FullBleed

Illustration courtesy Mal Jones

Hey, you! Are you ready for some exercise? Step away from that color palette you’ve been over thinking, that CSS code you’ve pored over 12 times already, or the proposal your boss is bugging you about, and give me 30. Thirty seconds that is, in Brugger’s Relief. 1, 2, 3 … Oh, wait. You don’t know what Brugger’s Postural Relief Exercise is, do you?

Seeing as you are reading this article within the confines of FullBleed, I will make an educated guess that you are a designer, and that one frequently overlooked element in your job description (as said designer) is that you sit in your chair, all day and every day, with client meetings and coffee refills being the only exceptions.

This means, my friend, that you are a chair athlete.

Yeah, sure, it sounds ridiculous. But contrary to your warranted skepticism, sitting in a chair is an activity in itself — one that requires proper training and discipline. Self-respecting athletes know that without proper habits like taking regular breaks from repetitive motions, they risk injury or fatigue.

The stakes are different in design, of course. You may not lose multi-million endorsements, but you could lose something just as critical in our industry: creative mojo. How can you analyze a creative brief or even peruse FullBleed if you can’t concentrate on anything but your physical discomfort?

Think I’m piling it on a bit? Well, then, take a self-assessment. Do you sit in uninterrupted bouts of design fever, trying to get your layout just right? Spend your lunch breaks surfing the Internet? Forget to blink? Take regular breaks from your real work by chatting online or calling someone on the phone, all while sitting in your chair, naturally? If you answered “Yes” to any of these questions, you should consider taking steps to keep yourself healthy in your chair athlete career.

Before I sound like I know too much about what I’m talking about, a disclaimer: I’m not a physical therapist, orthopedist, or even a medical hobbyist, so don’t let my advice take the place of someone with an actual medical degree or a real diagnosis! I do know from my own experience, though, that practicing good habits can reduce your chances of developing common issues like Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

Consider my story as a cautionary tale: the signs of discomfort in my neck and shoulder began six years ago. Ignoring it back then was easy. Occupational safety? Puh-lease! It was all about the deadline! Pushing my limits! Making that layout so perfect I could just see the awards flying in!

I dealt with the increasingly nagging pain by wearing a wrist support brace, which I determinedly hid with a pair of hand-knitted wrist-warmers. When I suspected my mouse was the problem, I traded it in for a Wacom tablet. Once I pegged my chair as a culprit, I consequently upgraded to an ergonomic Steelcase chair with lumbar support and other tricks. My new accessories helped just enough to keep my suffering in check — for a while.

This year, though, I finally had to face the facts: I had developed chronic pain that affected my everyday life and was impossible to ignore. I followed the advice of my boss (who was finding herself in a similar situation) and sought help with a professional. I found myself in front of a physical therapist, Dr. Barry Pilgrim of Washington Medical Group. He didn’t laugh at my plight; instead, he assigned me a slew of exercises to do during my workday and at home (see below). They’re not quick fixes, but they give me power over my condition.

Dr. Pilgrim also hypothesized that stress-inducing situations — a design review or a frustrating traffic jam, for examples — were causing me to breathe in a shallow way, which was affecting my body’s natural, diaphragm breathing pattern. The long periods of uninterrupted sitting posture and the continued fight-or-flight, shallow chest breathing was causing my hand and shoulder to be so overwhelmed that pain receptors were firing at even the slightest provocation.

Now, between breathing exercises and the physical posture adjustments, I’ve noticed marked improvements that enable me to keep cranking out creative work with increasingly less noticeable pain.

So, what are these exercises, you ask?

Stopping every 15 minutes to do Brugger’s Postural Relief Exercise (PDF) gives you a well-deserved postural break. According to Dr. Pilgrim, this position is a direct counterpoint to how we sit hunched in front of our computers. From personal experience, I can tell you that taking a break every 15 minutes is easier said than done! But even a few breaks a day can help, and a timer app on your computer helps a lot, too. I use the Eddy Timer for Mac.

Your shoulders will thank you (and your arms will hate you) if you take a break every 30 minutes to do the Corner Stretch. Face a corner with one foot in front of the other, and place your hands and forearms on the walls making sure to keep your elbows at shoulder height. Lean into the corner until a stretch is felt, and hold it for 30 seconds. Repeat this stretch 5–10 times daily. This shouldn’t hurt, but it should feel like you’re getting a hard-core stretch in your shoulders and arms.

Don’t eat your lunch at your desk and don’t read anything, if possible! This will give your body and eyes a break. The dedicated chair athlete refuses to suffer eyestrain in addition to other injustices of working in the chair. Just say “no” to eyestrain!

Consider the position of your monitor to where you sit. Good ergonomics are a chair athlete’s best friend! Once I adjusted my own monitor to regulation distance, I realized something was off; when I visited my eye doctor, it turned out that my prescription had changed in both eyes during the past year. Getting that fixed prevented me from hunching forward to look at my screen as often.

If you aren’t already getting regular exercise, a good rule of thumb per week is to incorporate 2–4 workouts that contain 30 minutes of cardio training. Treadmill and elliptical machines are great for this.

Keep in mind that signs of pain or discomfort may require a doctor’s care, and that these exercises are no substitute for a doctor’s supervision or diagnosis. But, hopefully, you can start practicing these behaviors and prevent the injuries and burnout that can come from being a professional chair athlete.