How Executive Office Chairs and a Pilates Exercise Chair in Your Office Can Help With Back Pain5/15/2017 Back pain is no joke. We willingly spend hundreds, even thousands of dollars on medication and treatment if it there’s a chance that it could alleviate the pain. But in most cases, back pain in adults isn’t caused by disease. It’s often caused by lack of physical activity and bad posture. And there’s no pill in the world that can fix that. The only way to reduce the pain or get rid of it completely is to exercise and maintain good posture. But how can you do that? The office isn’t exactly a conducive place to do exercise. Actually, there are ways for you to exercise and maintain good posture while sitting at your desk. Take for example pilates. Pilates is a fitness system that was created specifically to help people recovering from injuries and help them improve their muscle tone through muscle stretching and strengthening exercises. Some office chairs for your back would allow you to do simple stretching exercises. But the best option would be to invest in a pilates exercise chair. A pilates exercise chair is a simplified form of the pilates machine. It won’t allow you to do full leg stretches but it does have a pedal and resistance cables to help with strengthening your core muscle and improving your posture. Having a pilates exercise chair in the breakroom would allow you to sneak in a few minutes of exercise while having tea or chatting with coworkers. Another exercise routine you can easily do in the office is yoga. There are plenty of yoga poses that don’t require a mat. And there are plenty of simple poses that you can do easily, even without a yoga instructor. There’s even such a thing as office yoga which allows you to do yoga poses in a confined space and makes use of whatever you have in the office. Standing yoga poses will help lengthen your spine and relax muscles that strained from sitting for hours. There are also sitting poses that can help improve your flexibility by stretching your hamstrings, thighs and back. Another good way to get more physical activity while at work is to find reasons to walk. Instead of eating at your desk, go eat your lunch outside. Want to send a message to your coworker across the hall? Walk to them and give them the message in person instead. Need to go up a floor, take the stairs whenever possible. These small activities don’t look like much but studies that shown that taking regular breaks and sneaking in some physical activity can provide significant health improvements. Last but not the least; invest in ergonomic chairs for back pain. When you sit for hours at a time, you back muscles get fatigued causing you to slouch. Ergonomic chairs stop this from happening by providing back support, so you can maintain good posture even when you’re tired.
What else can you do in the office to stop back pain? Let us know in the comments below!
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Getting stressed out in the workplace due to growing piles of unfinished projects, unsatisfied or angry customers, or maybe even—though I hope not--bad relationships with your boss or your co-workers, is an unfortunate and unavoidable aspect in the everyday lives of us regular office employees. Even the back pain caused by our bad posture when we sit down for more than 8 hours on our office chairs can contribute to our mounting stress and turns our moods fouler and volatile. The way we look at our days changes to a negative perspective, and sometimes we just drudge through our work and not find any enjoyment in it. That, in turn, leads to boredom, and boredom can make you lose focus on the work that is assigned to you. Your mind wanders elsewhere while your performance level drops to the point that if you don’t quit from your job first, the company will do the firing for you. Even if we aren’t working a desk job at an office, we tend to think of being busy with our jobs as a good thing and resting as bad and lazy. But being busy does not necessarily mean you are being productive. Many employees, that are unsatisfied and bored with their work can play the part of looking busy and yet not accomplish anything that is worthwhile. Some will even disrespect managers, fellow employees, and customers through malicious compliance. So what should you do when work has gotten your spirits down, your brain just can churn out any creative juices and your back feels like it’s been glued onto your office chair since forever? You take a break. Giving your brain a break can help boost your productivity and your morale in the office. The human mind can only focus on one activity for a particular period of time before it loses concentration and becomes less efficient at the task at hand. Try working continuously at a single task for hours without stopping and observe what happens to both your mind and body later on. Don’t you feel that stress and fatigue growing inside you physically, mentally, and emotionally afterwards? By the time you move on to the next task, your brain has already been drained of any good ideas. Taking a break does not always have to mean clicking the minimise button on the program you usually use to do your job