I say “issues” because I know this is not a universal thing, nor is one particular posture related to pain broadly.
That said, there are very obvious sustained postures that, for me at least and when combined with lifting, do result in nagging/chronic tightness and pain. Any prolonged computer/desk usage for studying, editing work or the like, or prolonged sitting with a guitar or at a piano (teaching/writing/etc) results in upper trap/levator scap tightness and eventually headaches or muscle seizures at worst (a “kink in the neck”).
It only recently dawned on me that this sustained position may be why I’ve almost always had shoulder pain while benching or trying to do OHP (most of the time through university). I previously believed it was an “impingement issue”, but while still relatively hypertrophy focused, I’m able to shoulder press 3x a week without issue. I’ve done a lot less computer sitting/music lately, and haven’t had any shoulder issues, but a relative increase recently has meant that familiar “tightness” in the shoulder/pec minor area has increased proportionately.
I used to think this could be countered with back work, prehab, etc but nothing really fixed the issue and I’m not convinced one can really undo the work of hours’ worth of sustained posture. Which brings me to my question: Is there any way to combat sustained posture, other than trying to move and change posture as much as possible and occasionally digging around with a lacrosse ball or the like?
You definitely can’t undo hours of holding a sustained posture with corrective exercises. Same with using a lacrosse ball.
The best thing to do is what you said. Just be aware of your posture and avoid maintaining one position for extended periods.
And if you’re forced to sustain a certain position for a long time, expect to feel some soreness, but know that there is nothing wrong with your tissues.
I think the issue here is not so much that I’m worried about “injury” as I am about pain. “Impingement” pain in the shoulders feels like crap. Having a tension headache sucks, but it sucks more if those muscles seize up and I don’t have full ROM for a week. I do think this is where some manual therapy can help, because it’s more an issue of prolonged load and getting one’s nervous system to calm down. But indeed, avoiding the position for long periods of time really seems to be the only solution.
I used to play a lot of guitar. Pain/tightness in the areas you mentioned was an inevitable side effect from doing it for hours at a time with no breaks. Soft tissue massage didn’t give me any lasting relief. Guitar is tricky b/c there are only really two postures you can swap between (resting guitar on left or right leg). Only real solutions IMO are more frequent breaks and playing less overall, unfortunately.
You could also try the curable app to retrain your brain to be less sensitive to pain. I just started using it after Dr. Miles recommended it.
Interesting, I didn’t realize that was an option. Will look into it.
Yeah, good point. I’m mostly working on trying to put dedicated time towards it and minimize the amount of time I need to play. Writing is another story, but practice is usually quite productive and doable in 20-30 minute stints and from a motor learning perspective one is better off doing 2x30min sessions a day than one 1.5h session.
I agree re: soft tissue work, by the way. What I do think it’s helpful for is symptom reduction, but it certainly doesn’t address the underlying problem of prolonged posture.