Now that kids are back to school, Austin’s notoriously terrible traffic is back to full force and many of us are spending more time in our cars than we would like. With this in mind, I thought it might be a good time to remind everyone of a few basic steps we can all take to make our time in the car less of a strain on our bodies. Please remember to use common sense when making any of these changes and never make adjustments that would impair your ability to see the road, your mirrors, or your car's instruments clearly and easily.
1. Adjust your steering wheel down and towards you, but make sure it is at least 10 inches from your sternum (breastbone). The less your arms have to reach forward and up, the less of a strain is put on your neck and upper back. Keep you hands near the 9 and 3 o’clock positions rather than 10 and 2 as this will help keep your shoulder muscles relaxed.
2. Don’t lean to one side. The reality is that many of us use only one hand to drive while leaning the elbow of the opposite arm against an arm rest or the center console. This position can create pain in the low back, upper back, shoulders, or neck. Rather than leaning, allow the inactive hand to rest gently in your lap while you drive.
3. Keep your seat back reclined slightly as sitting up too straight will put undue pressure on your back. Your hips and upper back should come into contact with the back of the car seat.
4. Adjust the position of your seat so that you can comfortably depress the pedals without your back leaving the seat.
5. Make an effort to rest your head against the head support while driving so that you are not holding your head forward. Position your head support so that your head rests directly in the middle of the support. This step has the added bonus of significantly decreasing the severity of whiplash in the case of an accident.
6. Keep your legs parallel to each other. While driving a car with an automatic transmission, many people allow their left leg to splay out to the side and lean against the car door. This position can cause low back, hip, and leg pain. Keep your left foot flat on the floor and engage your inner thigh to hold your left leg parallel to your right.
7. Keep integrity in your core muscles while driving. The abdominal muscles help to support the low back and entire spine, but are not usually engaged while driving. These muscles may be activated by imagining a string pulling the belly button towards the spine. Aim to hold this tension in the core muscles with only about 10% of your strength. Maintaining this integrity in the core will help to keep your entire spine in proper alignment while you are driving.
While we can all take steps to improve our driving posture, the truth is that there is nothing we can do to make driving good for our bodies! Even with perfect posture, driving is still incredibly fatiguing for the muscles of the low back and pelvis because the seats in cars simply create an unnatural position for the human body. If you have a long commute, make sure to take a few minutes to walk around and stretch when you arrive at your destination. Remember, every body that is spending a lot of time sitting in Austin traffic needs some attention and Peacock Bodyworks is happy to help!