised control trail, acupuncture was just as effective as steriod treatment,and it was also better at reducing sleep disturbance and improving never conduction than the drugs and came with minimal side-effects.
Do you go home being mentally exhausted but physically full of beans?
I know when I worked in IT I would often leave the office mentally very tired and depending upon how trying the day had been somtimes I was just mentally exhausted but often I was not physically tired. The simplest solution to this conundrum is to go down the gym and burn of the excess physical energy and going to the gym also helps to switch off from work. However there are times when we are injured or feeling run down when this is not possible, so then what can you do? Recently I have seen a few people in clinic who are in this situation. This means they are stuggling to switch off from work and relax. So I wanted to share a few tips on how to handle this if it happens to you. Depending upon the injury you can:
- Start taking the stairs at work - even if you can't walk up all the flights of stairs for example if you are based on the top floor, you can walk up some flights and take the lift for the rest.
- Go swimming instead of going to the gym.
- Get of the train or tube one stop earlier and walk the rest of the way (this obviously depends upon your commute).
- Go for a walk in park or any type of greenery.
- A lot of museams in London have a late night opening, so why not go walk around a museam.
- If you have a garden, do some gardening.
Self help for a stiff neck
Neck cramps, also known as a stiff neck, generally occur when the neck muscles weaken over time due to overuse or poor posture. An example of over use of your neck muscles, is when we are doing abdominal exercises and start to feel it in you neck - if this happens remember you are exercising your neck not your abdominal muscles! If you regularly get a stiff neck then consider your posture when you use a computer, drive or look at your smart phone. When You have a Stiff Neck Self Help Procedure
1. Find the sore spot and place one hand over it. 2. Firmly push into the affected area with your fingers, but not hard enough to cause a sharp pain. Any pain should feel like a good pain as its accompanied by a sense of relief or release. 3. Turn your head slightly in the direction opposite of the cramp and bend it diagonally. 4. Repeat steps 1 to 3 around 20 times.If you find you can't quite hit the spot then why not book in with us.
