We are all different but our bodies work mostly the same.
This is why you probably had to deal with at least a few of the following, common remote work issues.
Let’s look at how you can deal with each one!
Bad posture
It’s a mix of muscles that are too active, others that are basically turned off, and a general lack of coordination and body awareness.
The most common solution, stretching, is just a bandaid.
To really fix your posture you need to:
- Mobilize
Without range of motion, you can’t have good posture. Get unstuck from your current holding patterns by moving your limbs and spine as far as you can safely control them in all directions. Aim for at least 30 seconds of moving back and forth to feel noticeably more relaxed and limber - Strengthen
You need to activate and strengthen the muscles that pull you into a well-balanced posture. Since your head is probably sticking out, your shoulders are rolled forward and your lower back is hyperextended, that means you need to strengthen your butt, the muscles between your shoulder blades, and the back of the neck. - Balance
Spend as much time as possible in the “opposite” position of the one that makes you problems. For most of us, that means bending backward often because we are hunched forward in front of our devices.
Feeling disconnected from your body
This one is the hardest to describe or measure but imagine a moment of perfect alignment, where your mind, your emotions, and your body feel like a single unit and you can feel life flow through you. Now imagine the opposite and if you are like most remote workers, that’s probably the more common experience for you.
I’m not saying we can or even should try to be in full-body ecstasy all the time but we should try to move the needle from “in our heads” to ” connected with our bodies” a bit.
Working out and getting stronger is a great way to connect with your physicality but meditation, body scans, and breathing exercises are also very effective.
Stress headaches
Tight shoulders and constantly stretching the muscles of our neck into a forward head posture generate tightness around the skull and can make you hate life. Like with bad posture the best solution is to not let it happen in the first place.
Strengthening your neck with exercises like Wall Angels and having a daily mobility routine that includes the upper spine and head can keep you out of trouble.
Big belly
Extra body fat is not just a remote worker problem but being able to do a whole workday with 300 steps does make it easy to build up some energy reserves.
There are many ways to reduce body fat but what you will realize once you lose weight with a diet pill or surgery is that you did not want just to be less thick, you wanted to be more fit. And you are not automatically fit or attractive just because you weigh less.
That’s why using strength training to build some energy-demanding muscle mass and thereby burn fat is the smartest way to do it.
You’ll have a healthy body fat percentage and even look attractive with it.
Low energy
How energetic we feel after waking up and how much energy we can muster during the day is based on many factors.
Lifestyle choices like not eating too late and not staring at screens before bed have a big influence but your general baseline energy levels come back to your physical fitness.
Regular cardio training improves your overall vitality and will make you feel less tired overall.
Back pain
I kept the biggest one for last.
Back issues are the #1 problem of everybody working on screens especially us working from wherever. Not that any sitting could be considered healthy but the conditions in most home offices, coffee shops, and co-livings are surely worse than what was common in the office age.
Again the best solution is to prevent all pain by moving around a lot and not letting any stiffness creep in. That means regular movement snacks and using break-time reminders to minimize the time you spend in any position.
My favorite strategy is still working on the floor if possible. Any posture you are in becomes uncomfortable after a little while and reminds you to move to the next one. Free movement snack reminder.
How many of these are you dealing with yourself?
If you need some support implementing the solutions I presented, book a call with us and we’ll show you how our NOMADS system can help.
And even if you decide not to join our coaching program, you’ll get some valuable info from the call, promise!
