Forbes states, “ 74% of professionals expect remote work or a hybrid model to become the new normal”1; therefore, the demand for proper office setups has become essential for employees. According to the Wall Street Journal and Huffington Post, remote workers are...
As we continue to deal with the new norm of working from home, employees are experiencing declines in their overall physical and mental health. Workers are reporting increased neck and back pain, as well as hip flexor stiffness or weakness. This also includes...
Obesity is one of the leading causes of death, affecting approximately 42.4% of Americans1. While this is a cause for concern for individuals, it also poses several challenges for companies, specifically when it comes to healthcare expenses. With $190.2 billion spent...
It may be hard to believe, but mental and physical health are one in the same. Statistically, one in three people with a health condition that physically alters their life will also have some type of mental health effects in the form of depression or anxiety1. It is said we carry most of our emotional stress in our hips, creating a lasting link between physical and emotional strain. One of the leading causes for hip strain is from simply sitting too long throughout the day, creating a tightness in both your hip flexors and hamstrings.
With this information in mind, it is equally important in understanding what hip flexors are. The hip flexors are a group of muscles in your hips responsible for activating a flexion movement, which allows you to pull your legs up to your torso2. Medically speaking, the hips sit on each side of the pelvis. These joints are one of largest and carry the most responsibility as they bear weight, stabilize the core, and move the upper part of the leg3. To put it simply, the tighter your hips are the less movement your body has which can result in lasting pain, making daily activities difficult to complete, like climbing the stairs.
Doctors for decades have stated at least thirty minutes of physical activity a day can increase mental stimulation and reduce your risk significantly for obesity related diseases. If you’re not prepared for that level of activity, standing up and taking stretch breaks throughout your day can be an excellent and positive start to a healthier lifestyle. Because our bodies are easily adaptable, the positions we place them in more often tends to cause a response to our joints and muscles. Studies reported by Heathline show that the average American spends twelve hours sitting a day, which places the hip flexors in a shortened position for the muscles. This basically means that your muscles will stack up against one another that once you stand, it creates tension and strain.
According to Healthline¸ the hip region is correlated to the sacral chakra. The body is made up of seven total chakras: Crown, Third Eye, Throat, Heart, Solar Plexus, Sacral, and Root. If all align, it is believed they give you total clarity as the energy can flow freely from each zone4. The sacral chakra is responsible for sociability and well-being. If blocked it could feel like a lack of control in life.
Finally, mental health is an issue that isn’t addressed nearly enough. According to NAMI, one in five adults experience mental illness while one in twenty deal with a serious case of mental illness. With the recent pandemic, statistics showed that 45% of those with mental health issues said it affected them negatively5. With several companies dealing with severe impacts economically, layoffs became inevitable while others took to the work from home approach. Both of these approaches, produced more sedentary behaviors, prompting increased stress and depression.
Taking all this in mind, a negative mental state can cause one to become more sedentary, increasing a strain in the hip flexors. Due to the pain, people oftentimes don’t want to get up in order to simply avoid dealing with it. Vise versa could be said that if one is sitting too long, simply because they’re too absorbed in work, a tightness in the hip flexors could cause a person to fall into a depressive state. The best thing a person can do to avoid dealing with hip flexor tightness is by making sure it doesn’t happen at all.
Whether you are back in the office or working from home, it is possible to control and avoid developing hip flexor pain. Yoga enthusiasts suggest that for tight hips, there are several ways to release fear, stress, and trauma, effectively loosening the burden pressed against them. Here are just some examples:
Sometimes it is also as simple as getting up every hour to just stand while you work. One of the most effective pieces of machinery to help with both work and hip flexor pain is a height-adjustable desk. Paired with a reminder to tell you when to stand, even if you’re in the middle of a project with an intense deadline, height-adjustable desks offer the flexibility of both physical and mental wellness, as well as productivity.
Tight for space in your work-from-home office? LifeDesk has a solution with the SmartLeg 1-ER, perfect for the smallest of spaces.
Check out our website for more information on this model along with the rest of our products to help you work towards a healthier you. https://thelifedesk.com/