Pilates for Senior Citizens- Why?

Good Posture: head over shoulders, over hips, over knees, over ankles.

Pilates for senior citizens works wonders as it is low impact compared to other forms of exercise. It's not as severe on the joints as other types of exercise workouts.

Pilates focusses on breathing & quality-controlled movements, not repetitions.

How Pilates Works?

"Pilates stretches muscles that are tight & strengthens those that are weak to help realign your body to its natural form."

• Pilates develops the body uniformly, corrects wrong postures, restores physical vitality, invigorates the mind & elevates the spirit.
• Pilates is unique. It systematically exercises all the muscle groups in the body, the weak as well as the strong.
• The exercises make you stronger, flexible, & less likely to fall because they re-educate your body to use all of your muscles, not just the superficial ones.
• By strengthening both your large muscles & the deep, smaller endurance muscles that are responsible for your strength, they take the strain off the larger muscles & give them added support.
• Concentration & correct breathing are added to exercise for the older adult that can teach you to recruit the smaller, supportive muscles.

With Pilates exercise for senior citizens the center of your body needs to be your focus (core).

This is the place from which all movement begins & proceeds to the extremities- the whole body working together.

Every movement and exercise for seniors, especially walking, should be started by first contracting the core of the body.


Bottom line: less pain, greater range of motion, and fewer falls.


DISCLAIMER: Always talk to your health care provider before starting an exercise program.

Exercises to Conceive Better

Antenatal exercises is now a days talk of the town, but very few people promote the importance of fitness before the conception.The fitness levels before you conceive will determine the outcome of the pregnancy and also the exercises which you can continue throughout the pregnancy. Working out before you plan for a baby will help you to increase your energy levels and help you to manage your weight.
A study in Columbia University of public health found that fit women who exercised atleast an hour a day three times per week have low risk pregnancies and increased birth weight babies by about 5%, decreased risk of delivering premature babies.They are also able to more easily handle stress and do better emotionally.

Two weeks prior to conceive, you should stop all sports or activities that are jarring or carry a risk of abdominal trauma. Activities such as surfing, horse back riding, soccer, skiing, rock climbing, gymnastics should be discontinued.

EXERCISES which helps you to conceive better: 

WALKING
 Its one of the ideal preconception exercise. If you are unfit and overweight this low impact exercise will help you to shed those extra pounds.Once you conceive it can be continued as long as you can exercise.

CYCLING
Biking is another form of low impact exercise. It helps to maintain the weight and also improves circulations, and reduces risk of gestational diabetes.

SWIMMING
This is considered one of the best exercise even after you conceive.It helps to improve your cardiovascular, muscular strength as well as endurance.

PILATES
It is a mind-body workout that simultaneously strengthens and stretches you. Most of the exercise focus on initiating the movement from your core. Good core muscle strength will prevent you from back pain and also prevent post partum abdominal sagging.

YOGA
It again helps you to improve flexibility, reduces stress.Certain poses in yoga have been found to be beneficial as they increase the blood supply to certain organs.

Child pose

STRENGTH TRAINING
Weight training prior to pregnancy, either through body weight exercise or with dumbells or resistance bands or stability balls will give you a base level muscular strength.Squats, pushups, lunges and plank are examples of safe exercises. Muscle strength will help you to cope up with pregnancy discomfort and prevent low back ache.

RELAXATION
Progressive relaxation techniques can be used also deep controlled breathing can help to relax the body.

PELVIC FLOOR EXERCISES
Pelvic floor exercises are very important to prevent complications like incontinence. Check out the pelvic floor exercises on http://fitnessphysios.blogspot.in/2012/03/incontinence-in-women.html

CORE EXERCISE: Exercises targeting your Transversus abdominis and other abdominals are very important.The exercises included are pelvic bridging, pelvic tilt, plank, side plank etc.

