Creaky Joints And A Hunched Back - Must Growing Old Be Like That?

As a child, your mother would definitely have warned you about keeping the correct posture, sitting up straight, walking tall, or risk growing up a hunchback. Not only were her warnings true, they are ever more pertinent today. With the development of cities, less people are toiling in the fields. Working now refers mostly to computer work, in an air-conditioned office, emailing, printing, faxing, photocopying. While computers might have led to greater efficiency in the workforce, they present us with another host of problems.

Sitting at a computer for 8 hours a day, everyday, unmoving, it comes as no surprise that eyestrains and backaches are common. Many of us don't bother to practice good posture. Staring down at a laptop or a poorly adjusted monitor will result in neck aches. The same goes for speaking on the phone for extended hours. Typing unending pages of documents daily leads to Repetitive Strain Injury ( RSI ). These are the ailments of the modern day. The occasional stretch does little to alleviate the problem. Besides, in the hectic pace of modern society, few people have the luxury of time to practice a strict regimen of effective stretching.

If nothing is done about the current situation, the lean and healthy elder will be a thing of the past. While eating the correct food and frequent exercise might keep you healthy on the inside, all is for naught if our daily lives are faced with a constant barrage on our bones, joints and muscles.

Thankfully, some employers have already been jolted up to the reality of the situation. The purchase of ergonomic gear such as monitor shields to relief eyestrain and ergonomic chairs to help their workers adopt better posture are to be applauded. Unfortunately though, they are simply not enough. Humans were not designed to be sitting down for hours on end, ploughing through their day inactively, aside from the occasional trip to the coffee machine. More has to be done in the workplace to ensure the sustainable health of office workers.

This plight of office workers cannot be fully observed until the current generation of office workers reach old age. The last decade witnessed the onslaught of the computerized workplace, resulting in many paper-pushing jobs being converted to computerized ones. The long-term effect of constant aches and strains is eponymous; it can only be seen years on.

In the late 19th Century, Frederick Winslow Taylor founded the Scientific Management Method, which dictated that every task should be carried out in the most efficient manner to increase overall productivity. Taylor helped coal miners by tinkering with the size and weight of coals until the fastest shoveling rate was achieved. In this current day and age, David Meyerowitz has developed the Stretch Smart Method to help office workers increase their alertness and concentration by a series of quick stretches. These stretches were designed for maximal effect in a minimized time frame, resulting in them also being more aware of the impact of their work on their bodies.

Necessity breeds invention, and in this case David Meyerowitz has designed a potential solution to the computer and office related ailments as mentioned earlier. While his method is a major step forward in the elimination of work-related strains, the general health of workers requires a more holistic approach, something that keeps them up physiologically, mentally and emotionally.