Working from home? Stretches and Tips to Help

Many of us are currently working from home and may be stuck on a computer all day. While home comes with its own set of comforts we also may have left behind our ergonomic work stations and after a few weeks are starting to pay the price with aches and pains in our bodies! We are hoping to give you some tips and some stretches to help keep your body working for you so you can continue working from home.

Let’s start with a little bit of a background. If you have ever heard of the conditions upper and lower cross syndrome, then you may already have an idea of what is going on in your body and what to do. But, for many of us, these will be new terms. Both of these conditions are due to muscle imbalance and often poor posture. Often with both upper and lower cross syndrome, where we think we feel the pain may actually not be the cause of the pain. So lets dive in! But first, please remember that we each have our own limitations. It is important that you do not try these stretches without first consulting a health care provider if you have a pre-existing condition. Also, stretching is not about seeing how far you can get; it is about going until your body feels a pull and holding until you feel a gentle release. Please be respectful to your body and note that while one day you may be more flexible, the next day you may find your body fighting you more. This is normal just keep up the routine and be kind to yourself! :)

Upper Cross Syndrome:

This is often due to poor posture and frequent computer use. Our bodies get so used to having our shoulders rounded around a computer screen and keyboard and we often start to experience headaches, TMJ pain, and get knots in our shoulders, also called trigger points. When we find one of these trigger points, we want nothing more than for someone to dig in as hard as they can and alleviate the nagging pain we feel. However, we can work these knots all day but unless we address what is causing the knots, the shoulder pain and headaches won’t be going away anytime soon. While we feel the pain on the back of our shoulders, the problem is coming from the front. Our pectoralis muscles are shorted, also known as contracted or facilitated, which means they are working overtime. The pecs are working so hard to allow us to keep working on our computers that they have actually caused the back muscles like the lower portion trapezius and latissimus dorsi to shut off! In addition to our pectoralis muscles working overtime, our suboccipital muscles, which are frequently the culprit of those dreadful headaches, also become contracted as well as our levator scapula and upper trapezius. So now, we also get that lovely throbbing sensation in the back of our skull. The opposite of the suboccipital muscles is the muscles in the front of your neck. Many people are surprised to learn that we have muscles on the front of our neck, but we do! And, unfortuantely, these muscles are often weak or inhibited like our lower trapezius muscles. The weakness in these anterior neck muscles can also be a culprit in forward head posture further contributing to headaches.

So what are we supposed to do with this information? Well, for starters lets talk logistics of what needs to happen. First, we need to relax the contracted or facilitated muscles and get the muscles that are inhibited working properly again. So, for upper cross syndrome, this means we need to find a way to stretch our pectoralis muscles and our suboccipital muscles and we must also find a way to strengthen the lower trapezius muscles and anterior neck muscles. Here are a few stretches you can do at home throughout the day to help:

1. Doorway Stretch: stand in a doorway with arms fully extended and pointing to the two outer upper corners. Lean forward through the doorway and feel the stretch in the pectoralis muscles. Hold up to 45 seconds. Repeat 2 times for a total of 3 reps.

2. Reverse Tabletop: while on the ground facing upward, come up on your feet and hands with your hands pointing towards the body. Fully extend the arms to allow yourself to really feel a stretch through the anterior chest. Hold up to 45 seconds. Repeat 2 times for a total of 3 reps.

3. Turtle/ Cervical Retraction: also known as the double chin exercise, pull your neck back like a turtle pulling its head into the shell and try to give yourself a double chin. Hold for 10-15 seconds. Repeat in sets of 10-15.

4. Puppy Pose: Similar to child’s pose but up on the elbows. With knees on the ground and spread apart, allow your body to full forward. Be up on your forearms and push into the ground with the arms to provide resistance. Hold for up to 45 seconds.

5. Neck Roll: use a purchased neck roller or a rolled up towel. Place under your neck while lying on your back. Allow muscles to slowly relax into the roller. Hold up to 20 minutes.

Lower Cross Syndrome

Similar to upper cross syndrome, lower cross syndrome is again about muscle balance. We again have muscle groups that are too weak and opposing muscle groups which are too tight or facilitated. This happens when we are stuck in a chair for an extended period of time. Unfortunately, being at home has us all sitting a bit more than we are used to. So, as a side note, it is important to take breaks where you can go for walks to stretch your legs. Just remember to practice safe social distancing during this time. Also, you may find it beneficial to create a makeshift stand up desk at home so you can transition from sitting to standing as needed. Back to the muscles: with lower cross syndrome we have weak glut muscles and weak abdominal muscles and tight or facilitated hip flexors (many of you have had your psoas muslces worked by Dr. Ricci or myself, so you know what i’m talking about!) as well as tight or faciliated erector spinae, which means the low back spinal muscles.

So, what do we need to do to fix this? Well, lets start by stretching the tight muscles and strengthening the weak muscles. We need to stretch our hip flexors and our erector spinae and we need to strengthen our gluts and abdominal muscles. Here are a few stretches/exercises to help:

1. Seated Figure 4: while seated on the ground with one leg on the floor, bend other leg and place on opposite knee to form a figure 4. Flex the ankle of the leg to prevent any knee rotation. Hold up to 45 seconds.

2. Hip Flexors: kneel on one knee with the other foot flat on the ground. Elevate arms over head and lean back to feel stretch down the anterior lower abdomen and into the groin. Hold up to 45 seconds.

3. Seated QL Stretch: while seated with legs crossed extend one arm out so arms are gently touching the ground. Bring the other arm up overhead and lean into the arm on the ground. Hold up to 45 seconds and repeat for a total of 3 reps per side.

4. Bird Dogs: while on your hands and knees, elevate one leg and opposite side arm. Hold with the opposing extremities extended for up to 20 seconds before switching to the other side. Repeat for a total of 10 reps per side.

5. Low Back Roll: using a purchased roller or a bath towel, place into the arch of the lower back just above the pelvis and lie for up to 20 minute to allow the low back muscles to relax.

A few other tips to working at home in addition to taking walking breaks and creating a stand up desk would be to sit on an exercise ball at your work station. Sitting on an exercise ball rather than a chair or couch will cause you to use your ab muscles while you work. Your back will not be able to slouch as the muscles will constantly be working to keep you balanced on the ball! Also, yoga is a great exercise to implement while working from home. We are fortunate to live in a community with many great studios who are uploading daily flows. Also, youtube is a great resource for free yoga videos as well.

While these are just a few stretches and exercises for upper and lower cross syndromes, there are many more. If you feel you need further assistance, please reach out to us and we can help give you a more customized routine!

A special thanks to Dr. Emily’s husband, Micah, for posing as the model for many of the photos. Also, excuse Dr. Emily’s 21.5 week pregnant belly which made some of the stretches harder than normal! :)