Clam

Leg lifts

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

• Regular gynecological checkup
• Give up drinking,smoking habits
• Take folic acid Tablets as prescribed by physician
• Eat healthy food
• Keep yourself well hydrate
• Get your weight checkup done
• Avoid infections.
• Check out environmental risks

HAPPY MOTHERHOOD !!!




DISCLAIMER: Kindly consult a physical therapist or certified trainer before attempting the exercises.

FIBROMYALGIA

Fibromyalgia is characterized by chronic widespread pain, and a heightened and painful response to pressure. It is described as "Central sensitization syndrome" caused by neurobiological abnormalities which  produces a physiological pain and cognitive impairments as well as neuro-psychiatric symptomatology.

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS
Chronic widespread pain, fatigue, heightened response to tactile pressure.
Tingling of skin, prolonged spasm, weakness in limbs, palpitation, functional bowel disturbance and chronic sleep disturbance.Some may also experience cognitive dysfunction
Other symptom often attribute to fibromyalgia that may possibly include myofacial pain syndrome.


CAUSES
Unknown.
Possible: Genetic predisposition, stress, hypodopaminergia, abnormal serotonin metabolism,deficient growth hormone, physical trauma, poor sleep etc



DIAGNOSIS
There is no single diagnostic test.
Most widely accepted set of classification criteria for research purposes was given  in 1990 by multicentre criteria committee of American College of Rheumatology: a history of widespread pain lasting for >3 months, affecting 4 or more quadrants of body i.e both sides and above and below waist.

                                                Tender points

18 designated points.the patient must feel pain at 11 or more points to consider him for fibromyalgia.

Criteria :
Location throughout

Particularly in neck,shoulder,arm, buttocks,hip,thigh

It hurts when pressed but pain doesn't radiate.




TREATMENT
Psychological/behavioural therapy
Pharmaceutical

Physical therapy
Exercise improves fitness and sleep and may reduce pain and fatigue. Strong evidence suggest that cardiovascular exercise is effective for some patients. Long term aquatic exercises has been proved beneficial as it combines aerobic and resistance training.

AEROBICS
Modes of exercise such as walking and biking can yield long term benefits for fibromyalgia . Startoff with low intensity below your actual capacity and gradually progress.Water aerobics ideal for people with increased pain in patients with chances of worsening of symptoms with exercise

Strength training
To minimize fibromyalgia relates pain.With strength training you focus on one muscle group per session alternate upper and lower extremity training. Isometrics can also be performed.

Avoid eccentric exercises including those with heavy weights which may cause injury.using light weights start with low number of repetitions also rest is very important. Perform exercise 2-3days per week with duration of 25-30 minutes of workout everyday.

Flexibility Stretches should be performed for all major muscle groups.

Combination therapy
Medicine +diet+exercise+cognitive behavioral therapy.


SIGNIFICANCE OF EXERCISE

• It controls pain and fatigue and prevents decline of muscle strength and endurance, improve flexibility, sleep and energy.
• Muscles that are not conditioned use excess energy which can contribute to fatigue and aggravate pain,hence exercise helps to improve oxygen delivery and increase muscle temperature leading to pain relief and relaxation.
• Strengthen ligaments tendons.
• Increase endorphin pain relief.
• Decrease anxiety and depression.

OTHER
Yoga:Which incorporates exercises, stretching, and meditation, is a great way to increase fitness.The physical postures(Asanas)can alleviate aches and pains, concentration exercises help to overcome fibrofog (loss of mental clarity), and meditation helps you to focus on present instead of ruminating about your pain/

Tai-chi has also been found beneficial. It emphasizes on relaxation. Its like"meditation with movement"with dramatic flowing movements instead of forceful movement The goal of Tai-chi is to bring principles of Ying and yang into harmony.


Daily activities and hobbies: Experts say that daily activities a household chores as playing with kids, washing windows, mowing yard, gardening an all be beneficial when it comes to increasing fitness and reducing symptoms.

Qigong and meditation: Its called the mother of Chinese healing. It combines meditation dance movements and breathing exercises.It helps to improve energy, decrease fatigue and alleviate pain.

