Work in an Office & have Back or Knee Pain? Here’s why

If You Work in an Office and have Back or Knee Pain, then this blog post contains my four most popular blog posts that provides solutions for how to survive.  This will help you understand and deal with back or knee related symptoms you may be experiencing.

If I may, I would like to say a big thank you to you readers first before jumping in:  a couple of days ago ago my blog site https://jamieatlas.wordpress.com hit the 85,000 hits mark.

Imagine that – 85,000 hits on a website that contains nothing but my own content?  People coming to my site with nowhere to turn but to read the twisted meanderings of my own mind?  Surely there is something in the Geneva convention humanitarian laws that stops me from making people suffer like this 🙂

So to try and make up for my lack of obnoxiousness, here are 4 of my favorite posts on my blog website for you to read, should you feel the urge/courage to see the written carnage these poor readers have had to endure 🙂

Copy and paste the below links into your browser to read the actual blog posts:

have you seen my workout card? It's a red workout card...

A blog article for my officebound peeps:

Six ways to stop your office job from killing you

Sandra felt strangely suspicious that her boyfriends advice of 'walking around the house topless' would not actually do anything to help her back pain, but she tried it nonetheless...

Why high heels can play havoc with your lower back:

High Heels are Ruining your Posture and Feet: Here’s Why

"Well Doc, the knee hurts a little bit, but to tell the truth I am more worried about this strange red glow coming out of it!"

Ever wondered exactly how knee pain can come about?  Here’s a bit of information you might not have known about:

https://jamieatlas.wordpress.com/2009/03/02/knee-pain-often-comes-from-foot-problems-an-explanation/

"they may take away our lives.. but they'll never take... our right to read the Fitness Insights by Jamie Atlas blog! Rrrrhhhaaaaaaaaayyyy!

A personal favorite for anyone who has tried to change something in their lives but felt judged by others:

https://jamieatlas.wordpress.com/2009/05/20/your-weight-loss-mindset-pt-1-fk-you-for-judging-me/

Warning: this last ‘judging’ blog article in have listed above includes the word f**k – it’s kind of like the word f*$k or the word f$@k but not like the word s&*t or $#&^ (wow, don’t know what that last one even means…  Must be really bad if I had to block out all the letters though!)

Of course, if by some strange masochistic tendency you would like to read other posts I create, you could always be a good net citizen (netizen?) and subscribe to my blog…  ahhh, the strategy unfolds 🙂

If you are one of these folk, just click the link below to get an inconspicuous email in your email inbox whenever I write a new fascinating insightful blog post (don’t panic, it usually happens about once every week/2 weeks)

http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=wordpress%2FyQXQ

Thanks for checking out my blog and being a reader!  It makes me feel like you understand me a bit better… Now, if I can just get you to open up and talk more about your mother and why she doesn’t call me anymore…

Jamie Atlas

PS Oh, you clicked on this subscribe link, right?  Just double checking 😉

PPS Have I told you the new official webcam personal training website is up and running now?  You can personal train from your very own house and not pay high priced rates!

Orbis LifeFitness:  $5.99 Webcam to Webcam training and free orientations now available.
www.orbislifefitness.com

Lose 36.5 Pounds in a Year by Changing this One Habit at the Office

I really don’t like it when someone says ‘lose 50 pounds in 50 days’ or other ridiculous claims.  But I have to mention this research I recently came across.

Sometimes we look at something and look at it with a doubtful eye.  When I first came across this research I at first was doubtful, but then the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the results this research shows reflect our daily habits – and what could be more powerful than that?

Recent research showed that lean people stand and walk more during the day than heavier people.  If you do the calculation, over the course of a year this difference in daily activity can make up to a 36.5 pound difference!

Our habits create our lives.

We are all creatures of habit. We watch the same television shows, eat the same meals, take the same route to get to work and argue/chat about the same things with our friends when we get together at the same restaurants where we order the same meals and say the same things when it comes time to decide whether to have dessert or not.

We all know that once a habit is established, it becomes a challenge to break.

I am always encouraging my clients to form new habits and begin new patterns of daily behavior in their everyday lives – but we don’t always listen.

Even though they know by drinking more water they can improve their health and get closer to their health and fitness goals I still have clients that after years of training confess every session that they are ‘not getting enough’.

It would seem that the law of human nature demands that when a option of change is presented to us, somewhere inside we make a calculation as to the possible benefits of that change in habit and measure that against the inconvenience of remembering a water bottle or taking the extra time out of the day to drink/pee/complain about how much you are peeing.

So in my quest to help all of us achieve optimal health with minimal change, here is the latest suggestion:

Get up, stand up.

Walk around.

Heres why:

In a research review by Kravitz, he found that in a study of non-exercisers – half of which were considered ‘lean’ (L), the other half ‘mildly obese’ (MO) the following was found:

On average, the ‘L’ group stoop upright for 153 minutes longer than the ‘MO’ group.

