We sit too much, we slouch too often, we don't care enough about stretching our muscles. The effect is that we feel soreness in the neck, shoulders and worst of all our back. So, how can we help these tense muscles?
What causes muscle contraction?
Prolonged sitting positions, where the weight of the body rests on the spine and buttocks, and the spine is often excessively bent in the lumbar, cervical and thoracic regions.
- Constantly leaning over a mobile phone (hanging head, arched neck).
- Stressful situations causing muscle tension.
- "Resting" in positions that are not resting for the spine at all - sitting on an armchair or sofa.
- Habitually performing certain activities, without changing the position of the body, limbs - eg. always carrying the shopping in the same way, reaching for items high up awkwardly etc.
In the case of people who train poorly and don’t adequately prepare the body for intense exercise and perform strenuous exercises without taking care of the correct posture and appropriate movement patterns.
All these factors make the muscles more and more tense and stiff. It's a simple way to pain and a feeling of limited mobility.
Relax regularly, not just when you are in pain
Most often, we try to relax our muscles when we feel pain or discomfort. Then we stretch, massage, bend in various ways to get rid of the disturbing ailment. A much better solution is to develop the habit of performing two or three short stretching sessions during long-term sedentary work or any activity that requires staying in the same position. We can easily do them even in the office, in front of colleagues, because you can practice while sitting on a chair or standing.
Simple relaxation exercises
Neck muscles
Sit upright in a chair without leaning back. Neck straight, shoulders down, gaze directed forward. In this ideal position, try to "push" your head with your fingers on your chin so that your head moves in a straight line backwards, as if they wanted the whole head to move slightly backwards. You should feel pressure in the back of your skull and neck muscles.
Same position as in the previous exercise but, without moving the shoulders, we try to gently put our head on one shoulder and then on the other. Note, lean the head to the shoulder, not vice versa.
The previous exercise should also be slightly modified, bending the head slightly diagonally (the nose is directed towards the armpit).
The muscles of the thoracic region
Having muscles that are too tense in the thoracic spine lead to a sharp pain felt between the shoulder blades. Stinging around the shoulder blades are often also associated with tingling fingers or a feeling of coldness in the hands. A hunched position with a rounded back is often to blame.
Do the "Titanic" - stand steady and spread your arms as wide as possible, as if you want to embrace the whole world. Throw your chest forward, head straight.
Cat's back in a kneeling position. We bend the spine in an arc, the head hangs freely between the shoulders. Then the reverse position - we bend the spine down, collapse in the lumbar region, the head is directed upwards, we look at the ceiling.
Lumbar muscles
Short circuits here cause a number of ailments that we will feel not only when sitting, but also walking, running or even on a leisurely walk.
Japanese bow. Kneel supported, and then slowly try to sit down with our buttocks on the heels, stretching our hands forward on the floor. We stretch the spine as far as possible, breathe freely. In the bowing position, we can gradually move our hands to the left, then to the right, thus stretching the side parts of the back.
Bend whilst sitting on a chair, spread our legs to the sides and try to bend so that the torso is between the legs. Keep your back straight and do the exercise really slowly so you don't get dizzy and get an unpleasant pain in your back.
Be silly and improvise
The more outlandish movements you make, the better it is for your muscles and bones.
Flap your wings, pretend to climb a ladder, spin like a prima ballerina, it doesn’t matter. This type of "stupidity" is the greatest boon for the entire motor system, which hates stagnation and limiting movements to constantly identical patterns. It is not without reason that it is said that a 2-minute portion of crazy dancing in the middle of the day can become an effective remedy for any muscle pain.