nikaLIVE: How to help yourself with sedentary work?

Prolonged sitting at work has a negative impact on the health of the spine and other parts and organs in our body. Therefore, any form of physical activity that we can afford is good - the human body is designed to move . However, we do not always have the time and desire for additional sports activities after work.

How you can help yourself in this situation and what exercises you can do right at your desk in nikaLIVE were told and shown by a Pilates method instructor with over 16 years of experience, author of Pilates video training on the website sekreti.wformiepo40.pl, Anna Podsiedlik-Ciebiera . You can watch the recording at this link .

Ania, many people who work mainly while sitting suffer from, among others: because of a painful spine. What other health problems do you notice when office workers come to you for training?

Anna Podsiedlik-Ciebiera : We live in strange times, where we not only work for many hours in one position, but also very often rest while sitting . When we receive guests, sit at the table, use the elevator or car every day - all this leads to the maximum limitation of movement in our lives. Problems with body posture, blocked shoulders, blocked arms - these are the first elements I see in people starting their pilates adventure. And although most often new people come to the studio with their own goals, I see that in addition to working on the abdominal muscles, we need to focus on posture and relieving the neck and spine . The overload and gravity that act on our bodies make us assume positions that severely strain our spine , pelvis and organs . It is difficult for us to digest properly if our organs are permanently compressed. If your eyesight is impaired or your computer is not properly positioned on the desk, the problem regularly gets worse. If we do not take care of the ergonomics of our workstation,
o this spontaneous movement during the day, unfortunately all problems with body posture, an inactive diaphragm and problems with breathing and oxygenation of the body will progress. Apart from spine pain, I also notice a lot of risk in terms of lymphatic diseases, joint diseases, lower limb diseases, as well as general well-being, concentration, and quick fatigue . There's a lot of it!

You talked about blocked shoulders and hips, that we are tense, but if we start solving the problem of our posture, we usually resort to stretching exercises - we go to stretching, we choose yoga. On the other hand, when we need more exercise, we go for a run. Where does pilates fit in all this? What exactly does pilates do for our body?

First of all, the most important thing is that we are looking for this traffic. The biggest problem occurs when we work in a sitting position every day and do not think about how to balance these hours of stillness . Why will I praise Pilates? Because for 16 years I have been regularly gaining experience in working with the body, which is devoid of movement for most of the day. When considering what is most important for such an organism, it is getting out of this position in which it remains for many hours. The main part of Pilates is working to lengthen our core. What we press throughout the day - the abdomen and spine - we begin to open, lengthen, that is, activate the correct posture . Once we learn this, we will immediately feel the differences in the well-being and appearance of individual body parts. Pilates works with what is so strained by constant sitting . Only later do we start taking care of the continuity and correctness of movement. Thanks to such exercises, we activate, among others: pelvic floor muscles , we start breathing better , we improve our concentration and cognitive functions . Pilates also involves breathing work. This is a very important issue to motivate your chest and diaphragm for proper gas exchange. The diaphragm becomes tighter when sitting , and as a result, taking a full breath may be difficult. Working with body posture, strengthening and lengthening weakened muscles, making those that are excessively tense more flexible, as well as breathing work - all this contributes to the activation of the body and our main goal in Pilates: well-being.

Do you need special machines to practice Pilates? Can we practice pilates at home without specialized equipment?

Yes of course! Pilates on the mat is one of the first and most important forms of this type of exercise. Machines are our teachers, they help us find the correct posture , but they are not necessary for Pilates! That's why I encourage you not to give up pilates because you can't get to the studio and use the machines. Working independently with the mat is also a very important part of the exercises. In Pilates, the most important thing is the quality of movement, not the number of repetitions , so it is worth gaining knowledge from people who deal with this topic on a daily basis, so as not to hurt yourself. My entire Pilates platform is based mainly on mat exercises, without equipment or possibly with small equipment that we can keep at home. I use mat training very often because I don't always have the opportunity to go to the studio. Pilates improves body awareness and causes the body to "want" to sit in a straight position that does not overly strain it after learning the correct posture.

Are there any exercises we can do at our desk?

Yes, absolutely. And here we will return to what I said at the beginning - it is very important that we look for this spontaneous activity ourselves , so that we do not completely close ourselves off to movement. It may be a short walk at work every 45 minutes, perhaps there will be 10 minutes when we can take a quick walk outside the workplace - it will be a chance to oxygenate the brain and stimulate the lymph. When we work several hours a day in a chair, we have to plan this movement. Two or three times a week, just 30 minutes each, is enough to move and activate our body.

Exercises from Anna Podsiedlik-Ciebiera, which can be performed right at your desk , can be seen at this link .