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Posture, Muscle Tension and Exercise

Millicent_Bystander

I've had problems with my posture and muscle tension for a long time, and have been reading about how these things affect autistic people more. As I get older I can't get away with sitting awkwardly as much as I used too and I'm finding my desk chair at home virtually impossible. I can't get comfortable in the chair, the slightest difficulty tenses me up so much I sit really stiffly and I've had a painful back for a while. The obvious answer would be to get a new office chair, but where do you start, there are thousands to choose from and the cost of one of those ergonomic chairs is eyewatering.

Being tense all the time is tiring, I'm trying to get back into some exercise, other than walking to help release the tension. I feel good after exercise but at the moment I feel exhausted. Despite knowing I feel good after exercise my tiredness is making changing my routine a bigger struggle and the sensory challenges of changing my clothes, a noisy fitness app, I can't find subtitles yet to turn off the incessent chatter and loud music, the gym is a no-no, I tried it and it takes way too much time to get there and back and the volume even with earplugs is too much.

Sorry for having a bit of a moan, I'm in a rut and feeling frustrated and down, struggling with sensory sensitivities and despite knowing what would help, feeling unable to get on with it.

Would like to know if anyone else has this experience and any advice

Parents
  • Millicent_Bystander said:
    The obvious answer would be to get a new office chair, but where do you start, there are thousands to choose from and the cost of one of those ergonomic chairs is eyewatering.

    Keep an eye on the likes of eBay and Facebook Marketplace - you can often get the ergonomic chairs secondhand at decent prices and you then just need to give them a really good clean.

    Millicent_Bystander said:
    Being tense all the time is tiring,

    I can recommend elements of meditation, specifically the parts where you close your eyes, breathe deeply and focus on the tense muscles to release the tension. It takes a minute of so and can really ease off the tension.

    Learning when to spot that you are tensing up is a great way to halt it in its tracks too - it takes  bit of a change in mindset to be able to do this but it reallty does work when you can see the tasks coming and just accept them without letting them cause stress.

    Millicent_Bystander said:
    Despite knowing I feel good after exercise my tiredness is making changing my routine a bigger struggle and the sensory challenges of changing my clothes, a noisy fitness app, I can't find subtitles yet to turn off the incessent chatter and loud music, the gym is a no-no

    Eating well is a big part of this, plus also knowing what to eat, and when. I can recommend having a session with a nutritionist to work through your needs, understand your food limitations and to build a plan for you to eat well, healthily and in a way that lets you feel much better.

    You can switch the phone to mute mode and go running instead - no need for gyms if you don't like them, but you do need to be prepared for the cold and wet.

    Can't hack running, how about getting a cross trainer for home? They are not terribly expensive and I found they are great to sit an iPad on the display part and watch a TV episode or film while working out.

    There are always solutions.

Reply
  • Millicent_Bystander said:
    The obvious answer would be to get a new office chair, but where do you start, there are thousands to choose from and the cost of one of those ergonomic chairs is eyewatering.

    Keep an eye on the likes of eBay and Facebook Marketplace - you can often get the ergonomic chairs secondhand at decent prices and you then just need to give them a really good clean.

    Millicent_Bystander said:
    Being tense all the time is tiring,

    I can recommend elements of meditation, specifically the parts where you close your eyes, breathe deeply and focus on the tense muscles to release the tension. It takes a minute of so and can really ease off the tension.

    Learning when to spot that you are tensing up is a great way to halt it in its tracks too - it takes  bit of a change in mindset to be able to do this but it reallty does work when you can see the tasks coming and just accept them without letting them cause stress.

    Millicent_Bystander said:
    Despite knowing I feel good after exercise my tiredness is making changing my routine a bigger struggle and the sensory challenges of changing my clothes, a noisy fitness app, I can't find subtitles yet to turn off the incessent chatter and loud music, the gym is a no-no

    Eating well is a big part of this, plus also knowing what to eat, and when. I can recommend having a session with a nutritionist to work through your needs, understand your food limitations and to build a plan for you to eat well, healthily and in a way that lets you feel much better.

    You can switch the phone to mute mode and go running instead - no need for gyms if you don't like them, but you do need to be prepared for the cold and wet.

    Can't hack running, how about getting a cross trainer for home? They are not terribly expensive and I found they are great to sit an iPad on the display part and watch a TV episode or film while working out.

    There are always solutions.

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