and then log on to Facebook or Twitter. You should give your eyes and the rest of your body some rest as well, and get up from your workstation. Even just taking as short a time as five minutes out of an hour to stretch your body and do some simple stretches on your pilates exercise chair which can rejuvenate your mind. Exercise is an excellent stress reliever, and helps remove unwanted thoughts in your head while keeping you fit and healthy at the same time. If you don’t want to settle for only pilates, there are Neila Rey workout programs that have become famous online for taking only a few minutes of your time, perfect for someone working in the office for 40 hours a week. There are even workouts that were created specifically for the workplace, incorporating chairs and desks with squats and sit-ups and other routines. Getting an office posture chair or an office chair for back pain also helps. So remember, you don’t have to sit down on your office chair for hours on end and go through a lot of stress just to finish that one job. Stand up, and take a break. You won’t believe the wonders in can do for you. It’s dark out; you just noticed. You’ve labored all day for ten pages of the epic novel you’ve been working on only to scrap nine pages of it just a few minutes before the clock strikes ten. You’re tired. And you’re wondering if this project is still worth the restlessness and back pain. How you wish you bought that office chair for back pain you saw in that ad. It’s not easy to write, much less to write as a means of living. Writers always have deadlines to comply with, whether it’s a book, a product review, or an in-depth article about foreign policy—we always sail in a sea of words every day. Sometimes it’s just an uninspired iceberg in the way that slows us down. Other times, it’s the fatigue and body pain that gets us. But there’s a way to fight away the stress to write faster and better. Here are a couple of things writers can do to be more productive. Clear the Clutter The typical writer’s desk is composed of nothing less than scattered books and magazines, to-do lists from the last seven months, post-it notes of writing prompts, crumpled paper, and of course, at the centerpiece: the laptop with a blank page. We always seem to be too busy to clean up since we’re always chasing the time. But a cluttered desk wastes our time more. For one thing, it makes us feel more stressed than we already are. It’s harder to find the important things, like priority notes, if it’s buried underneath a pile of outdated notebooks. Clear out the things you don’t need anymore. If you’re attached to your old drafts, just put them in a box and secure it under the table. That way, you only see what you need, and you can readily get it when you need to. Walk Your Dog Your mind has had plenty of exercise from walking from one idea to another. Your body needs a stroll too. Don’t be stuck in your desk. Stand up, and do some stretches. Sitting for prolonged hours is bad for your body. It’s the reason why you feel so restless even if it’s just been a few minutes after noon, and why your back is hurting. Staying in one position for a long period of time puts strain in your muscles, and stresses your spine. Your body was meant for moving. That’s why we have joints in our bodies. So go get some coffee, do some jumping jacks, and walk your dog every hour or so. Your dog probably needs it too. Stop Slouching At first, it sounds like a boring advice. I get it. We’ve all heard it ever since we started to make sense of the world. Mom said it. Nanny said it. Your PE teacher said it. But there’s a reason why it’s a recurring advice. It still makes sense until today because slouching is one of the reasons why you suffer from fatigue more often than you should. Sitting with a hunched back is tiring. If staying in one position strains the muscles, it’s intensified with poor posture. More than that, a curved body makes it harder for you to breathe. Sit up straight, with shoulders relaxed, and chest slightly out. Don’t be a Scrooge. Get Comfy Ditch your substandard chair. It’s probably what’s encouraging you to slouch in the first place. It’s hard to focus if you can’t sit the way you want to, and if you’re suffering from grueling pain in your lower back. Get an office chair for posture, or an office chair for back problems. Don’t get one of those typical chairs you see displayed as job ads in billboards. Make sure to get one with a midback and pelvic support that helps you maintain good posture and sit smarter without having to sacrifice your comfort. Writing is already painful as it is, what with all the mental torture that comes with it. It doesn’t have to be literally painful too. Don’t forget to take care of your health. It’s the reason why you are alive enough to write. Sitting is something we do daily. Desk job workers sit in comfortable office chairs but students don’t always have that. Studying, doing assignments, or spending hours in front of the laptop to finish their favorite TV series is just a sneak peak of what they do daily. As a student, we have always wanted to pass those quizzes and difficult test examinations. Studying overtime is not a new thing and sometimes