The reality is that most office workers are sitting too much. So, getting your posture right is one proactive strategy to increase your resilience. In the physical sense, resilience refers to the body’s ability to withstand the pressure and load placed on the joints and spine *(1). We can’t avoid these natural loads, so doing what you can to ensure good posture will minimize the negative impacts on your body.
Good posture improves the alignment of the joints and creates a more even spread of load throughout the spine. It also improves circulation, breathing and reduces muscles tension. Posture is the result of the net forces on your skeleton system *(2). Imagine your body as a swaying upright structure with ropes and pulleys everywhere. To maintain good posture, creating tension in the ‘right’ ropes whilst reducing the ‘wrong’ tension, should be your strategy.
In reality, this is best achieved through stretching the ‘wrong’ ropes and strengthening the ‘right’ ropes. Stretching the chest muscles, hip flexors and anterior neck muscles is a good start. The target areas for strengthening should be the gluts, core and upper back muscles.
Improving your postural alignment will increase your resilience, allowing you to sit for longer periods with less issues. Additionally, offsetting your sitting with small movement breaks is essential to reset your posture, improving circulation and your ability to focus on the task at hand. Using the stretching and strengthening combination I recommend, is a great way to start, taking positive steps towards your workplace health.
Be proactive with your workplace wellbeing to reduce work related health issues and drive productivity. If you would like to have a workplace assessment or interested to learn more ways to improve resilience and wellbeing in the workplace contact me at brad@bodymindfit.au or visit www.bodymindfit.au
References
Martin JP. A short essay on posture and movement. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry 1977;40:25-29 * (2)
Whitson HE, Cohen HJ, Schmader KE, Morey MC, Kuchel G, Colon-Emeric CS. Physical Resilience: Not Simply the Opposite of Frailty. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2018 Aug;66(8):1459-1461. doi: 10.1111/jgs.15233. Epub 2018 Mar 25. PMID: 29577234; PMCID: PMC6157007. * (1)
