If you're an artist, chances are you sit quite a lot. Probably too much. We sit at our drawing tables sketching and painting for hours on end. We also spend an incredible amount of time sitting at our computers creating art, checking emails, sending invoices, networking...the list goes on and on. All of this sitting has become the norm for us, but our bodies were not necessarily designed to support this lifestyle. As a result, we suffer from lower back pain, upper back pain, and tight muscles from head to toe! On top of it all, many freelance artists are too busy to get in a good workout every day. It's a recipe for disaster (and huge chiropractic bills.)
I'm currently in Yoga Teachers Training which is proving to be a perfect balance to my life as an artist. One of my goals is to help artists feel better and be more creative through the practice of yoga and meditation. This weekend, I attended an amazing anatomy workshop led by
Dr. Josh Akin. He seriously knows anatomy, inside and out, through and through. We studied various yoga poses (known as asanas) one by one, and looked at how to prevent injury through proper alignment of the body. Aside from yoga, we also talked about how every day habits such as sitting too much (which we artists are known for) will cause the leg muscles (hamstrings and quads) as well as the IT band to shorten, resulting in lack of flexibility and possibly lower back pain. Sitting too much also causes our hips to tighten, which causes all kinds of problems, especially as we get older.
Take a look at this to learn what your IT band is. It's one of things that gets shortened from sitting too much. When this happens you can get pain in your knees and your hips.
At the end of the workshop, Dr. Akin demonstrated how to work out the muscle stiffness in the legs and back using a foam roller. Knowing how much I sit all day, this is really going to come in handy! I've never used one before and when I finally tried it, I was amazed. This is absolutely the best thing for working out the tightness in your IT bands, hamstrings, and quads. It's a sturdy, round piece of foam, 6" in diameter and 36" long (they also come in 18"). Basically you lie on it and slowly, slowly roll back and forth on the areas of your body that are tight. What is does is help to reduce muscle tightness. You have to be diligent though. One or two session on a foam roller isn't enough to get out the kinks. He recommended 10 minutes a day, after you've done a little bit of exercise and your body is warm, or after a hot shower. If you roll on an area such as your quads and have no pain, you don't need it. The goal is roll on an area repeatedly until the pain or discomfort is gone. I have to admit, when I rolled on my IT bands, I felt it! I'm sure my IT's are shortened because I like to sit cross legged a lot, even at my computer. But the foam roller is going to feel different from individual to individual, depending on how tight your muscles are.
This is a foam roller:
So artists, I highly recommend you try one of these and start rolling! Of course, these are great for everyone, not just artists. But since I'm an artist, and this blog is about art, well, you get it;) They're less than $20 when you order them on line. I've also found them at Dicks Sporting Goods, REI, and Sports Authority. They're more expensive of course if you buy them in stores, but they come in some cool colors and some brands come with instructional DVDs.
Here's some information from About.com to help you get started with your foam roller.
http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/flexibilityandstretching/ss/FoamRoller.htm A HUGE thank you to Dr. Akin for conducting the workshop!
If you're an artist and you try a foam roller, please share your results with me here. And if you found this article informative, please let me too!
Happy Rolling (and happy drawing too!). (Note: You might want to consult your doctor before trying this of course!)
-Cynthia