Heat therapy: dry and moist :helps you to relax and alleviate pain.


NUTRITION
EAT : fruits and veg raw, natural protein.
DON'T EAT: fried food, veg meat, food with white flour, increase sugar caffeinated drinks.

We would love to hear from you, coping up skills you have incorporated in your daily life to deal with fibromyalgia.

Why should Senior Citizens Exercise?

Welcome to one of the healthiest things you can do for yourself. Exercise!-The fountain of youth!

For the most part, when older people lose their ability to do things on their own, it is not because they have aged. More likely, it is because they have become inactive.

The human body is made for movement, and this applies to senior citizens too.
As you grow older, leading an active lifestyle is more important than ever. Regular exercise can help boost your energy, maintain your independence, and manage the symptoms of any illness or pain. Exercise can even reverse some of the symptoms of aging. And not only is exercise good for your body—it’s also good for your mind, mood, and memory.

No matter your age or your current physical condition, you can benefit from exercise. Reaping the rewards of exercise doesn’t require strenuous workouts or trips to the gym. It’s about adding more movement and activity to your life, even in small ways.

Don't worry if you've never exercised, or if you stopped exercising for some reason. Being physically active can help you continue to do the things you enjoy and stay independent as you age. In addition, the right kind of regular exercise can reduce your chance of heart disease, diabetes, and falls.
You may have a hard time starting an exercise routine. Once you do start, though, you will begin to notice the benefits, including improved sleep and self-esteem.

What can Exercise do for Me?

Most people know that exercise is good for them. Somehow, though, older adults have been left out of the picture -- until recently. Today a new picture is emerging from research: Older people of different physical conditions have much to gain from exercise and from staying physically active. They also have much to lose if they become physically inactive.

Exercise isn't just for older adults in the younger age range, who live independently and are able to go on brisk jogs. Researchers have found that exercise and physical activity also can improve the health of people who are 90 or older, who are frail, or who have the diseases that seem to accompany aging. Staying physically active and exercising regularly can help prevent or delay some diseases and disabilities as people grow older. In some cases, it can improve health for older people who already have diseases and disabilities, if it's done on a long-term, regular basis.

Physical Health benefits:

• Helps maintain or lose weight: As metabolism naturally slows with age, maintaining a healthy weight is a challenge. Exercise helps increase metabolism and builds muscle mass, helping to burn more calories. When your body reaches a healthy weight, overall wellness improves. 
• Reduces the impact of illness & chronic disease: Among the many benefits of exercise for seniors include improved immune function, better heart health and blood pressure, better bone density, and better digestive functioning. Seniors who exercise also have a lowered risk of several chronic conditions including Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, osteoporosis, and colon cancer. 
• Enhances mobility, flexibility, and balance: Exercise improves your strength, flexibility and posture, which in turn will help with balance, coordination, and reducing the risk of falls. Strength training also helps alleviate the symptoms of chronic conditions such as arthritis. 

Mental Health Benefits:

• Improves your sleep: Poor sleep is not an automatic consequence of aging and quality sleep is important for your overall health. Exercise often improves sleep, helping you fall asleep more quickly and sleep more deeply. 
• Boosts mood and self-confidence: Endorphins produced by exercise can actually help you feel better and reduce feelings of sadness or depression. Being active and feeling strong naturally helps you feel more self-confident and sure of yourself. 
• Exercise is good for the brain: Exercise benefits regular brain functions and can help keep the brain active, which can prevent memory loss, cognitive decline, and dementia. Exercise may even help slow the progression of brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. 

Not sure if you can Exercise

You may be reluctant to start exercising, even though you've heard that it's one of the healthiest things you can do. You may be afraid that physical activity will harm you; or you might think you have to join a gym or buy expensive equipment in order to exercise. Or, you may feel embarrassed to exercise because you think it's for younger people or for people who look great in gym clothes. You may think exercise is only for people who are able to do things like jogging.

