Corporate Fitness and Active Aging

It’s not uncommon for people to describe uncomfortable physical sensations; musculoskeletal discomfort has become increasingly common. If you think about the average office worker, they will likely talk about pain in the neck, upper traps, and shoulders. Why these specific areas? When people are stressed, they have a tendency to hunch over and round the upper back. This tightens the aforementioned muscles, causing irritation. Trauma and chronic stress can have a lingering impact on our bodies; the body can unconsciously tense up, causing chronic pain.

Somatic based exercise has begun to grow in popularity due to its therapeutic benefits. But what is it exactly? You’ve likely heard about the ‘mind-body connection’ either in writing or on TV. Think of somatic exercise as an extension of mind-body awareness. By exploring the body through gentle movement, we bring awareness to and find a way to combat the stressors in our daily lives. Moving in a conventional way (exercise, stretching, etc.) is solely focused on the physical, or outer, experience. By contrast, somatic methods help relieve stress and pain by allowing the practitioner to focus on the inner experience- moving slowly and processing how it feels.

So how did this practice come into being? In the 1970s, a philosopher and educator named Thomas Hanna was doing research into the mind-body connection. He looked into ancient methods of meditation and mindfulness originating from Asia. Hanna came to the conclusion that many physical and mental ailments could be attributed to a ‘disconnect’ between the body and mind. He sought to educate others regarding this phenomenon.

Due to Hanna’s work, somatic exercise gained traction in the western world. Mind-body awareness exercises from Asia such as yoga and tai chi continue to be popular modalities for fitness and health to this day. The practitioner achieves a relationship between mind and body by focusing on the inner self; they take into account how they’re feeling as they move through each pose. Other popular methods that were developed in the West include Laban movement analysis and the Feldenkrais method. Laban movement analysis helps a person better understand the relationship between the body and the space it inhabits. Developed by a dancer in Germany, it is still used amongst a wide array of athletes in the present day. The Feldenkrais method involves using movement and awareness to stimulate brain activity. Considered an alternative form of medicine in the clinical setting, it can help create neural pathways that improve cognition and well-being.

Somatic exercise is a beneficial addition to any wellness regimen, but can be particularly helpful to those experiencing PTSD, chronic stress, anxiety, and depression. Somatics have been shown to increase emotional awareness and physical mobility while significantly reducing pain and fatigue symptoms. If you are the aforementioned stressed office worker, take a few seconds to close your eyes, sit up tall, and slowly roll your shoulders forward and back. Think about how you feel inwardly and focus on your breathing. With each roll of the shoulders, allow the tension to ease and relax. This simple exercise is somatics at its core: awareness of how the body and mind are interconnected. Whether performing tai chi or engaging in a clinical mindfulness exercise, somatic exercise can be a great alternative form of medicine.

Many of us suddenly have been thrust into working from home. I am sitting on a folding chair, leaning over my keyboard, looking at my laptop screen that is sitting on a folding table. Needless to say, I am not in an ergonomically sound position. The Mayo Clinic has a great blog about how to set up your workspace perfectly. If you have a real home office with an adjustable chair and monitor, please follow their directions.

Make Your Home Office More Ergonomic

We do not live in an ideal world. After two days of working from home, my back is already sore. We need to do the obvious things to make our new “offices” more ergonomic:

• Check to make sure your feet are flat on the floor and your knees are at a comfortable 90 degrees.
• Next, check your arms. Your elbows should be near your sides and at a 90-degree angle.
• Your keyboard should be a comfortable distance away so that you are not reaching or scrunched.

These are the things you can control through office design.

Sit Correctly

Your behavior will be what saves or destroys your back moving forward. There are a few simple steps and activities you can do to keep your back healthy. The first thing you need to do is to sit up straight. That means sitting up and bringing your shoulder blades back and down. You are most likely not going to be able to sit with perfect posture all day long. When you find yourself slouching, just reset and sit tall and roll your shoulders back and down again. For some of us, it might be uncomfortable to sit with proper posture because we are habitual slouchers. That’s okay too; start by sitting with great posture at the top of every hour.

Strengthen Your Back

The next activities are meant to strengthen your back. The first of these is a plank. Proper form for a plank is where you are in looking at the floor with either your elbows or hands directly beneath your shoulders; your back should be mostly flat with your pelvis rolled like you are trying to put your tailbone into your belly button. Your legs should be straight and together with either your knees or toes touching the ground. You should plan on doing planks 2–3 times a day for at least 20 seconds.

The next activity is a Superman. This is where you lie on your stomach and lift your arms and legs off the ground a few inches. You will do this 10–20 times in a row for 1–2 sets. For best results, alternate with planks.

Stretch Your Back

The last thing you can to save your back is to stretch it. We are going to do 10 cat/cows and 10 bird dogs, both at lunchtime and when you finish up for the day. These stretches are easy to do, and you will be surprised at how much better your back will feel.

Top 3 Tips to Keep Your Back from Getting Sore While Working from Home

These tips will help you survive working from home with your back intact.

Sit Up Straight

• Practice good posture.
• Sit tall with your shoulder blades back and down.

Strengthen Your Back 2–3 Times a Day

• Do 2–3 planks for at least 20 seconds.
• Do 2 sets of 10-20 Supermans.

