Cyber Monday is becoming a bigger phenomenon in our modern society as we shift towards the internet of things. Smartphones have hyper-drive cyber Monday even busier, however, our bodies are not designed for spending hours on the small phone devices or at a desk looking for these deals.
This article will dive into 3 exercises that are designed to help keep your upper body limber so you do not get any unwanted tendinitis, stiff neck syndrome, or nerve irritation. Yes, we have seen an uptick in this diagnosis more and we would like to explain why these exercises are important and how it can help you enjoy your Christmas and online presents for yourself.
Our body will protect your nerves at all cost. The nerves depend on two things to stay healthy: blood and lymphatic circulation. Lymphatic circulation is the system that works with our immune system to fight unwanted things and detox them towards our lymph nodes. There is a hierarchy in who is the boss of our body. Our brain tells our nerve what to do. Our nerve talks to our muscles and tells it to move, relax, or freeze up into a muscle spasm.
Anatomically, our nerves are strategically at the parts of your body that are intentionally protected. Our ulnar (funny bone nerve), median (carpal tunnel nerve), and radial nerve run under the surface of our arm. Deeply under our collarbone, chest muscles, and armpit region.
How is your posture going to impact the nerves and its health?
If you round your shoulder forward and/or stick your chin out as you type, you are slowing the circulation of vital nutrients to the nerve. Imagine your plumbing system being slowed down by weeds and waste like my kids putting play-doh down the toilet. Our body can handle a great deal of stress, but since our modern society asks a lot of this same “Cyber Monday” athletism from our upper body the whole year already, your body cannot handle a sprint when it needs to.
The name of the game is to provide less sharp creases to the path of circulation for your body.
What can you do to help your nerves and upper body to have better circulation?
a) Pack neck posture + Restorative Breathing Tactics
As the picture shows, there are 3 things to emphasize. Gently keep your chin near your throat as you look at your screen. Carry a pillow (or a thick sweater to be incognito) to support your arms more while hugging your torso. This will relax your neck muscles.
Sit and emphasize your tailbone sticking out. This may feel like you are arching your low back, but it is not. Do not focus on arching but more on your tailbone.
Once you have this down, keep your breath flowing down towards the point of contact with where you are sitting. This should be your pelvic floor.
Now if you have pain or unwanted tension when trying to achieve this posture, I highly recommend you seek our complimentary medical expertise to see why your body is not allowing you to achieve this optimal position. This posture is where your body thrives and the fact that your body wants to get there, but is resisting it with pain, could be a hidden sign of something lingering. This is not like how a child knows vegetables are good for them, but resists it when you feed them. =) …parenting humor!
All kidding aside, we recommend you click on the blue button to ask “What could this be?” or “Is it that bad?”.
2. Upper body Gymnastics (click on the left picture to view the video)
Go through these elbow movements to train upper body agility. Repeat 20 times, 2x/day. You can taper to 1x/day when you don’t feel coordinated and your neck/jaw does not tense up while doing them.
3. Finger Hurdles and Ballet (click to view the video)
The goal is to make awkward movements become not awkward. Make it a game and challenge your colleagues to do them. Have fun this holiday.
Our upper body gets neglected very often and these are three key elements that will keep you enjoying your fingers and hand for opening Christmas presents.
If know of an office worker aka desk jockey, please SHARE and LIKE as we spread the message of healthy exercising throughout the year.
Have a happy holiday and if you are held back due to pain especially the pain and stiffness when you wake up in the morning or after sitting too long, reach out to for an expert to help you enjoy this time of the year. What you are feeling is easy to address and we help people like you to feel better so you can focus on opening the presents or be more in the moment without worrying.
Click on the blue button for your special conversation with Dr Ngo.
One LOVE,
Danh Ngo PT, DPT, OCS, SCS
ReVITALize Rehab Club