In fact, just about every older adult can safely do some form of physical activity at little or no cost. And you don't have to exercise in a public place or use expensive equipment, if you don't want to.

Even household chores can improve your health. The key is to increase your physical activity, by exercising and by using your own muscle power.

Benefits Everyday Life:
The most rewarding part of beginning a fitness routine is noticing the difference it makes in the rest of your life. Even if you begin exercising with a few simple stretches while seated or a short walk around the block, you’ll notice an improvement in how you feel as you go about your day.

• House cleaning, gardening, shopping, and errands. Want to feel less winded while vacuuming or rushing to and from appointments? Doing just 15 to 20 minutes of heart-healthy cardio each day, such as walking, biking, swimming, or water aerobics will help give you the stamina you need. 
• Lifting grandchildren, carrying groceries, household chores. Building muscle mass a few times each week through weight lifting, resistance exercises, and nautilus machines will help give you more strength. 
• Tying shoes, looking behind you while driving, navigating steps. Incorporating basic stretching—even while seated—into your fitness routine will make the most ordinary movements easier. 

Check with you doctor if you have...

1. Chest pain 
2. Irregular, rapid, or fluttery heart beat 
3. Severe shortness of breath 
4. Significant, ongoing weight loss that hasn't been diagnosed 
5. Infections, such as pneumonia, accompanied by fever 
6. Fever, which can cause dehydration and a rapid heart beat 
7. Acute deep-vein thrombosis (blood clot) 
8. Hernia that is causing symptoms 
9. Foot or ankle sores that won't heal 
10. Joint swelling 
11. Persistent pain or a problem walking after you have fallen 
12. Certain eye conditions, such as bleeding in the retina or detached retina. Before you exercise after a cataract or lens implant, or after laser treatment or other eye surgery, check with your physician. 

DISCLAIMER: Always talk to your health care provider before starting an exercise program.

Benefits of Pilates

The Pilates approach offers a gentle & powerful path to achieving your potential for health, strength, flexibility & stamina. This unique technique can help you develop supple movements & strength as well as improve your posture & general well-being.

There is no set way of teaching Pilates as the exercises have been adapted & redeveloped further by Pilates & his students.

Basic Key to Pilates: An intentional mind-body interaction-Focussing the mind & stabilizing the body while you exercise.

Health Benefits of Pilates:

1. No age limit
2. Minimum strain on the body
3. Reduced risk of injury during & after exercise
4. Better Flexibility
5. Improved Strength
6. Increased Muscle Tone
7. Deeper, Efficient Breathing
8. Reduces Stress
9. Improved Digestion
10. Clearer Skin
11. Trimmer, Flatter Stomach & toned Buttocks & thighs
12. Stimulates Immune System

You can take up Pilates at any stage of life, although you should start with gentle exercises & build up the time that you spend exercising slowly. Begin with simple exercises & build up to more advanced techniques, depending on your fitness level & ability. Practiced correctly & regularly, these exercises can help you Improve your physical & mental well-being in various ways. Eg: Strengthen muscles, better support & stability, better posture. Keeping your mental focus will ensure you remain aware of how your body feels, which will help you to exercise safely.

COMING SOON!! How to start Pilates

DISCLAIMER: Consult your doctor before trying out Pilates.

Flat Abs without Crunches

Dream of having a surfboard stomach!

 If you have been doing crunches forever & are wondering why you still don't have flat abs, you have been working under 'The Myth that doesn't Die': You can do exercise for a certain body part & get rid of the fat there.
The Truth: Flat abs are difficult to get.


The abdominal muscles are made up a single muscle unit attached at the ribs to the pelvis. There are a couple of different layers, making up the rectus abdominis (six pack), transverse abdominis (core), & external /internal obliques. These muscles work together with the back muscles to hold the trunk in an upright position. These muscles are a clear indicator of posture.

So how do you get flat abs without doing crunches?