we study so hard that we forget to maintain a good posture. Students carry loads of stuff in their bag. Whether the student is a preschooler, elementary, high school, college, or post-graduate, it is best to limit the weight of his/her load. Study shows that students as young as 7 to 10 years old suffer from bad posture. This is due to carrying heavy backpacks or bad sitting habits inside the classroom. It causes stress to accumulate and may lead to a serious back problem and injury later in life. Poor posture serves as a barrier to good memory, concentration and learning. This means that students can’t afford to keep this bad habit. Correcting good posture for students is not that easy but here’s how we can maintain a good sitting habit and avoid bad posture: Eat Right, Nourish Your Body Nutrition also contributes to the student’s posture. Without the proper nourishment, students will be sluggish. It will create a bad sitting habit like dangling their feet while sitting, bending their head forward, and the like. We don’t want that to happen, so it is encouraged that students balance their meals properly, making sure to eat the fruits and veggies, not just the cheese and meat. Exercise Hours spent watching television or playing video games also contribute to poor posture. It comes down to discipline as children nowadays are exposed to technology and are not fond of exercise. When there’s no class, engage in physical activities. Let them stretch those muscles. Walk to school once in a while to exercise, release those endorphins, and relieve stress at the same time. This can also reverse the slouch that students adapt. Avoid Lazy Positions Students may change their sitting position from time to time if they feel back pain or fatigue. The wrong fit is a factor that contributes to this. Students come in all shapes and sizes and so do chairs. It’s best to use a posture perfect chair with customized lumbar support for sitting. This way, it can contribute to sitting comfortably and can make them avoid fidgeting. Let’s admit it, lectures can become boring and tiring at times, and having a tablet or smart phone with you is even worse. It promotes bad sitting habits. This can lead to back pain and lower our concentration. No matter how sleepy or how bored you are, always be aware that proper posture is encouraged at all times when sitting. Good posture requires practice, discipline, and effort. Students may find it tiring but it is beneficial on their part on the long run. So that when they work in the future, they will have a pain-free back, or at least know when to buy office chairs for better posture. First impressions matter, especially in hiring new people for a job. Human resources and interviewers have to make quick judgments based on your resume, and the impression you make when they first see you. This is because companies don’t only look for a skilled person, but also someone who can work within their system. They are looking for someone who they can trust to represent the company even outside of work. Everything from how you sit, stand, or look at a person communicates something. These are three key areas you need to work on to nail that job interview and start sitting in that comfortable office chair. Good Posture It’s an age-old advice and it’s not just because slouching causes you back pain, but also because it gives people a bad impression of you. Sitting or standing with your back hunched implies lack of mindfulness about your well-being, and also a lack of confidence. It’s hard to believe that you’re the right person for the job when your body language doesn’t look like it. But don’t overdo it. Putting your chest out and leaning too forward will turn out as you occupying more space than the interviewer which may communicate arrogance. The best posture to make a good impression is a neutral one. Just sit up straight. Don’t lean too forward, and don’t lean too far back as it can make you seem disrespectful or disinterested. A neutral and straight position communicates self-assurance and makes you look more credible. You can start practicing at home with some chairs for posture support. Eye Contact Yes, this matters too, especially because the interviewers look at your face when talking to you more than your body. Looking away too often signals anxiety and nervousness which not only makes the interview awkward but may also cost you your potential job by denoting lack of confidence, and by making you look like someone suspicious and dishonest with your words. But staring is also bad because it will seem too aggressive and at times will also communicate anxiety and awkwardness. Just make sure to look the person in the eye when they’re talking about something important, particularly when asking a question related to the job you’re applying for as this communicates an interest to what the interviewer is saying. Gestures Fidgeting, biting your nails, pulling out hair strands—these are all bad news. In a professional setting this is bad etiquette and spells disaster. Companies want to hire someone that can be an extension of their brand, and they aren’t likely to hire someone who can’t keep their hands down. If you’re nervous, try to tone it