Fitness exercises in the office help with tension

Prevent tension caused by fitness exercises in the office

07/21/2014

A throbbing headache or a stiff neck: Many people know such ailments after a long day at the desk. To prevent tension, it is advisable to do a few exercises in the office regularly. In addition, employees should remember to do sports after work.

80 percent of the screen workers complain of physical pain
It is clear that office work, compared to a job on the construction site, is not physically exhausting. But complaints such as headaches or neck tension are familiar to many who sit on the screen all day. According to a report by the dpa news agency, the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Baua) has found that eight out of ten (80 percent) screen workers complain of physical pain. Especially back, shoulders, head and arms cause problems. However, the pain can be countered by regular exercises.

Prevent back pain
As Nils Franke of the health insurance AOK explained, around a quarter of all days of disability in Germany are due to musculoskeletal disorders. Michael Rau, Osteopath and Physiotherapist in Ingolstadt, recommends a sitting exercise to prevent back pain: the arms are placed crosswise on the shoulders, with the elbows touching and pressing against the chest. The back is curved and the feet lie flat on the floor. The upper body is now turned in one direction to the right, until it stops. It is deeply inhaled. As you exhale, turn slowly to the left in the other direction. „This exercise and all others can be repeated ten times on a working day“, so rough. Back home exercises are also suitable for lying back, although it is essential that these should be stopped as soon as they cause further pain. Professor Ute Latza of the Baua advises that in general all employees should take care not to sit too long in one piece: „It helps if you get up on the phone or take a walk during your lunch break.“ This prevents the worker from burdening the back for a long time on one side.

Problems in the neck area
When office workers are plagued by a stiff neck, a stab in the neck, or other neck problems, there's an exercise in which a small towel is held in place at two corners and tipped back with the longer edge. The towel is pulled forward along the cheekbones until it tenses. The hands then move up and down, with the head following the movement. This exercise should be repeated several times a day, with the position of the towel edge at the neck varying. Rau explained: „In this exercise, the cervical vertebrae are mobilized.“ In naturopathy, the so-called progressive muscle relaxation is occasionally used to relieve the neck muscles from possible tensions.

Also off the screen
To combat headaches, an exercise that is like meditation is recommended. This could bring the head to rest and drive away the pain, so Rau. Both hands are placed to the left and right of the ears and consciously listened to what is heard. The head could feel like a cone or like a balloon that inflates and collapses again. For eye flickering or tired or cloudy eyes help all activities that lead away from the screen. As Latza says, this could be a walk to the copier. Also, a warm cloth could help, which is a few minutes on the eyes. In addition, office workers can massage their eyes. They place their fingers on the eye sockets and circle around the eyes with a little pressure.

Computer mouse must slide properly
To relax the muscles of the forearm, in another exercise you can grab the back and front of the forearm of the other hand with one hand and exercise a careful pressure massage with the thumb and fingertips between the spokes and the ulna. The forearm should be turned left and right during the massage, Rau recommends. Then the exercise is repeated on the other side. When employees of a mouse arm, popularly called the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, suffer from discomfort such as tingling and falling asleep and wrist pain. Above all, it is important that the computer mouse slides properly and does not stall, as Latza explained. Many people are not aware that the cause of the pain usually comes from the cervical spine.

Think about the sport after work
An exercise that can help against both sitting and standing is as follows: "One hand is supported in the pelvis with the other hanging from the body, and the head tilts to the side where the hand is in the pelvis the shoulder with the attached arm straight up and pulled down again.As soon as the nerve in the first three fingers of the hand or the muscles at the neck tingles, you pull up the shoulder again ". Despite all these exercises, employees should remember to do sports after work as well. The back-friendly sports include swimming, cycling or hiking. Latza explained that both in the exercises in the office and during sports in leisure time, the feel-good factor applies: what pushes and unpleasant, is omitted and what is fun, should be intensified. (Ad)