Leave all processed foods

Getting a flat stomach has a lot to do with fat accumulation over the abs. Most people will accumulate fat on the stomach, butt, and hips as a result of a poor or unbalanced diet. Stomach fat is some of the toughest to burn off. Since spot fat reduction is not possible, crunches won't effect the flab sitting over the muscle. No specific exercise can reduce fat from the stomach region. It is 80% the effect of diet that people accumulate fat or burn fat off the body.

Since diet plays such a huge role in body fat, cutting out all processed foods will have an equally effective role in burning it off. Processed foods account for prepared restaurant foods, fat food, junk food, processed meats, processed dairy products, and anything else altered from its original state. Processed foods are high in sodium, possess far less nutrition and usually have preservatives.


Try eating foods that are prepared freshly at home. Shop for whole products at the grocery store or market, eat whole fruits and vegetables & nuts. These foods all come in their natural state and have not been processed or prepared before-hand.

Cut Down your Cardio


Contrary to popular belief, cardio is not the most effective way to get abs. Cardiovascular workouts do help to burn a moderate amount of calories, but it is not the best way to burn up stomach fat. This is not to say that cardio won't help, but unless you are preparing for some kind of athletic event, cardiovascular exercise only requires a maximum of 30 minutes 3 times per week.


"Use It or Lose It"

Men and women alike who want a flat stomach should start lifting heavy weights to challenge the muscles to work as hard as possible. Using any combination of exercises which target all major muscle groups, the body will start burning fat. 


Lifting heavy weights leads to more weight loss than cardio does-after cleaning up your diet by cutting out processed foods, the body will start to drop weight accordingly. When weight is being lost, muscle mass will also be lost instead of fat, if the muscles don't have a reason to stay. By working the muscles, the body is forced to search for other sources of energy, working its way to fat.

Work on Core and Stability Movements

Rather than sit ups and crunches, use stability and whole core exercises. These are exercises which target the core muscles & use them in a way similar to their normal function. A crunch is hardly a natural movement, and isolates the rectus abdominis muscle, whereas a core exercise can work the entire back & deep abdominal muscles. The plank, safest & most effective, helps to reinforce the stabilizing muscles, and can be used to combat back pain safely.


When doing specific ab exercises, train them with tension–increase the intensity, not the amount of time you train them.  Start off with exercises like:

Abdominal Holds

Bridges

Plank

Start the above with 20 counts, & increase by 5 counts each try.

Progress to..

Reverse Wood Chop

Single-Arm Neutral-Grip Dumbbell Row

Tip Place your free hand behind your back, palm facing up. Don't rotate or lift your torso as you row the weight.

Single-Arm Lunge

Many of the “gimmicks” you see on TV use professional fitness models to promote their product.  Most of the time, they have never used the product before & got in great shape with other methods – they might have even had liposuction done just before shooting the commercial, to look even better.

Besides getting a flatter stomach, you will probably have better posture and prevent neck & back injury at the same time.

Get Moving!

P.S. Don't Like exercising that much? Try Bellydancing!

Disclaimer: Consult your doctor before trying any of the above exercises.

Towards a Healthy Menopause...

Menopause marks the opening of the new chapter in women's life. It is the time when women stops having menstruation.
Menopause can be divided into following phases:
Perimenopause: Its the transition years when the hormonal levels start depleting and women experiences changes at the physical and emotional levels.
Premenopause: These are the years leading up to the last menstrual period.
Post menopause: Its the phase when the women hasn't experienced the menstrual bleeding minimum 12 months
Women experiences a variety of symptoms as a result of hormonal changes associated with transition through menopause. It occurs in age group of 45-55 years.The hormonal levels decline to a level that menstruation is no longer possible with this shift comes several physical and psychological changes. Its important for women to prepare for these changes by taking good care of their bodies.





