Recovery is extremely important for high levelathletes, but is also very important for the individual who is done competing and might work at a desk all day. The human body needs time to recover, whether it is from a hard workout, a competition, or from sitting in front of a computer for 8hrs/day. Elite athletes have everything from Omega Wave, Vasper, Normatec Recovery boots, hyperbaric chambers, dry needling, cold pools and the list goes on. If we are not getting ready to compete on Sunday then we don’t necessary need all these things and can follow a few simple steps to help maintain and recover.
Getting up from your chair every 30mins and doing 5mins of stretching, getting on a foam roll for 5mins 3x/wk, 20mins on a stationary bike 3x/wk are all successful ways to help your body recover from the daily stresses you put on it. Gravity is one of our biggest enemies when it comes to sitting and standing posture. We have to constantly reinforce correct posture which allows our muscles to maintain their correct length. Poor posture results in some muscles shortening and getting tight and others lengthening and getting weak, this usually results in pain.
If you work a lot at a desk or in front of a computer, here are two easy things you can do to re-evaluate your situation and give your body the best chance of optimal recovery:
• Check the height of your chair. Is it too low or too high? Commonly chairs are too low which causes flexion of the spine and tightness in hip flexors.
• Are you looking up or down, left or right at your computer screen? If so this puts your neck in a poor position for long periods of time which can lead to pain and tension headaches.