The coronavirus pandemic has affected virtually every aspect of everyday life, with one of the major changes being that anyone who can work from home is now doing so. Up to half of American workers are working remotely amid the pandemic, and it’s unclear when everything will go back to normal.
At first, telecommuting sounds like a sweet deal: get paid to do your job while you hang out in the comfort of your own home. That said, it has its drawbacks. The lack of commute means less walking around, and most peoples’ homes don’t have the ergonomic setups that most offices do. Your couch may be comfortable at first, but sitting on it all day for several weeks straight is a recipe for back, neck, and shoulder pain.
“People have to move throughout the day,” says John Gallucci, CEO of JAG-ONE Physical Therapy, medical coordinator for Major League Soccer, and sports medicine consultant to several pro athletes. “We’re used to commuting to work, and just walking back and forth at work or going out to lunch is enough locomotion. But as we know, when we sit for long periods of time, ultimately your body gets stiff.”
Fortunately, consciously taking the time to move throughout the workday and doing the right stretches can help you prevent or alleviate the stiffness and pain that comes with being stuck in quarantine.
Keep reading for Gallucci’s tips and key stretches for staying pain-free while working from home.
Sitting on the couch with your laptop may be the easiest way to set up your home “office,” but it’s a major reason why many people find that their backs and necks are aggravated while working from home.
“Some people don’t have desk setups at home, so they’re sitting on their couches and they have their laptop on their lap,” Gallucci says. “They’re sitting in a hyper-flexed position, for a static time, with no support of their low back, because the couch has a deep cushion.”
If you’re one of those people, you (and your back) may be missing the desk and office chair you took for granted for so long.
The good news is you don’t need a state-of-the-art home office setup to find some relief. According to Gallucci, it’s all about where you look while you work.
“People with back pain, or any type of history of neck pain, truly have to try to set up their desk or workspace where their screens are even with their eyes,” Gallucci says. “Their eyes should be in the center of the screen. Some people accommodate that with pillows, books or encyclopedias that we don’t use anymore because we have Google, but ultimately you’ll see a lot of your neck and shoulder pain will decrease, just based on that ergonomic change.”
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Make Time to Move and Stretch — Safely
“The biggest thing is that people have to move throughout the day,” Gallucci says. “I usually tell people every hour, hour-and-a-half, they need to get up, walk around, do some upper arm stretches, do some rotations of their neck, do some lower extremity stretching for your low back.” About five minutes an hour during your workday is all it should take to feel a difference.
One thing to note is that you shouldn’t be forcing any stretches. Pulling down or pushing up on your neck while you stretch it out may seem harmless or feel more effective than gently rotating it, but you won’t be doing yourself any favors.
“It’s important that people don’t yank on their head or neck. You’re really just looking for good movement and a very gentle stretch when it comes to your neck and shoulders,” Gallucci says.
And if you’re already suffering from any type of neck pain, Gallucci advises steering clear of extension—think looking up and all the way back to stretch it out. “That’s going to irritate the nerve pain, it’s going to irritate the muscular pain. You’ll want to stay away from extension,” he says.
If you’re not sure where to start with safely stretching those stuck-at-home problem areas, try starting with the following suggestions from Gallucci.
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JAG-ONE Physical Therapy
Stretches for Your Neck and Shoulders
When you finally get up to make lunch or take the dog out, the amount of time you spent staring down at your computer may catch up with you. Here’s where that “stretch every hour” rule will save you. During those five minutes, try these stretches for neck and shoulder mobility:
“Rotate your chin and head all the way to the left with your chin over your shoulder, and hold it for five seconds,” Gallucci says. “Rotate to the right, your chin over your shoulder again, hold it for five seconds, and repeat that three times. The other one that’s a big one is to just dip your chin to your chest, let it sit there for five seconds, and that should be done three times.”
For shoulders, he recommends exercises like shoulder rolls, both forward and backward, about three times each.
“Rolling the shoulders forward and back, and then squeezing the elbows behind the back in a retraction, definitively opens up the chest and the shoulders and will reduce any type of stiffness,“ he says.
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JAG-ONE Physical Therapy
Stretches for Your Back
The lower back is a common problem area—whether or not half of society is working from home—and it’s another issue you can address during that five-minute stretch break each hour. Your entire posterior chain (the muscles on the back of your body) is connected, so stretching out your glutes and hamstrings can help alleviate tightness in the lower back.
“Do some high legs, so knees to chest or knees to hip—just raising them up to stretch out your glutes and low back,” Gallucci says. “Then you’re going to lay on your back, bring your right knee to your chest for five seconds, and do the same thing on the left knee. Again, only three times each.”
Another lower-back-saving stretch is a classic. “Do a piriformis stretch, which is a figure four stretch. Some people could do that even sitting in a chair, but I recommend that you do it on your back.”
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JAG-ONE Physical Therapy
Stretches for Your Wrists and Forearms
They may be an afterthought for many, but your wrists and forearms are another area affected by your work setup at home.
“Another thing that’s very common is people are working on laptops now, so you’re getting a lot of people with carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms in their wrists and forearms.”
To counteract it, work on incorporating wrist flexion-extension stretching (pictured above) into your hourly stretching regimen.
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Take Care of Your Heart
Last but not least, one of the most beneficial things you can do while you’re stuck at home is prioritize heart health.
“It’s very important, every day, to get some sort of aerobic activity. Whether at home walking around the house, walking around the neighborhood, maybe biking, whatever you have,” Gallucci advises. “Even if it’s doing jump rope or maybe jogging in place, at least do 20 to 30 minutes of aerobic activity every day to keep a healthy heart.”
Not typically a fan of cardio? It may help to remember that getting warmed up with some aerobic activity can also help get rid of the stiffness your couch and laptop have caused during quarantine.
“If you’re in pain, it’s very tough to exercise, but sometimes that stiffness causes pain, Gallucci says. “I always tell everybody to start off with a walk and see if the symptom of pain truly decreases. I think that’s very opportunistic to see if increased circulation decreases soreness.”
And if you’re healthy, getting your blood flowing just may help you get out of the quarantine slump.
“It’s going to get the circulation through your body and people are going to feel like they have more energy,” Galluci says. “Ultimately, that’s what we want right now.”
