How close is your face to your smartphone’s screen right now? Or maybe you are slouched down in a chair reaching for your mouse. Either way, do you have a low, aching pain in your shoulders or neck–or both?

The increased use of electronic devices has led to hours upon hours of hunching—staring at a computer, scrolling through apps or playing games on your phone. Most likely, you can relate.

But hunching can lead to a number of physical ailments, note healthcare practitioners. The most common are neck and back pain, but it also can result in headaches and difficulty breathing, among other health issues.

At the same time, the benefits of good posture go beyond the physical. A study in “Health Psychology” suggested that people who maintain good posture when stressed can reduce negative mood while increasing positive mood when compared to people who hunch.

So, let’s undo the “tech hunch.” Try these three movements to help reduce body pain, increase your productivity, and have a fruitful workday.

1. Goal Post Rotation

Sit or stand tall with your feet flat on the floor and arms resting at your sides.

  • Keeping your arms by your sides, bend your elbows so your arms form 90-degree angles; your hands should be pointing forward and palms facing down. Now lift your elbows to the sides until they are shoulder height. This is the start and end position for this move.
  • Keeping the elbows bent, rotate the upper-arm bone so that your hands and fingers point to the ceiling. Make sure your shoulders stay down.
  • Rotate the upper-arm bone again and return to the starting position.
  • Repeat for a total of 10 times.

Why these two moves? These movements, beginning and ending in the same position, will help align your body, alleviating pain in your neck and shoulders. They also help reduce stress. When you finish these moves, try to remember the strong upper body alignment you’ve established.

2. Lifted Arm Press and Pull

  • Sit or stand tall with your feet flat on the floor and arms resting at your sides.
  • Keeping your arms by your sides, bend your elbows so your arms form 90-degree angles; your hands should be pointing forward and palms facing down. Now lift your elbows to the sides until they are shoulder height. This is the start and end position for this move (same as for Goal Post Rotation).
  • Before moving, slightly squeeze your shoulder blades, and imagine you are pinching a pencil between them. Now, press your hands forward and straighten your arms in front of you. Remember that pencil pinch, and do not let the chest compress forward.
  • Return to the starting position. Repeat for a total of 10 times.

3. Controlled Shoulder Roll

  • Sit or stand tall with your feet flat on the floor.
  • Keeping your shoulders down and relaxed, place your hands on your shoulders and lift your elbows out to the sides.
  • Now use your elbows to draw circles in a forward motion, keeping your spine and chest still. Focus on letting the upper-arm bone rotate in the shoulder socket.
  • Draw 10 forward circles, and then reverse and draw 10 backward circles.

Why this move? Sitting at our computers with our arms resting on table tops for long periods of time can lead to chest compression and forward rotation of our upper-arm bones (the humerus). This not only leads to body pain and physical fatigue, but it also can contribute to mental fatigue and work-related stress. These movements help align your upper back and strengthen the small muscles responsible for holding your body in proper posture.

About the Author
Alessa Caridi

Alessa Caridi is a certified Pilates instructor, dance technician, and functional fitness public speaker. She is passionate about understanding the wonderful machine that is the human body and passing along her knowledge to her clients. After living in Japan and learning from its culture, Alessa founded JōbuFIT, a fit-into-your-day program that teaches proper body alignment and movement to reduce the stress and body pain associated with today’s modern workplace.

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