Top 7 Physiotherapy Exercises to Improve Your Posture When Working At Home
Working at a desk can be tough. Being stuck in the same position for hours on end can lead to poor posture and pain. Fortunately, there are simple physiotherapy exercises that can help improve your posture and reduce your pain in 5 minutes or less!
Stephen Uhrbach, registered Physical Therapist and owner of MOMENTUM Physical Therapy in Okotoks, Alberta, has been working with people to help overcome posture related pain for the last 10 years. He has helped hundreds of people overcome the aches and pains associated with poor postures from working at home.
The ultimate physio guide to improving posture and reducing pain associated with working from home.
Like many Canadians these days, has your work life involved a relocation to the “home office”?
When the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of work offices, many of us found ourselves working out of our basements, in our home offices, and sometimes, even on our couch!!!
This was the case for Alyssa, who was recently forced out of her downtown office to her Okotoks basement.
Can you relate?
Although these new work environments may have had shorter morning commutes, they have also created a few challenges. Home workstations have left people struggling with sore shoulders, neck pain, headaches, sore wrists, and achy backs.
Alyssa reached out to us with neck and back pain that was giving her headaches and preventing her from putting in a full work week (even from home!).
Does this sound like you?
Our bodies have been forced to work in new (and often poor) postures. If left unchecked, these poor postures will lead to pain and discomfort, which makes the home office a 40 hour per week marathon of struggling to find a comfortable position to work in.
What physiotherapy exercises can you do today to improve your posture?
Fortunately, there is something that YOU can do right now to help curb these aches and pains. Physiotherapists have been tackling these issues for years and there are physiotherapy exercises that you can do everyday to fight back the aches and pains of poor posture.
After hooking Alyssa up with a few of these physiotherapy exercises, her pain has gone away and she is now loving her commute AND home office.
Below you will find 7 physiotherapy exercises designed to help you with posture and pain from working at home. These physical therapy exercises are designed to target poor posture to make your working less painful and more productive. They should be able to be completed in 5 minutes (or less!) and can give you the same relief that Alyssa got. Give them a go today!
Physiotherapy Exercise 1: Arching Over A Foam Roller (or rolled up towel)
One of the easiest physiotherapy exercises for loosening up the mid back is extension over a roller (or rolled up towel).
How to do this physio exercise:
Simply sit on the ground with your knees bent and feet square on the ground with the roller placed in the lower part of the back
Cross your hands over your chest, breathe out, and lean back over the roller.
Lean back as far as you comfortably can, pause, and then sit back up. You might hear a few small pops - this is normal!
Repeat two or three more times at higher points up the back.
Physiotherapy Exercise #2: Hip Flexor Stretch
Hip flexors get tight when we sit too much and can cause low back pain. The next physiotherapy exercise for you to complete will be to stretch these out.
How to do this physio exercise:
In a high kneeling position (kneeling on one leg with the other leg forward with the foot flat on the ground)
Gently clench your buttock muscles to bring your hips forward.
Keeping your back straight, lean forward until you feel a pull down the front of the leg that has the knee on the ground.
Hold for 20 seconds and repeat on each side twice.
Physiotherapy Exercise #3: Cat Cow
This physiotherapy (and yoga) exercise has been shown to loosen back muscles and lubricate the joints in the spine. This is a go to for physiotherapists who are treating people with any form of back pain.
How to do this physio exercise:
From your hands and knees, start off by letting your stomach sink towards the ground while you look up towards the roof. This is the cow position. Go as far as you comfortably can and hold the end position for a count of 1.
Arch your back up towards the roof while bending your neck down and looking towards your belly button. This is the cat position.
Go as far as you comfortably can and hold the end position for a count of 1. Repeat this 15 times.
Physiotherapy Exercise #4: Door Frame Stretch
Sitting at a desk (or on a couch) for a prolonged period of time will lead to slouched shoulders and difficulty sitting up straight. You need to keep the muscles on the front of your chest loose to avoid getting stuck in this hunched position.
How to do this physio exercise:
Find a door frame and raise your arms up and out to the side as if you were making the letter “Y”.
Press your arms against the frame.
Lean forward until you feel a comfortable stretch across the front of your chest.
Hold for 20 seconds and relax. Repeat twice.
Physiotherapy Exercise #5: Forearm Stretch
Repetitive work, like typing or using a mouse for hours on end, can lead to tightness through tops and bottoms of your forearms. Keeping these muscles limber can help fend off injuries such as tennis elbow or carpal tunnel syndrome.
How to do this physio exercise:
Extend one arm out directly in front of you.
Bend the wrist down towards the ground.
With your other hand, pull the hand of the extended arm back down towards your body.
Stop when you feel a pull along the top of your forearm.
Hold for 20 seconds
Repeat by extending the same arm straight forward and bending the wrist up towards the sky.
With your other hand, pull the hand of the extended arm up and back towards your body.
Stop when you feel a pull along the bottom of your forearm.
Repeat twice.
Physiotherapy Exercise #6: Neck Stretch
Seated for hours at a laptop or on Zoom calls can lead to slouching and tension in your upper back and neck. Tightness here can lead to headaches and soreness through the upper back and neck. A physiotherapy exercise to help alleviate this is the relaxing neck muscle stretch.
How to do this physio exercise:
Turn your head and look at one of your shoulders.
With the arm on the same side that you are looking, reach up and gently grab the back of your head.
Gently pull on the back of your head until you feel a gentle pull on the opposite side of the neck.
Hold for 20 seconds and relax.
Repeat twice on both sides.
Physiotherapy Exercise #7: Shoulder Blade Squeeze
Activating the muscles in your upper mid back are essential for maintaining good posture. Often we let these muscles get lazy if we get stuck into a seated position for too long. Using this physiotherapy exercise, you can keep these muscles reminded of what they need to do to maintain good posture.
How to do this physio exercise:
Sit up tall in your chair or stand.
Imagine that there is a pencil stuck to the middle of your back that you do not want to let fall to the ground.
Gently squeeze your shoulder blades back and down together.
Hold for 5 seconds and relax. Repeat 15 times. Please note, if you feel like your shoulders are coming up towards your ears, relax and try again.
So, What’s Next?
These 7 physiotherapy exercises are designed to help people with posture related pain that comes with working from home. Give them a try today to help make your working from home life more comfortable.
Give us a call at MOMENTUM Physical Therapy in Okotoks at 403-982-5600 if you would like more help with any posture related pain.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Physio improve posture?
Physiotherapy is a proven treatment to improve posture. Physiotherapists will use a combination of hands on treatment, stretches, and physiotherapy exercises to help correct poor posture and rebalance the body.
What exercises improve posture?
There are many physiotherapy exercises that can be used to improve posture. Common exercises include arching over a foam roller, hip flexor stretching, the cat cow, the door frame stretch, the forearm stretch, neck stretching, and shoulder blade squeezing. These exercises are designed to loosen shortened and tight muscles while strengthening posture muscles.
Can you correct years of bad posture?
Bad posture can be improved upon and corrected with physiotherapy. Using a combination of hands on treatment, stretching, and physiotherapy exercise, years of bad posture can be changed and improved.
Momentum Physical Therapy, located in Okotoks, Alberta, is ‘Here for YOU’.
If you are experiencing any posture related pain, or you just want to learn more about how physiotherapy can improve your posture or help fix your bad posture habits, don’t delay and call Momentum Physical Therapy today. You can reach a registered physiotherapist at Momentum by calling 403-982-5600. We look forward to helping you feel you best again.