Let me guess, You have a 50,000 dollar JPEG, and the setup you are rocking is a folding lawn chair and a TV tray? Am I close?

I went to school to become a Doctor of Chiropractic, and while I was there, one of my mentors focused on the ergonomic setup of tables and desks for proper spinal health. This was my eureka moment; if we educate people before they develop poor posture habits, just like a dentist, we can prolong the spine’s health with proper hygiene.

I have not worked full-time in Chiropractic since September 2020 due to switching my focus to blockchain endeavors, but I have made sure to set up my workspace and keep active with stretching, which has saved me from developing the typical aches and pains. As I see all of you degenerates in the cyber trenches right alongside me, I thought I would share some excellent tips on this essential activity.

Buy an Adjustable Desk and Ergonomic Chair

So let’s get back to that cheap, uncomfortable setup you’re rocking.

For all of you low-budget bois out there who just posture checked yourself, a life of low back and neck pain is just around the corner if you don’t get your shit together. For under a thousand dollars, you can get an excellent setup that is customizable for your body. I own an Autonomous brand chair and table, but there are many options for any budget. The essential features are lumbar, arm and neck adjustable supports. Prolonged poor posture and increasing hours spent in your janky DIY home offices are leading to increased side effects such as:

• Pain and discomfort

• Loss of flexibility

• Poor breathing habits from rounding the rib cage

• Loss of motility of the digestive system

• Blood oxygen level reduced from poor breathing habits

Long term effects of these physiological changes:

• Cognition is reduced, specifically in the frontal lobe. The part of the brain that makes us human and controls cognitive skills such as emotional expressions, problem-solving, memory, language, and judgment.

• Neuroplasticity of the brain is reduced from lack of movement

• Cardiovascular output is strained from lack of exercise

• Increased Internal Age and lower heart rate variability

If all this is above your understanding, it means it’s slowly killing you, and small daily activities can help prevent this degradation. So if you want to enjoy all this crypto/JPEG money, I suggest you listen up.

Simple Stretches for Success

One of the most eye-opening studies about spinal posture was regarding a group of indigenous communities in India. The population lived far from their water source, and they walk multiple miles a day carrying containers of water on their heads. This act of weight-bearing to the spine keeps you upright and strengthens cervical muscles. So in this fashion, balancing a few heavy books on your head instantly engages the neck and works muscles that you usually don’t use. If this exercise is getting easier, challenge yourself by closing your eyes, walking around, and even balancing on one leg 15 minutes a day.

Another helpful exercise is chin tucks. This is done by retracting your jaw on an even plane to open up the joints in the neck. I recommend doing 10 every hour that you are at the computer. When done correctly, you should feel tension where the neck and back meet, not at the base of the skull.

Lastly, stretching the Psoas Muscle to prevent low back pain. The psoas muscle is the muscle that assists in lifting the leg into flexion. It becomes overly tightened when you are constantly in a seated position, and over time the muscle gets adhesions and shortens. I like to use my couch armrest or dining table to extend my leg over.

Keep It Moving

Move it or lose it comes to mind. The more inactive a muscle group is, the harder it is to correct that imbalance. I saw more and more 20-30 year-olds having severe issues when beginning their chair force careers due to the predisposition to poor posture from cell phone usage as teenagers. The main takeaway here is while we are all addicted to NFTs and crypto, taking 30 minutes out of your day to lengthen the muscles that are tight and activate the muscles we aren’t using can prevent many issues down the road.

– A concerned chiropractor