Beat Back Pain and RSI by with Active Mini Breaks

1. Over time muscles become ever tighter and knotted causing chronic pain.

The solution is to build in regular, active mini breaks into your daily routine to counteract being stuck in one position all day.  Of course it is essential at attain and maintain the correct posture at work but this is not enough.  You must keep moving to avoid stagnation and muscle fatigue.

How Often?

The goal is to have a 1 minute mini break every 20 minutes of inactivity.

And do what?

How?

The elements of active stretching are:

To take a joint through its full range of movement, with a gentle pain free stretch at the end of the movement

The target muscle should be both elongated and shortened

To move slowly and steadily

The movement should be repeated  10 to 50 times

Which movement.

1. You may only have time for one set of dynamic stretches in each mini break so choose a few different movements and alternate between them in subsequent breaks.

Make it work for you

Many people are obviously on the go all day and will find it difficult to take time out from work.  Lots of movements can however be performed while you are still working.  For example you can

Roll you neck or shoulders in a circle and still look and your monitor.

You can alternately touch your toes and lean back from the waist whilst on the mobile (assuming you don’t have a tendency for fainting, or problems with balance of course).

So assuming you’re not with a client or meeting with the boss there’s no reason why you even have to stop working to perform your exercises.

It can be difficult to remember to take that break so find a way to build them into your routine.

When you take a call, stand up with your mobile or hands free and take an active mini break.

Each time you go to get a drink take an active mini break

If you are stuck at your desk, set a timer on your computer, phone of PDA

Each time you have the urge to fidget and squirm to relieve discomfort convert this into an active mini break.

So the key to beating back pain and RSI is the active mini break.  For more information visit www.osteopath-london.co.uk for more self care information.