Stretch at Lunch and When You Finish for the Day

• Do 10 cat/cow stretches
• Do 10 bird dogs

Are you working from home?  How do you incorporate a balance of sitting and moving to avoid a stiff back?  Comment below.

You might have heard that yoga is great for flexibility and a great opportunity to meditate. Beyond those benefits, there is much more to yoga than one might think. As a yogi myself, I have been consistently practicing this exercise for 9 months and have seen great changes in my mental health as well as physical changes. This form of exercise challenges me to tap into my inner strength and capabilities each time I step onto my mat. This practice pushes me to become the best version of myself, both physically and mentally.

Practicing yoga is great for overall mental and physical health, and when you practice it consistently, it is easy to see those changes not just in your physical capabilities, but also your mental awareness. Science and research show how yoga improves health, heals our muscles, and relieves joint aches and pains. Let’s dive into some of the benefits that yoga offers to someone who incorporates this practice into their life.

Increases Strength

Yoga is a great form of exercise for strengthening and building muscle, as well as increasing endurance. Yoga increases whole-body strength, but especially in areas we tend to neglect, like the core, lower back, and glute areas. When these areas of our body are strong, it protects us from injury and pain.

Improves Posture

Sitting at a desk all day and having a career that might put a strain on your neck and back can cause poor posture. Different yoga poses may reverse the effects that day-to-day activities may have on our bodies.

Relaxes Your System

Yoga encourages slow breathing and relaxation, all while focusing on the present. As our system slows down, the parasympathetic nervous system, also known as the “rest and digest” system, turns on. This decreases blood pressure while increasing blood flow to all the major organs in our bodies. In addition to yoga encouraging your body to relax, it can also ease the mind, slowing down daily stressors, fear, and worries. In time when you practice shutting off your racing mind, you are more likely to live a healthier and longer life.

Regulates Your Adrenal Glands

Yoga is known to lower cortisol levels. When a person has too much cortisol in their body, it may affect memory, cause depression, worsen osteoporosis, and cause high blood pressure. When cortisol levels spike up, people crave foods when they are angry, tired, stressed, or upset. This causes an increase in the amount of calories people consume, as well as weight gain.

Local to Indianapolis? NIFS offers yoga as a group fitness class. Read this blog to learn more about choosing the right class, see the Group Fitness Schedule for times, and join us for a workout that brings many physical and mental benefits.

Most of us spend the majority of our lives working and commuting to work. In our spare time we also enjoy activities such as reading, watching television, and spending time with our loved ones. What do most of these activities have in common throughout our lifetime? Sitting!

The Toll Sitting Takes on Your Health

A large portion of life as an employee requires extended periods of time seated in a chair, driving to work, and spending time with loved ones sitting at the dining room table. As we age, being in the seated position can have negative effects on our posture, which will also have a negative effect on our health.

As human beings we are structured to walk, run, and swim (if you learned) to accomplish tasks on a daily basis. We used to hunt, forage, farm our own food, and use our own feet when traveling from one location to another. This strengthened the muscles we needed when growing up and maintained our muscles as we aged. In our modern society, most professional careers have become sedentary and require less physical activity to get the job done.

Aging Well with Better Posture

One of the most apparent characteristics our body shows as we age is our posture. We remember the days in our youth when we stood tall, our shoulders were back, and we were probably a few inches taller. As we age, we and our loved ones begin to notice a change in posture in most individuals who had a sedentary profession. Even though some individuals remained active with a sedentary profession, other might not have taken the right steps to ensure good posture during the senior years, when it matters most.

The old saying is practice makes perfect; the new saying is perfect practice makes perfect! Even as many of us stay active, we are not performing the right exercises to maintain posture. Older individuals must perform the correct exercises to improve and maintain a healthy posture.

Tips for Improving Posture

Here are three tips for improving posture that you can use right away.

• Stretch often, and stretch the right muscles! Muscles that become tight from working most desk jobs and commuting in vehicles are our chest muscles, neck muscles, and leg muscles. Being hunched over for several hours a day contributes to muscle tightness in these areas. Bringing your arms out to the side and stretching your chest four to five times a day can stretch the affected chest muscle. Learning how to stretch the leg muscles (quadriceps and hamstrings) in both the seated and standing position will give you more flexibility and prevent poor posture as you age. Neck muscles become tight from staring at computer screens, sitting at desks and carrying stress from demanding jobs. Learn stretches that loosen the neck and take the weight off of your shoulders.
• Stand up every 30 minutes throughout the workday. Many of us get focused on our work and forget to stay active throughout the day. Standing up will stretch tight muscles, increase blood circulation, and give you a mental break before continuing the rest of your work.
• Strengthen the muscles that improve and maintain your posture. Muscles that support an upright posture need to be activated and stimulated to maintain their strength and endurance throughout a lifetime. Many of these muscles are weak and inactive during working hours, which can lead to being inactive for lifetime. Strength training exercises focusing on posture include TheraBand rows, hip extensions, and lateral shoulder raises, which have been shown to maintain correct posture in senior populations.

Looking for a simple program you can implement that will help your employees move more and improve their posture?  Download our ebook at the link below.