3 injuries that happen at the office

3 injuries that happen at the office

Injuries happen all the time. We know that sometimes they are self inflicted by our own lifestyle. While you think office work is low impact on the body, you could be further from the truth. 

Sitting down constantly all day can effect your strength, fitness levels, posture and all round health. Low activity will put you in a sedentary lifestyle category which does not sound to appealing. In this blog, I will share my experience of common injuries that happen in the office.

1.     Back pain

When you are sitting down all day, the spine is place under greater stress to remain upright. As the body fatigues the body will fall into bad posture. You may feel comfortable in this position, as you do not have to remain upright. But the muscle such as your core, become weaker. 

Symptoms you may have back pain

-APT Anterior pelvic tilt  or PPT Posterior pelvic tilt

 (When either the hips rotate forward or backward instead of neutral)

-Tilt in the hips

(Uneven hips)

-Weak glutes or core 

 -Rounded shoulders

What should you do? 

-Walk around the office

-Stretch 

-Strengthen key areas

-Change your chair

-Office exercises

-Foam roller

2.     Shoulder pain

Your shoulders will begin to to feel uncomfortable are a result of desktop work. When you are constantly using your laptop or writing your shoulders will round forward, which leads to shoulders being over worked and in a unnatural position. 

 Signs your shoulder are over worked

-Clicks/Pops when reaching up

-Headaches

-Tight shoulders

-Poor posture

  

What should you do?  

-Office exercises for rear delts, traps

-Massage/Sports massage on shoulders

-Exercise in the gym – lower traps, rear flys, face pulls

3.     Knee pain

Knee pain occurs from many different things, so I could not give you one specific reason why you may have knee pain. What you need to know is knee pain is the cause of other muscles around the legs being too weak  or unbalanced to cause the knee to feel discomfort. If you do any running you may experience knee discomfort as possible result.

  

Some Early signs for knee pain

-Sitting too long

-Flat feet

-Back pain

-Stiff joints (ankles and knees)

-Swollen ankles and knees

What to do

• Speak to a fitness professional as they could address your posture
• More likely your posterior chain (hamstrings, calves & glutes) are weak
• Walk around the office to reduce swelling
• Flex and extend your legs

Simeon’s tips

• Strengthen your posterior chain
• Strengthen your core
• Take mini breaks at work
• Assess your work equipment (Chair and eye line of desktop)
• Stretch your hips and improve shoulder mobility

Summary

Always be mindful of how active you are at work. You posture while sitting is vey important. You do not want to be spending money on massages only for the pain to come back. The worst case scenario is having time off work due to injury.  Focus on steps during the day, while taking breaks at work to stretch and perform simple exercises.

I have developed a ‘Back to fitness’ programme where it can allow you to increase fitness levels, improve your posture with the aim to improve your health and quality of life. Drop me a email as there is limited slots.

Have a great day