Sleep times (suprisingly) were not different between the two groups. The lean subjects had significantly more total body ambulatory movement, which consisted of standing and walking.

the extra movement by group L would average at 352 ± 65 calories per day,

There are 3500 calories in a pound of fat.

If you weighed more, then you would burn even more calories because you would have more weight to move around.

This would be equivalent to 36.5 lbs in one year.

Of course things like technology, transportation, computer-based worksites, portion sizes and calories in restaurant meals, low-cost fast food availability all play a large factor in what gets us there.

So get moving!

References:

James A. Levine, Lorraine M. Lanningham-Foster, Shelly K. McCrady, Alisa C. Krizan, Leslie R. Olson, Paul H. Kane, Michael D. Jensen, Matthew M. Clark. “Interindividual Variation in Posture Allocation: Possible Role in Human Obesity”. Science 28 January 2005: Vol. 307. no. 5709, pp. 584 – 586. 20 Mar. 2007.

Six ways to stop your office job from killing you

I could ask you to go live in a small cave and eat organic berries and do yoga 3 times a day to achieve optimal health and wellness, but how realistic would that be?

(well, unless you had cable tv and a good wireless internet connection – then we’re talking, right?)

We all know there are certain things we should do, but what steps can we take to get the greatest return in investment for a possible change in lifestyle?

Since most of us spend a good chunk of our day sitting at our desk in the office, here is a quick breakdown of the six best things you can do right now to help decrease the impact of the cubicle prison:

#1 Stand By Me:

When sitting down we limit our breathing capacity, shorten our chest muscles and place stress on our neck and upper back, not to mention the tightened hip muscles at the front.

We all sit down too much compared to our chairless ancestors – when not at the desk do your best to stand, stretch, expand your lungs and loosen the tightness in the chest, hip and abdominal muscles. This will help undo the 8 hours of sitting you are likely to do.

#2 Frankie Says ‘Relax’:

Take a short break or two every day to seize a quiet moment. Get outside if just for a moment.

Notice your breathing, your environment, colors and smells around you. Take the opportunity to clear your mind, sharpen your senses and reset your mental machinery before heading back into the fray.

#3 Here Comes the Sun:

Photosynthesize – try to expose yourself to the sun for between 10-15 minutes a day to switch on multiple hormone regulating systems and produce vitamin D for healthy bones and skin.

It’s just plain good for you – If your dermatologist gets on your case ask what the cavemen did to protect their skin 10,000 years ago… cover up with bearskin umbrellas?

#4 Get Up, Stand Up. Stand Up for your Rights:

Invest in yourself! Outside of the office (or perhaps during your lunch break) Don’t underestimate the benefit of a knowledgeable personal trainer, massage therapist or acupuncture session to recharge the body, mind and spirit.

Treats such as these can pay dividends in more productive work hours with less pain and more energy and satisfaction in your life and work!

A workout that leaves your body more stressed is not necessarily the solution. A balance of working hard in the gym and relaxing hard in the stretching area or hot tub is a great way to achieve best results.

If you are overstressed and you work out too hard your body may actually store even more fat in an ‘overtraining’ response to the increased total stress.

Make sure you are making yourself the priority – whether your work realizes it or not, the better your stress level the better you produce.

#5 Twist and Shout:

Don’t tell your personal trainer this, but working out is an inexact science – the most important thing to you, mister/ms dedicated desk jockey, is to get you out of the sitting position and standing upright like your fellow homo sapiens.

Try to loosen and strengthen muscles in multiple directions in conjunction with other body parts. That means front to back, side to side and in rotation (like this woodchop below)

A simple exercise that uses your rotational muscles (great for the abs as well!)

Try to do movements that encourage your body to get out of a seated position and into a position of lengthening while strengthening. Ask the hottest trainer in the gym for a minute of help if you need advice (hey, you gotta get your value for money out of that membership, right?)

#6 Climb Every Mountain:

Aim for small manageable continuous improvement. Ever meet the guy who lost 60 pounds in three weeks, only to yo-yo it back on and then some? The body will respond best to gradual changes to its dimensions.

Push it too hard and it may push back in the form of joint pain, bad technique or injury. So take your time making the changes in your schedule – but dont take lightly the massive potential these small changes can have over time.

The most important thing to remember is that our bodies are not designed to sit at desks for 8 hours. We must take every opportunity to stand and move – Did I mention hydration? Take your first step to change right now and go get a drink from that office water cooler.

If you see someone else at the water cooler, ask if they were reading this post and were just following directions… If they say “yes” then give them a high five from me 🙂 Then talk about Julie Andrews and ask if they think that last picture of the Nun costume makes her look fatter or more alluring.

If you want to read other blog articles the second I post them you can always subscribe by clicking here.