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By Michele Cohen Marill

Why "women's work" is not as safe as you think.

Marilynn Larkin, fitness professional and creator of Posture-cize, an exercise and motivational program (posture-cize.com), offers these suggestions for back pain relief on the job:

1. If your body starts to ache, get up and start walking. When you sit for long periods, your glutes and abs get deactivated, so walking will get those muscles working again.

2. Bend over and put your hands on your thighs – not to the floor, which can cause extra strain.  Keep your knees slightly bent.

3. Many types of back pain are caused by tight hamstrings. Find a place where you can put your leg up and flex your foot.

4. Put your hands on your lower abs and gently pull them in and up to maintain positive tension and relieve pain.

Larkin also offers these longer-term strategies:

 

1. Make a list of activities that can put you at risk, such as holding the phone with one shoulder while typing at the keyboard, or carrying a heavy bag or laptop. Decide what to do instead: use a speakerphone or headset; bend from the hips and knees instead of from the waist; hold heavy items in front of you using two hands.

2. Adjust office furniture to suit your body: adjust the chair so the work surface is "elbow high"; place the keyboard so that elbows are the same level as the waist and about a foot in front of the body to reduce pressure on arms, shoulders and neck; place the monitor at or slightly below eye-level so your neck is not angled back or forward.

3. Incorporate exercises into your workout routine like squats (to develop your lower body strength) and rowing exercises with a cable in the gym or with resistance bands (to strengthen the upper back).