The Impact of Sitting All Day – Part 3

These stretches can either be done as a complete series or individually and most of them can be done at your desk.  Some will ease tension in specific parts of the body whilst others are generally relaxing.  Please remember stretching should always be relaxing and never painful! To get maximum benefit from these stretches you should do them daily and hold each stretch for 15 seconds and repeat twice unless otherwise stated. Arm and Hand Stretches

• Stand with your feet together, keeping you feet together and your knees soft.  Raise your arms alternatively swinging them over your head as if you were performing backstroke.
• Raise your left arm above your head and push up as high as you can.  Feel the stretch down the left side of the body.  Hold for 30 seconds.  Repeat on the right.
• Raise your right arm to the side, keeping at shoulder height.  Point your fingers towards the ceiling and push your palm away from your body.  Hold for 30 seconds and repeat on left side.
• With your right hand by your side, point your fingers behind you with your palm facing up.  Push your right shoulder and wrist towards the floor, then make a fist.  Hold.  Repeat on the other side.
• Keep your arms by your side and clench your fists as tight as you can, then spread your thumb and fingers as far apart as possible.
• Let your arms hang loosely by your side and shake them for about 15 seconds.

I recently came across a scientific study in slovenia on the impact of a corporate chair massage program.  As you can imagine, as I offer this service I was interested in the results of the study. Ninteen female volunteers who were aged between 40 - 54, were given chair massages on-site at their office twice per week for 1 month.  They were all reporting various levels of aches and pains when they were working at their desks.  The Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire was used to track and measure the aches and pains, while a goniometer was used to track and measure range of motion measurements for the neck and spine. The study showed a significant decrease for aches and pains in the neck and upper back.  In addition, it found significant increase in range of movement for cervical lateral flexion of 28.8% (moving your neck so your ear goes towards your shoulder) and cervical extension (moving your head back). This study fits with me and my teams experience that after a Seated Acupressure Neck & Shoulder massages, clients are less tense, feel looser and are able to move their neck & shoulders more freely. Reference Sisko PK, Videmsek M, Karpljuk D, 2011, The effect of a corporate chair massage program on musculoskeletal discomfort and joint range of motion in office workers.  J Altern Complement Med, 17(7):617-22  

Obviously I am a firm believer of massage in the workplace, so I will start by acknowledging my bias on the topic.  What people may not know is that during the many years working in IT, I suffered from a verity of neck and shoulder issues.  This lead me to go to see a GP, chiropractor, osteopath and masseur.  While they all helped, what was most beneficial to me was regular seated acupressure neck & shoulder massage which helped me nip the tension and the problems in the bud. We all know getting a massage feels great. Once your massages starts, the nerve cells in your skin send messages to your brain to release feel-good endorphins .  As a result stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline begin to decrease and the other all effect is to boost your mood and give you a natural high.  On a physical level the tension and tightness in the muscles begin to release. This means your awareness shifts so your mind and body can function better.  Researches find your mind gets de-cluttered helping you to think more clearly, improve your alertness which leads to improve performance. So why not book a massage see>> http://vitalitytherapy.co.uk/booking