SYMPTOMS

• Hot flushes: It is most common symptom. It is the feeling of warmth that spreads over body, lasting around 30 seconds to few minutes. Flushed(reddened) skin and palpitation and sweating.
• Urinary incontinence, burning on urination, itching and dryness.
• Vaginal changes as estrogen affects vaginal lining, experimental women may feel pain during intercourse and may note a change in vaginal discharge.
• Breast changes: shape changes,signs of atrophy can be seen.
• Bone loss: The bone loss is rapid in perimenopausal phase.Typically women reaches her peak bone mass by 25-30 years, after that there is decrease in bone mass 0.3% per year.This bone mass is 3% per year in perimenopausal phase which may lead to osteoporosis.Other associated symptoms may be back pain,joint pain.
• Cholesterol levels: The total cholesterol and LDL (Bad) cholesterol levels increase which leads to increased risk of heart problems.
• Weight gain
• Emotional symptoms: Menopause doesn't always create a series of emotional issues. Some women celebrate the menopause as freedom from birth control concerns or menses.However it is also common to feel unsettled about body changes which seems beyond one's control.The symptoms include, loss of fertility, aging, loss of sexuality, mood swings, fear of cancer.

But, dear ladies remember; the clouds do eventually lift! meanwhile try alleviating your menopausal symptoms with proper diet and exercise.

EXERCISES TO ALLEVIATE SYMPTOMS OF MENOPAUSE

Even if you've never formally exercised, its never too late to start... nor it is too late to reap benefits.The key is to start slowly and do things you enjoy such as:

AEROBIC EXERCISE: Exercises such as walking, cycling, dancing, etc. Aerobics have shown to reduce the stress levels,increase your stamina levels and prevent you from gaining weight.

STRENGTH TRAINING EXERCISES: Low to moderate intensity strengthening exercise helps to build muscle mass which typically is lost due to ageing. Also the bone density increases thus preventing you from getting injuries or osteoporosis. It helps you to increase metabolism and thus preventing from gaining weight.

FLEXIBILITY: It is very important to maintain flexibility of joints and muscles as it prevents from injuries.

Following exercise program can be implemented :

Warm up: active range of motion and mild stretches to major muscle groups

Exercise period: 30-45 min of aerobic exercise

Cool down: slow down the exercise and do stretches.

Make sure all the stretched are held for 15-20 seconds and repeated twice each side.While doing exercise do monitor your heart rate. Perform all exercise atleast 4-5 days a week and alternate 3 days complement aerobic exercise with strengthening of all major, muscles and small muscles group in form of circuit training.

Start aerobic exercises with 50-60% intensity and strengthening can be done by using weights, 40-50% of the weight they can lift maximally for 1 repetition.

STRESS REDUCTION

Aerobics do help to reduce stress.

Tai Chi has also shown positive results for reducing the emotional imbalance caused due to changes in hormones. Meditative exercises and relaxation can done.

Rhythmic Breathing: Rhythmic breathing involves a fixed rhythmic pattern where of inhalation,retention, exhalation,retention is of 2:1:2:1. Don't hold breathing if you are suffering from blood pressure or any heart disease. 

• Inhalation 1-2-3-4
• Pause after inhalation 5-6
• Exhalation 1-2-3-4
• Pause after exhalation 5-6

BALANCE EXERCISES

When we reach our 40s,it is not always easy upright. This is because after the age of 25, our balance begins to decrease falls in the later years often result to wrist and hip fractures,which can have devastating effects on lifestyle or even threat to life

Exercise A

Stand directly behind a table or chair and place your feet slightly apart. Lift one leg six inches outside.

Hold the position for 10 seconds.Repeat with the opposite leg.

Exercise B

Stand directly behind a table or chair and place your feet slightly apart. Slowly bend towards your chest lifting your foot six inches off the floor.

Hold the position for 10 seconds and repeat with The opposite leg.

Exercise C

Stand directly behind a table or chair and place your feet slightly apart. Lift one leg back keeping your knee straight.

Hold the position for 10 seconds. Repeat with the opposite leg

The above exercises should be performed 2-3 times a day.

Balance exercise safety guidelines:

Be aware of your posture.Try to maintain your weight over your ankle.

