Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1351516
56 S P R I N G 2 0 2 1 I C A S Q U A R T E R L Y A general exercise schedule for injury prevention can be as simple as this: Or as complex as this: POSTURE AND ERGONOMICS Whether you are a boom operator who needs to keep your arms over your head or a sound mixer leaning over a mixing panel, how you position yourself will have an impact on your body mechanics and vulnerability to injury. Contrary to popular belief, there is not one posture that is bad for you. The truth is holding any posture for too long can cause muscle length problems and joint stress. A helpful phrase to remember is: "Your next posture is your best posture!" APPLICATION BY PROFESSION Let's break down each position and discuss risk factors for possible injury and how they can be prevented. Sound Mixers A popular belief from a few years ago was that sitting is the "new smoking." While this has been disproven, sitting for many hours a day with poor posture and lack of movement can be detrimental to your health. Common injuries that can develop from the slouched forward posture and weak core muscles that run rampant in this community include thoracic outlet syndrome, postural syndrome, and low back pain. In this photo of Steve Tibbo CAS, he can be seen with rounded shoulders and forward head, which causes increased tension in the muscle on the front of the chest and back of the neck. This posture indicates weakness of the upper back muscles and deep neck flexor muscles. This posture can lead to rotator cuff pain, numbness and tingling in the arms, pain through the neck, and headaches. Keeping your shoulders relaxed with your elbows at the level of your controls will help to keep you from shrugging your shoulders and developing these kinds of postural problems. By keeping your back in an upright position, you prevent strain on your low back muscles. How to remember to change posture? When we are working intensely, the last thing on our mind is often our posture— and this is where awareness comes in. One solution is to use a mental totem as a reminder to adjust into an upright position if you tend to slouch. Production sound mixers can use cuts as cues to sit upright and turnarounds as prompts to get up and walk around or stretch. As we know, re-recording mixers don't have cuts or turnarounds for prompts. Steve Tibbo pointed out that when in post, he often feels "...glued to his chair." Karol Urban uses reminders she sets on her Apple watch to get up and move. There are also hundreds of free activity/ reminder apps such as "Stand Up!" and "HabitNow" that can remind you to take a walk or even just shift positions. Boom Operators/Bag Mixers Due to the overhead arm positions with internal and external rotation demands at the shoulders, boom operators and bag mixers have several common injuries. These include Shoulder Impingement Syndrome, rotator cuff tears, shoulder bursitis, and postural syndrome/neck pain. Lower back pain is also common due to the increased arch in the small of the back that results as a compensation for weak core musculature. While making micro adjustments with their shoulders and arms becomes second nature, the same forward head position seen in mixers occurs here as well. If a boom operator has the awareness to consciously correct posture, even in the middle of a take, some of the shoulder and neck stress will transfer to those deep stabilizer muscles, reducing fatigue and risk of injury to the superficial muscles and joints. As Bryan noted earlier, exoskeletons can considerably help offload the shoulder joint during these overhead positions, but strengthening the rotator cuff muscles, Steve Tibbo CAS