As we come to the end of May’s health focus for our ships’ company, musculoskeletal health, we’re looking at how exercise can help prevent discomfort. We’re also giving you the opportunity to show us what you know and win a spa treatment!
We’ve found a selection of exercises for those of you who carry out a range of static and repetitive tasks at work. Exercising and stretching can have the following benefits:
- It helps increase circulation, alertness and concentration.
- It can improve comfort of muscles and joints if they have been held or used in the same way over and over again.
- Using the right exercises can prevent muscle and joint pain.
We’ve chosen these exercises which target specific areas of the body as they don’t take much time, can be performed most places and there are no long term effects. Here are a few suggestions which may help prevent muscle fatigue from happening…
- Eyes
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If you’re working on a laptop/computer your eyes may become tired when fixed on the screen/object for long periods of time and you may blink less. The closer the object is to the eye the greater the load on the eye muscles.
‘Horizon scanning’
When the eye focuses on objects in the distance, the muscles relax, helping to relieve and reduce eye fatigue. Focus on an object about 3m away for 15 seconds.
- Neck
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Neck glides
Sit or stand up straight, glide head back, as far as it will go, keeping head and ears level. Now glide head forward. Repeat 3 times.
- Shoulders
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Shoulder Shrugs
Sit or stand up straight, bring shoulders up towards ears. Hold for a count of 3 seconds. Relax and repeat twice (perform three times in total).
Shoulder Circles
Sit or stand up straight, circle shoulders backwards three times, with arms relaxed by the side.
- Upper back
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Cross arms and raise hands to rest on the front of the shoulders, using the arms push shoulders back. Keep elbows down, Hold for 15 seconds. Repeat 3 times.
- Forearms and wrists
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Sit or stand up straight, extend one arm in front, elbow straight and hand flexed. Stretch forearm muscles by placing the palm of the other hand across the front of the first hand and push towards the body. Hold for five seconds.
- Hands
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Gently interlock your fingers. Press your palms away from your body, gently stretching the forearm muscles, fingers and the muscles between your shoulder blades. Hold for five seconds.
Competition time…
We’re giving you the chance to win a free spa treatment! All you have to do is answer the below questions to test what you’ve learned over Musculoskeletal month. Simply submit your answers before 2 June to be in with a chance of winning.
[contact-form-7 id=”10454″ title=”MSK competition”]
The winner will be notified directly and appear on wavelength. Please note this competition is only for ship’s company.