One of my massage teachers organizes his massage treatments around a 12-step program. He also talks a lot about how our daily patterns of being in anatomical flexion can contribute to our orthopedic distress. I’ve been to many of his workshops, and in about half of them some wag will pull those ideas together and say, “Hi, I’m Jane, and I’m a flexaholic,” and someone else, who gets the AA reference, will reply in a TV-sitcom voice, “Hi, Jane.”
But seriously. Are you a flexaholic? Do you sit most of the day? Are your shoulders rolled forward? Does your head stick out in front of your torso? All of these are symptoms of being a flexaholic.
I think this pattern starts with the head. We peer into our computer screen much like we peer into the windshield of our car on a foggy day, convincing ourselves that moving our eyes two or three inches closer to the screen will somehow magically help us see it better.
The pattern continues with our arms and shoulders. The combination of pronating (turning the palms down) and reaching for our keyboard and mouse pulls the shoulder up over the top of the torso and around toward the front.
And the whole time we’re sitting there, stretching our thigh and trunk extensors, crushing our poor hamstrings, and tightening our trunk flexors.
The end result is often a cranky low back, a sore neck, and pain between the shoulder blades. You don’t have to take this.
Exercises to Undo Your Flexaholic Pattern
Try these three quick exercises to begin to undo your chronic flexion pattern. You can do the first two right at your desk. You’ll need a little more room for the last one.
- Put your head back on top of your torso, where it belongs. Sit up straight and slide your head straight back, like a “Walk Like an Egyptian” dancer. Don’t flex (drop your chin toward your chest) or extend (raise your eyes up) your neck – just let your head slide straight back. Slide your head back and forward several times, emphasizing the backward part of the move. Then try to keep your head back, even as your computer screen tries to lure it forward.
- Pull your shoulders back and your shoulder blades together. Stand up and hold your arms out in front of you with your thumbs pointing at each other. Keeping your arms away from your torso, pull your arms and shoulders back, turning your thumbs out as you go so that your thumbs are pointing toward each other behind you at the end of the move. Exhale as you do this. Inhale as you bring your arms back to the starting position in front. Repeat 15 or 20 times.
- Engage your extensor muscles. Lie flat on your stomach (if this bothers your low back, try putting a thin pad under the front of your hips; if that doesn’t help, then don’t do this one) and lift your left arm and right leg together and then your right arm and your left leg together. Point your toes and straighten the leg you are lifting and really reach out with your hand as you do this. Repeat 8 to 12 times on each side.
About Today’s Tipster
Seattle massage therapist and reformed flexaholic Larry Swanson. Larry spends several hours each day helping his clients discover their ability to extend their torso and legs, get their head back on top of their torso, and roll their shoulders into a relaxed, natural posture.