Taking A Micro-Break

A common advice that we get for workplace health issues related repetitive stress injuries (RSI) is to take frequent breaks. Usually, people suggest that a 5-minute break every 45 to 60 minutes. But what about micro pauses like 10-second breaks?
A lot of the stress comes from muscle fatigue. When muscles are fatigued then don’t do their jobs well. So they need to rest from time to time to recover. Achieving the right amount of muscle recovery at the right time not to difficult to understand. Muscles recover very quickly from low levels of fatigue but quite slowly from high levels of fatigue. Once your muscles become tired and sore, recovery takes a long time.
Recovery at frequent periods from low-level fatigue will take only around ten seconds whereas high levels of fatigue will take up to several hours. Think about how your body feels after a strenuous work-out.
One solution to muscle fatigue is micro pauses. They are very short breaks of 5 to 10 seconds every 4 to 10 minutes of repetitive motions (or stationary positions). Micro pauses relax you muscles and restore blood flow. These micro pauses are small changes in your working activity that allow you to adopt different postures, positions and eye focus.
Advantages Of Micro Pauses
The advantages of micro pauses:
- They take very little time and can easily be developed to become a healthy habit.
- Prevent fatigue build up.
- They are taken before discomfort occurs.
- Micro pauses are the most effective and efficient breaks you can take, but remembering to take them is difficult.
Examples of what to do in a micro pause
- Look away from what you are working on and let go of the mouse if you are using the computer.
- Drop your arms to your sides, lean back and allow your shoulders to droop and relax.
- Pointing the hands towards the floor and gently shaking the wrists is a good idea.
- Do this for 5 – 10 seconds.
Related and Popular Articles
- Snapping Ankle - Physiotherapy
- Labour Epidural Cause Chronic Backache?
- The Best Exercises for Trochanteric Bursitis
- Posterior Pelvic Pain (Sacroiliac Joint Pain) in Pregnant Women
- How do I know if I have scoliosis?
- Diastasis Recti Abdominis - Conditions
- Cobb Angle and Scoliosis
- Maybe it isn't Plantar Fasciitis but Heel Fat Pad Syndrome
- What to do when your back hurts so much that you can't get out of bed?
- Multifidus - Smallest Yet Most Powerful Muscle
- Nerve Stretches
- Shoulder Pain - Frequently Asked Questions
- 'Clunking' Shoulders - Part I
- Waking up with neck pain? Find the right pillow.
- Not All Pain In the Back Is Back Pain - It Could Be Rib Pain
- MCL strain not getting better? Because it is Pes Ancerinus Tendinitis.
- Slipped Disc in Singapore - What to Do and Avoid
- Better to break a bone than to tear a ligament or tendon
- Knee Joint & Ankle Pain - Specialist Treatment in Singapore
- Acromion Clavicle Joint - Another source of shoulder pain
- Sway Back No More
- Knock Knees - Can I reverse it? (Part 1)
- Sway back posture: A leading poor posture type causing back pain
- Posterior Capsule stretches