down. Before the job interview, take steps to grow out of bad habits like that. The best gestures you can make in the job interview are open ones. Keep your shoulders open. Interlocking your hands are fine as long as your arms are open. Don’t cross them because it creates a sense of disinterest. It all boils down to moderation. Sitting in your own executive office chair isn’t so far away. The best way to nail an interview is to be confident without being arrogant, and to be humble without being shy. The existence of technology is a paradox. Sometimes it helps people’s lives become easier. Sometimes it’s bad news. In a globalized world, it’s not surprising to see people’s eyes glued to the screen of their gadgets—but that comes at the cost of poor posture and back pain. Here are the top culprits of your poor posture. Phones and Tablets Everybody who owns a phone or a tablet (that is… almost everyone) turns into a vulture for most of the day. No, I’m not just talking about teenagers who either constantly gossip through text and chat, or twist their necks awkwardly just take a good selfie or groufie or whatever kids call it these days. Professionals are also guilty of being obsessed with their phones. Clients can get demanding. And you have to be in the loop to continue doing business. Professional social networking has become a requirement to survive in the business world. Unfortunately for chronic phone users (you and me both, that is), constantly looking at our screens makes us look down a lot. It wouldn’t have been a big deal if we only did it once or twice a day. But alas, they made the phone portable so we can use it everywhere—even when we’re in the bathroom. And it’s multipurpose, so we use it to communicate with other people, or play games when we’re bored. No wonder we have frequent neck pains. Computers Laptops, notebooks, netbooks, or whatever variation there is of the computer doesn’t just make us vultures. It turns us into cavemen with hunched backs. Many employees and bosses in executive office chairs work with a computer, writing documents and articles, designing websites, encoding data, auditing, accounting—name it. Unfortunately, not all companies invest in comfortable office chairs so most desk job workers suffer from back injuries, just by sitting all day! Students also fall prey to the cavemen trap that laptops set up. Research papers, theses, and other projects keep them late at night, destroying their posture in the process. We’re used to seeing slouching college students when we shouldn’t be. Young people are the ones we expect to have the best posture because they’re far from being senile and weak. Game Consoles Goodbye family computers, hello PSPs, Xbox’s and more back pain! But really, who can resist playing the latest version of Final Fantasy, burning your character in Sims or just enjoying the classic Super Mario Bros. Sadly, we don’t get power-ups in the real world, not to get ahead in class and work, and not to magically heal our hurting back after long hours of playing games. Games have the power to transport us to other worlds, and apparently, to transform us to other hunched creatures too. Routinely playing also causes poor posture because 100% concentration and slouching is what beats the boss and the hundredth level. Technology has changed our lives, and our posture forever, but it doesn’t need to be a bad thing. Just keep in mind to do things in moderation. It’s not healthy to be obsessed with your phones, laptops, or PSP. A sedentary lifestyle is a quicker path to the grave. Break the monotony through exercising. Do some stretching in between work or doing your paper. Walk your dog. Buy chairs for posture support to keep your back straight. New inventions were never meant to make us lazy. Did you ever wonder how chairs came to be? Did God create it with Adam and Eve? Or did a world-renowned scientist create it? It’s such a simple tool. We just sit on it. But if you really think about it, it’s a brilliant invention. Whether it’s a La-Z Boy sleeper sofa or a comfortable office chair, they make everything easier—from watching TV to encoding data. Can you imagine doing all that while squatting on the floor? The Flintstones Lied to You There were no furniture in the Stone Age. Our ancestors never needed chairs. They just squatted in cave floors, huddled over fire to keep themselves warm at night. And that was okay because all they really needed was to survive, with or without comfort. It wasn’t until around 2,800 B.C. that people used chairs, as far as historical records can track. But even succeeding civilizations like several Asian and African cultures didn’t use chairs. The Japanese and Koreans, for example, prefer to sit on the floor while eating their food on a low table. From King Tut to Zeus In the time of Julius Caesar and Cleopatra, chairs were only for royalty. Egyptian peasants or anyone who didn’t have royal blood either sat on tools or on the floor. The Pharaoh and his family had tall stoned or golden thrones with back and arm rests. Sometimes the chairs took the form of beds, reclining on couches. In a sculpture called The Garden party, an Assyrian king with his wife were depicted feasting on a couch where