Hello, I am Roberta Bass, a women's health physiotherapist, Pilates instructor and women's health specialist. And I want to welcome you back to Making Sense of Women's Health podcast. today I'm talking about staying active when you have a desk based or mostly sedentary role.

Sitting for long periods can lead to stiffness, discomfort and muscular skeletal problems, particularly in the back, neck and hips. This episode is focused on practical realistic strategies to reduce those effects, improve how you feel day to day and help prevent pain building up over time.

So what is the problem with sitting down all day? Now, over the years, I have worked with many people who spend most of their day sitting. common thing for working with all the computers and internet. A lot of people are sat down all day, but they often feel sore or stiff by the end of it. What we know now is that it's not

necessarily about having a perfect posture that is the problem, but it's more about not moving enough and staying in one position even if it is a really good posture for hours at a time puts pressure on the same tissues, reduces circulation and makes your muscles work harder to hold you there. This can lead to things like fatigue, discomfort and sometimes pain.

particularly as we said in the neck, shoulders, lower back and hips. And if you're already dealing with joint stiffness or fatigue, for example, during perimenopause, sitting still for too long is not going to be helping you. One of the most effective things that you can do is to move, but move little and often. Every 30 to 60 minutes is

ideal. So trying to stand up even if it is for 30 seconds a minute. You don't need to do a full workout but maybe when you're sat doing a few shoulder rolls or walk to the kitchen if you work from home or go to the photocopier or somewhere else in the office or maybe some gentle stretches when you're at your desk can all really help. A few simple things you can do sitting up

tool we spine twists, so pop your arms across your chest, and then just twisting your upper back one way and then to the other, or standing and going up and down on your tiptoes, maybe reaching your hand over your head and leaning down to one side, walking around the office, walking around at home while you're on a call. Try linking movement to something that you already do. So maybe you

do lots of emails or you have meetings. So after each time you've read an email or you've got through your inbox, have a stand up, move around, or the same if you're at a meeting. It doesn't need to be perfect. It just needs to happen regularly. And what would be even better is if you've got a sit stand desk so that you can spend some of your time standing or even if you've got a bike desk.

or if you've got a treadmill desk, that is even better. Now, certain areas do tend to get tight when you've been sat for a long time. some other easy stretches that you could do is some neck and shoulders stretches. So tucking your chin in, giving yourself a double chin.

that are really helpful to stretch the muscles at the back of the neck, but also work the deep neck flexors, which is like your core of the neck. Taking your chin to your chest and then ear to one side can stretch the big chunky muscles on the side of the neck. And doing some twists, as we've said, can be really helpful. Sitting up, pulling the shoulder blades back and down can be really helpful. Doing some stretches with the legs.

your hips are stuck in the same position all the time and therefore they can get tighter. So if you can put like one foot onto the opposite knee and then just lean forward slightly, that can do a nice stretch into the glutes and doing some pelvic tilt. So just tilting the hips back and the pelvis back one way and then tipping them forward. And then that can help to move the low back.

And even if you do a few movements every hour or so, that can be really helpful.

And thinking about the ergonomics of your desk. Now I said that having a standing desk is great, but we still need to have the desk set up in the right way so that we don't put unnecessary strain on our joints and our muscles. So whether you're sitting or standing, ideally the screen should be roughly eye level. So your eye should be about the top quarter of your screen.

Your elbows, if you're sitting, should just be down by your sides roughly about 90 degrees so that you're not having to lean forward or have your shoulders up by your ears. Your wrists should be if you're using a keyboard or a mouse, it might be that you want to have some supports under your wrists so that you're actually

keeping the wrists at a nice level. Having the wrists bent up all the time can cause problems like tennis elbow and repetitive strain in the wrists. Ideally also having your feet flat on the floor or if you're like me and really short then having a foot rest under the desk so everything else might be the right height for you but your feet dangling off the floor if you're anything like me so having

a footstool underneath is really helpful. If you are using a laptop, it is worth getting a laptop stand so that you can adjust the height of the screen. Or if don't have a laptop stand, then getting some books or a box or something that you can put under the laptop to raise it up. You then...

need to have a separate keyboard so you can still look at the screen and then use the keyboard at a sensible height also a separate mouse is really helpful so that you are not relying on bending over looking at the screen and ideally if you do use a laptop don't actually put it on your lap

because that is one of the worst things you could do, bending over doing that all day. I've had people come to me that sit on a sofa all day, add a laptop and wonder why they have some pain in their neck and shoulders because they are looking down, they're reaching forward and it causes them pain. If you're doing that for eight hours a day, every day or five days a week, it is gonna cause some irritation to the joints and the muscles and all the tissues.

in the neck and the back and the shoulders. So just making some little tweaks to your desk setup or your work setup can be really helpful.

