Only in my profession could 20 therapists sit around and talk about someone’s butt and not get accused of harassment! Today that is exactly what we did. I sat in on a meeting with about 20 other therapists and we talked about a client who injured his back about 6 months ago and has essentially spent all of this time sitting on butt in an effort to “rest his back.” Unfortunately, not only did his back pain not improve… now he has a sloppy, weak butt! This got me thinking… so many of us are working from home right now and many of us are not sitting at proper work stations, whether you are curled up on the couch, working at your kitchen table or lying on your bed… unless you are being proactive you are probably getting a sloppy weak butt too, which if left unchecked, will cause back pain. So here are 5 ways to avoid back pain when working from home:
- MOVE! – We all need to stay mobile. We were not meant to sit all day. Every 30-45 minutes you should be changing your position whether that is a change from the couch to a desk, or standing at the kitchen counter (if its at an elevated bar height that’s even better). Set an alarm on your smart phone or in your work calendar to alert you when it’s time to move.
- Stretch! – Since you are already changing positions let’s throw in some stretches. Stretch out your quads, hip flexors and piriformis. Hold each stretch for 30 seconds and do 3 repetitions of each if you can. See the pictures below of 3 options for doing these stretches.
- Set up an ergonomic workstation for yourself. I covered this in a previous blog post so I won’t repeat it here. Click on the hyperlink to access that post.
- Strengthen your butt. As I said above… sitting too much will give you a sloppy, weak butt! Your hips are the connection point between your back and your legs. If the muscles in your rear are strong, they will hold your hips straight and offload the muscles in your lower back. Glut bridges are an easy start to help build these muscles.
- Build your core – Often when I say this people think I’m telling them they need to lose weight and get a 6-pack. Although the muscles in your stomach are important, the ones that make up your six pack are of very little help to your back. My favourite group of exercises to build the core are what I call the Bar-b-que spit. Using the glut bridge above, build on it by doing a side plank and a front plank, go around in a circle 3 times each holding for as long as you can comfortably. If you can do a minute in each hold and do the full rotation 3 times each, then you should not have any back pain. As a side note, don’t worry if you can only hold it for 5-10 seconds at first. We all have to start somewhere. Build on this slowly by adding in 5 seconds every 1-2 weeks until you hit your minute and your back will thank you!
If you need any help with your back or any other injuries please contact us to set up a physiotherapy assessment and treatment. If you have questions please e-mail me david@iclickphysio.com. Also, before you start any exercises you should always check with your health professional to ensure that they are safe.