they rested after winning a war. The chair was so high that servants needed whisks to reach and serve the king and queen. The chair was a status symbol—a way to define your place in the hierarchy. Unlike the Egyptians, for Greeks, the chair was for everyone. Regardless if you were the Greek God of Lightning and the Skies or if you were a farmer, you deserved to sit on something that raised your bottom from the ground. For Greeks, it was called the klismos, a chair with curved legs and a curved back rest, and it was a symbol of democracy: everyone was equal, and everyone deserved the same privileges. From Knights to CEOs The chair became a status symbol again in the medieval ages. While peasants were allowed to own furniture, they only used what was around them, whether it was a barrel, a tool, or a huge stone. In peasant weddings, it was common for people to squeeze their selves in a long bench to take part in the feast. Only the bride and the groom or the bride’s father was allowed a wooden chair with a back rest. Of course, kings and queens had their own thrones decorated with gems to emphasize their royalty, their servants standing beside them to await their decree. Until today we use chairs to symbolize a hierarchy. CEOs have their own offices with executive office chairs with adjustable features while regular employees get to have a normal office chair in their cubicles. They even created a “science” of sitting and posture as seen in ergonomics. They invented chairs for posture support to make employees more productive and lessen their back pain out of doing sedentary work. Companies found a way to make profit out of people’s obsession on what they sit on. That’s probably why La-Z Boy Inc. is so rich—they make money out of rich people’s laziness. The greatest silver lining there is in the modern world is at least everyone’s allowed to sit on a chair and take care of their posture. Office yoga can be fun and relaxing with a lot of long term benefits for your overall health. It comprises of simple exercises you can do at your desk and favorite yoga chair anytime of the day. Making it a part of your routine can effectively alleviate body pain. It can also boost your muscular strength and flexibility, making you more energized throughout the day. Sitting on a comfortable office chair for long hours doesn’t have to be monotonous. You can always include simple yoga drills to maintain a healthy figure and be more productive at work. Benefits of Office Yoga According to Kreg Weiss on his article on the benefits of yoga at work, there are several advantages of performing office yoga. Improves Physical Health Office yoga improves the immune system, decreasing absenteeism and levels of sickness. It also improves endurance or stamina, and decreases muscular tension and pain due to inactive working positions. It develops body flexibility and strengthens physical body parts, improves breathing, and reduces headaches. Boosts Productivity Office yoga helps a person manage his/her stress.It increases motivation, energy and mental alertness, and clarity.It also improves the ability of decision-making and creativeness.It develops memory and focus for better performance. Develop Attitude Office yoga improves morale, employment satisfaction, and makes patterns of thinking more positive.It improves confidence. Easy Yoga Poses at Work You can perform easy yoga exercises in the office with the use of any best chair for posture. The following are the effective and simple yoga techniques: 1. Scale Pose You should sit at the edge of the chair, press your hands down on the sides of hips, then raise your legs and butt up off the seat. You should feel a little tension on your abdominal muscles. Remember to keep your shoulders down when you’re holding this position. Maintain this pose for three to five breaths. 2. High Altar Pose Inhale and lift your arms. You should clasp your hands and invert your palms. Lean to your left, and then hold for five to eight breaths and switch sides. 3. Twist Turn to the left, and then use the left hand on the back of the yoga chair to deepen the twist. Hold this position for five to eight breaths, and then twist to the opposite side. 4. Cow Face Arms Bring your left arm behind the back, and also the right arm behind the head. Clasp your fingers, and then hold five to eight breaths and switch sides. 5. Ankle to Knee Place your left foot on your right knee, and let the left knee drop open. Keep it back straight, and then lean forward to stretch deeper. Switch sides after 5 to 8 breaths. You can perform these yoga poses at your own pace to de-stress and to boost your energy at work. Remember, your posture does not only affect your appearance and demeanor, it can also influence your overall daily performance. Start impressing your colleagues and bosses not only by looking confident but also by being efficient in every task. You sit in your office chair for 8 hours, and because it‘s quite comfortable, you won’t even the feel any pain whatsoever, especially on your lower back. But over time, particularly when you’re careless about your position, you’ll begin to feel some form of discomfort in your back that affects your performance at work.