Avoid fast movements including quick turns or changes in position.

Use a chair as a place to not only perform seated exercises but also to hold on to while standing.

always get up slowly when rising from the chair.

Donot close your eyes when exercising or standing from your chair.

T-TAPP exercise

A series of unique movements that are designed to improve spinal alignment, flexibility, strength as well as to build muscle, to improve lymphatic function, raise metabolism and control glucose levels.

YOGA

It helps to maintain flexibility and promote relaxation.

 

                       YOGA POSES

 FOR PERIMENOPAUSAL SYMPTOMS

OTHER MEASURES

1. Have a regular annual check-up
2. Breast examination,mammogram
3. Pap smear
4. Blood tests
5. Bone density
6. Heart risk assessment

Whatever you do,make the commitment now to become more active.Taking control of your health is one way to make menopause a more pleasant experience.

DISCLAIMER :Refer your gynecologist before starting any of the above exercises.

Workspace Design & Ergonomics

We spend a lot of time sitting at our desks every day, and while it may not look like it, it can wreak havoc with our bodies.

Some of you may not realize how unfriendly your workspace is to your body, while many of you have already started experiencing aches & pains from an improperly set up desk. A number of different factors can cause injuries (yes, even at a desk), and they may not always be obvious—for example:

Slouching and keeping your shoulders tense can cause pinched nerves in your shoulders, but your wrists

If you haven't given a lot of thought to the comfort of your workspace, it's probably time to give it an ergonomic makeover. Here are the most important things you'll want to go through and change—both in your office hardware and in what you do when you're working.

For the purposes of this post, we're going to assume you're using a desktop PC & sitting desk.

What Your Hardware Needs to Do

Its not possible for most to go all out and build a custom ergonomic desk, so lets see the few essential changes around your workspace.
Here's where you want all your hardware positioned, and why:

Your Chair

People have been talking about ergonomic office chairs like uber expensive line for years now, but there's no need to go spend a bundle just to be comfortable. Nowadays, you can grab much more economical ergonomic chairs or even upgrade your old chair with some DIY ideas. Note that some things are DIYable; some are not. Here are the things you need to make sure your chair has:

• A comfortable cushion:
One of the most basic and obvious things you need is a comfortable place to sit. A hard chair isn't going to do any good; a proper office chair with a cushion is going to keep you much more comfortable. After all, you are spending hours in this chair. Breathable fabric is great too, if possible. 
• Arm rests: This is something you probably can't DIY, but you should have some arm rests on your chair for when you aren't actively typing. They should be low enough that your shoulders stay relaxed and your elbow bends at around a 90 degree angle. 
• Adjustable seat height: It's a lot easier to adjust your seat height than it is adjust your desk height. Step 1: Buttocks should fit snugly against the backrest. The edge of the seat should not press against the back of the knees.
  
  Step 2: Place feet flat on the floor and adjust the seat height till thighs gently slope downward while the feet remain flat on floor. You also want to have your arms at the height of the desk (or the part of the desk containing your keyboard or mouse).
  
• Adjustable back rest height: This is one of the first things to go in the cheaper office chairs. You should be able to adjust your chair's back rest not only up and down, but its angle as well. Generally, you want the angle to be pretty far forward to keep your posture up—the further back you put it, the more likely you'll be to slouch. You'll also want the back rest of your chair to have...
• Lumbar Support: You have probably heard this term a lot. Essentially, our backs are slightly curved inward, meaning the backs of our chairs shouldn't be directly vertical. Instead, they should support our lower backs by coming forward. Of course, you could just as easily strap a rolled-up towel or something similar on your chair, but you need that support if you don't want to mess up your spine. (Image)
• The ability to roll around: It's hard to DIY this particular feature, but a chair with wheels and the ability to swivel is actually more of a necessary feature than you may think. When you need to reach for items on your desk, you can put strain on your body—so widening the area you can easily reach (and see without turning your head) can do wonders. Always remember to swivel the chair using your feet & when reaching for items initiate movement with your hips rather than low back.