Outside of your working hours, it is really important to keep your body moving and in ways that are doable. It might be that you are a big one into exercising, which is great. But if you are exercising many hours outside of your working day, but you're still sitting for eight to 10 hours a day, not moving is not going to be helpful. So trying to get movement into your day when you're sat down, so you're not sat all the time is great.

But yes, we do need to exercise outside. So it might be just going for a short walk before or after work or even better at lunchtime. Doing some stretches while the kettle boils in the morning or maybe you do some Pilates or yoga first thing in the morning. That's what I tend to do is I get up and I do 20 minutes of Pilates in the morning. could use the stairs instead of using the lift at work or just

breaking up your sitting every time you get a chance, it's just finding small pockets of opportunity throughout the day to get some more movement in. If you're then going to the gym and you're doing some more intense exercise, great, but we still need to move our body throughout the day as well.

is also looking at your health as a whole, so not just your back, neck and things and getting the height of the computer correct and getting moving, looking at what you're doing day to day. So if you're sat at a desk all day, you may be feeling fatigued, foggy or irritable by the afternoon. And sometimes that could be as simple as you're not drunk enough in the day. So having a bottle of water to sip throughout the day.

be really helpful to reduce fatigue or headaches or even joint stiffness and brain fog. Having some balanced snacks and regular meals, so try not to rely on caffeine. Don't skip meals because that can cause problems with your energy levels. If you have a small snack, try and have protein and fiber, so like nuts and oat cake and some hummus or a boiled egg.

and by combining the protein and the fibre, it helps to keep your energy and blood sugar more stable and it also keeps you fuller for longer. Getting out for a walk, but ideally first thing in the morning and getting some natural light, even if it is a short walk or sitting by a window can help with your mood, but also helps with your sleep because it supports your circadian rhythm.

which is especially useful during hormonal changes, say perimenopause.

When you're at work all day, if you've got a particularly stressful job, then it is worth taking short little breaks to try and decrease your stress hormones by taking a few deep breaths or stepping away from the screen for a couple of minutes can really help to calm the nervous system down because our mental tension often shows up.

as physical tension, so particularly in the jaw, in the neck and the shoulders. And it's really useful to think about your stress management, as well as your physical body movement. Now, none of these need to be perfect, but it is just getting those small daily little habits that can support your energy, your comfort and focus while you work. And actually,

by looking after yourself when you are working, your work will be more productive

Hopefully by getting moving and doing all the things that I've mentioned in the episode, it helps to improve any discomfort. But if you are regularly feeling stiff or tense or sore and you're noticing headaches or neck pain or lower back discomfort by the end of the day, it is certainly worth looking at what might be contributing to it. And sometimes it is just a combination of all the things that

we've mentioned. So you've been sat for too long, you're stressed, and you're not moving your body in the right way. And sometimes it is related to other factors like your joint mobility or your strength or maybe you've had a previous injury. But if you're not sure what's behind your symptoms, is always worth getting it checked and just a few small little changes, plus getting you moving in the right way can make a big difference.

There are various ways that you can find support. It might be that you've got a health and safety person at your work that comes around and can do an assessment of your desk and make suggestions and providing the right chair and the right setup for your computer. It might be that you already go and see a movement professional or a health professional. But if you do need more support,

then I can offer physiotherapy or we can do some Pilates and that can be in person or online.

So do check out my website if you would like me to offer you any support or go to your local physio of inquire at work to see what support is available to you.

That's all for today's episode of Making Sense of Women's Health. And if this has given you some ideas or reminders, feel free to share it with someone else who spends their day at a desk. And if you're putting up with those work-related discomforts, remember that you don't have to. And you can start by making some small little changes that could really improve your quality of life. Next week, I will be talking about HRT.

ways to support your hormones. So make sure you join me for that if you are struggling with perimenopause symptoms. Until then, take care and keep moving whenever you get the chance.