And this slow and painful phenomenon is a regular thing in the workplace. Since most of us do have a sedentary lifestyle, it is only a matter of time before we experience some issues pertaining to our lower back. So if we’re too tardy to do something about it, we certainly need an equipment to cover this potentially debilitating discomfort. Why the Use of Ergonomic Chairs Enter these ergonomic chairs. These are basically chairs for posture support, something that you really need in order for you not to develop this lower back pain. These chairs not only address that potential discomfort you might be feeling as a result of carelessly sitting on that chair, it also takes care of your posture as well. You don’t have to undergo some form of regimen already like a gym session, an ergonomic chair is more than enough to make ends meet, so to speak, with regards to lower back problems. But there are things that you need to consider when buying an ergonomic chair, the best chair for posture and back pains. The Features You Need to Take Heed Of with Ergonomic Chairs As soon as you purchase these office chairs for your back (ergonomic chairs), you might want to know certain features that your chair should have, so you can maximize the use of it. • The width and length of it – Of course, it should be wide enough to support any user. Your chair should be at least 17-20 inches wide. And the depth of your ergonomic chair should be enough also in a way that the user can sit with his back against the backrest, while leaving at least 2 to 4 inches between the back of the knees and the chair’s seat. Always make sure that the backward tilt of your seat is adjustable. • The height – Your chair’s height should be adjustable, preferably with a pneumatic adjustment lever. An ideal height of your chair should be from 16 to 21 inches off the floor. With this height, the user can have his feet flat on the floor, with his thighs in horizontal position and the height of the desk is even with his arms. • That lumbar support – Lower back support is important in an ergonomic chair. You need to keep in mind that your lumbar spine has an inward curve, and because you sit for long periods, without support at times, that could potentially develop a strain in your lower spine.Make sure that your ergonomic chair has a lumbar adjustment also so you can support the inward curve of your lower back. So why put your lower back at risk all the time? You can make some recuperative measures for you not to aggravate further that discomfort in your lower back. These chairs for posture support serves an alternative in addressing the potential problems of sitting or slouching in your chair for 8 hours. And there’s a whole lot of ergonomic chairs online, these office chairs for your back, that you purchase at an affordable price. Now, that’s one way of addressing it. Otherwise, you lounge in your chair carelessly and suffer the consequences later on. There is something special about having a good posture. That may be a bold statement, to start with, but those who have it are usually the ones who lead, who are always on top of the game. So it would be safe to say that having a good posture is one of the things you need to have for you to become a success. It is not so difficult to see why. If you have a lousy temperament as a result of your bad posture, you don’t necessarily exude authority, and in return, nobody would believe you. So even if you feel uneasy having proper posture at first, you still need to do something about it, for you to be more credible at work. Some people, especially in the workplace, don’t know the importance of displaying proper posture on a daily basis. Until it’s too late, of course. By that time, they have developed these back pains already, and they get desperate getting rid of it. Unless you have a good support around you like these office chairs for your back, you will suffer these terrible effects brought about by having that bad posture, sometimes ruining your performance at work. So how important good posture is for your work? Two of these effects will show you why you need to start maintaining good posture, no matter how busy you are at work.
No wonder you’re sad most of the time.
Since you are not sitting straight, you slouch most of the time, and you’re not even aware of your stance even when you’re standing, chances are, you won’t get that promotion you’ve always wanted. Now, there are many ways that you can do to have that desired pose, and one of which is having the best chair for posture with you. That way, you can deal with this problem without undergoing any workout or exercise. Your work requires you to be in your best shape so you can perform your duty at all times, and that has something to do with maintaining that good posture. Now that you know it affects your mood and your performance at work, it’s about time for you to give posture a chance to improve your work and your career as well. |
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