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RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—If you're slumped in front of a computer screen all day, every day, chances are you're feeling it. Particularly in your neck. But a study out of Denmark suggests that office workers suffering from neck and upper-back pain could experience significant relief by doing five simple free-weight exercises.
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THE DETAILS: The 2009 study, appearing in the Journal of Applied Physiology, looked at 42 female office workers who were suffering from office-related muscle pain and tightness but were otherwise healthy. Researchers split the women into one group that followed a 10-week program using five strength-training exercises, an another that rode stationary bikes. At the end of the 10 weeks, pain levels dropped by 50 percent in the weight-lifting group, but those cycling experienced no reduction in pain. Want to try it? It's important to understand that lifting weights will initially make you sore. But if your pain actually worsens, stop the exercises and talk to a doctor. Be sure to focus on proper form to prevent injury. Researchers from the National Research Centre for the Working Environment in Denmark suggest you work up to two sets of each exercise with 12 repetitions three times a week, alternating between shrugs, one-arm row, and shoulder abduction on one day, and shrugs, upright row, and reverse flies on another. |
Read on for the five exercises for back pain used in the study.
These exercises for the neck
These exercises for the neck are done with awareness and create new neural patterns in the brain that bypass old painful habits and bypass injuries. -Mario Romano
computer-ism
Desk bound office workers suffer from what I called ‘computer-ism’, and many people who are suffering from ‘computer-ism’ not only has neck and shoulder problems, but wrists and lower back as well. When you are sitting long hours at work please take at least 5 minutes per hour to stand up and walk around, give your body a shake! As a chiropractor I also recommend chiropractic adjustments at least once a month to ‘tune up’ your body, so that you maintain good posture and spinal balance and reduce the likelihood of suffering from the physical symptoms of ‘computer-ism’ as well.