You know that feeling you get when you sit all day? Your muscles are all tight and your whole body is aching. Since our classes are online, that feeling seems constant now. What happens to your body if you sit for too long?
Hunching over a computer all day for your online classes can cause many physical and internal issues, including pain in the shoulder, neck, and lower back, as well as poor posture development. According to the Mayo Clinic, there is a greater risk of cardiovascular disease. To avoid this, simply take a break and stretch your tightness and pain away.
You’ll be feeling loosey-goosey in no time!
Get the crick out of your neck
Sitting or lying down with your neck aligned with your spine, gently bend your neck to one side and try to get the ear to touch the shoulder. Hold that position for about 20 seconds and proceed to do the same on your other side. Repeat each side four times. We call this stretch the lateral flexion or the ear to shoulder stretch.
The cure for the computer-induced hunchback
If your back is aching, the classic child’s pose will help a lot. To do this stretch, start with lining up your hands under your shoulders and knees under your hips. Then, as your knees bend, sit your hips back and extend your arms in front of you. Make sure you’re looking down while holding this position. Not only does this stretch target your lower back, it also hits the glutes, hamstrings, and spine while de-stressing you.
The posture saviour
Being continuously hunched over, you’re hurting your back and ruining your posture. A torso stretch is a great way to fix this. First, face forward in a seated position with your feet planted on the floor. Take one arm, grab your chair, and proceed to rotate your whole torso in the direction of that arm. Make sure you stay in that rotated position for about 10–30 seconds. After finishing, do all the steps on your other side.
Shoulder rolls
Feeling shoulder pain? It might be happening because you’re sitting and typing for too long. A super quick solution to help with the problem is to perform shoulder rolls. Tucking your chin in, position your back upright. Roll your shoulders in a continuous circular movement in one direction. Repeat this 10 times before switching directions.