Your Desk

Just plopping your mouse, keyboard and monitor on your desk is not going to give you a healthy working setup. Here's how to make sure everything's set up in the right position.

• Mouse and Keyboard Placement:

Your mouse and keyboard should be as close together as possible, with the alphanumeric part of the keyboard centered on the desk. Pay attention to the keys, not the keyboard itself—most keyboards are asymmetrical, with the number pad on the right. Instead of putting the whole keyboard in the center of the desk, keep an eye on the "B" key. It should be directly in front of you and in the center of the desk (or, rather, where you'll be sitting at your desk).
Whether your desk has a sliding keyboard tray or not shouldn't be much of a problem, as you have both an adjustable seat (right?) that can put the keyboard and you can adjust your monitors in a myriad of ways (see below). If you do have a keyboard tray, make sure your mouse is on the tray with it, not on the desk itself. You want your keyboard and mouse to be at the height where using them causes your elbows to be bent at or near 90 degree angle, so you aren't bending your wrists to type.

• Monitor:

The monitors should be about an arm's length away from where you're sitting.
The trickier half of the equation is to eliminate glare on the monitors. While some monitors can tilt, many can't, and you're likely going to solve this problem with strategic lighting placement instead of monitor tweaks or an anti-glare screen.

• Desk Height:

Desk height should be appropriate according to your seat height, keyboard height, and monitor height of your setup, so you can double-check and make sure you've done everything right.

Accessories

The last thing you'll want to make sure of is that the most important objects at your desk are easily reachable. You shouldn't have to reach for anything often, so use the space you have to store the things you need frequent access to. Everything else can go in drawers. The swivelling and/or rolling chair helps with this: if your chair swivels, you have a larger space for which things are in direct reach.

You Need to Make an Effort

It doesn't matter how "ergonomic" your hardware may be, you still need to be pretty mindful of your body when you work or you'll never reap the benefits of your properly set up workspace. Here are the things you'll want to pay attention to every day to make sure you're being nice to your body.

Posture

If you've done everything right up until now, you're in a fairly good position: your keyboard is directly in front of you and the right level for a 90 degree bend in your elbows, and your monitor is at eye level so you shouldn't be craning your neck up or down to see. In addition, you should always make sure that:

You should be sitting up straight. What is important to remember is that, the curve in the low back has to be maintained. Two options are available:

1. Maintaining the curve using a towel roll/ round pillow.
2. If you have the option of inclining your seat, angle it to around 15 degrees. as long as your hips are above your knees the natural low back curve will be maintained, as seen in above picture.

Keep your elbows close to your body and keep your wrists straight. This means you can't be reaching for stuff, as I mentioned before—if you find your wrists or elbows aren't playing nice, it's probably because your mouse or keyboard is in the wrong position.
Keep your shoulders and back relaxed: tense shoulder and back muscles will cause all sorts of problems. Make sure they're relaxed, which is probably going to require you not using the armrests when you're typing. Your keyboard should already be at the right level where you don't need to use the armrests, even if it goes against your instincts.

Take Frequent Breaks

It's no secret that sitting in one place staring at the same screen all day is bad for you. You want to generally take at least a five minute break away from your screen every half hour to hour.

Follow the 20-20-20 Rule: Every 20 minutes, take 20 seconds to look away from your screen and at something 20 feet away from you.

Avoid Eye Strain

Taking those breaks will help your joints and your muscles, but also help relieve some of the eye strain you get staring at your computer all day. Minimizing glare with correct monitor placement will also help.

If your using Laptops

Angle the laptop to 30 degrees using an ergonomic stand & follow all the above mentioned tips.

Ideal Work Station Setup

These are but a few of the most important tips to creating a healthy, comfortable workspace. The above tricks may seem simple or inconsequential, but they'll make a world of difference. Got any of your own tips for an ergonomic workspace? Share them with us in the comments.