Working nine-to-five isn’t easy. Four-thirty starts to round the clock and not only is your mind out the door, but your back is aching and begging for a massage. Hours of being a “screen sloucher,” hunching over your laptop, waiting to get home to lay down and ice your back is no way to live. The pain can be so distracting that it can make a nine-to-five job seem like a death sentence.
The thing is, this problem...is totally solvable.
These three tips will help you to get started on the right path to upright posture at the workplace:
1) Get up and Stretch!
Having good posture can be tiring too. You’re working a lot of ab muscles to keep your back straight and that’s not easy! Believe, I’ve been there.
The solution? The best way to maintain your momentum with good training habits is to get up every once and awhile and stretch. Just stand upright, feet parallel, gaze upward, with arms open in a horizontal line, as if saying hello to the world. Now do that for ten reps throughout the day.
If you don’t feel comfortable stretching in front of your colleagues, it’s also great, to stand and walk around the office a bit - go visit a co-worker on the other side of the office or refill your water bottle or make yourself a coffee. Any movement is good to get the body feeling awake again and re-energizing your back and core muscles.
2) Set a Reminder!
With the never-ending emails to read through, the business meetings to sit in, presentations to write, it’s easy to forget your posture training at work. Your head will, a lot of the time, be elsewhere and posture training will be on the backburner. Without that extra reminder, your grandma would give, it’s hard to remember to maintain proper posture.
The Solution? If you set a reminder on your phone, calendar app, an old fashioned sticky note, or use your UPRIGHT PRO or GO once an hour or every two hours, you’ll quickly jump right back into your training habits. It takes an average of 21-30 days of repetitive action to make something an intuitive habit. So the more, good posture becomes an intuitive habit, the less you’ll need phone reminders.
3) Raise Your Screen
One of the major causes of the “screen sloucher” epidemic is the height of your laptop. Generally, laptops and desktops are placed directly on the desk, resulting in the screen being below eye level. This leads to an uncomfortable forward head movement and a lot of pain.
The Solution? Raise your screen to eye level using a laptop stand. This will prevent you from leaning forward, straining your neck, and slouching your upper back. Additionally, adjust the height of your chair to be in-line with the screen and have your feet evenly placed on the floor.
I hope these tips will help you not lose sight of your posture awareness and goals. If you’re reading this, you’re already on the right track to becoming posture perfect!
And remember, the UPRIGHT device is always here to help.
While the tips above are helpful for posture beginners, if you’re serious about improving your posture and overall health and wellness, Upright posture wearables have built in sensors that respond immediately to poor posture. UPRIGHT GO and UPRIGHT PRO remind you to straighten up with a gentle vibration and have custom programs for building posture habits while sitting, standing, walking & driving.
By using an Upright device, you will not only be strengthening core muscles and burning calories at your desk (who doesn’t want that?), but you’ll also be able to commit to your good posture habits.
