Even as a life-long athlete, I rarely used to stretch when I was younger. And I’m paying the price for it now. Especially due to the excessive muscle tension I’ve gotten from a sedentary lifestyle.
As I’ve gotten into my late 40’s, I stretch just about every day. But for me, it’s not always about how intense and painful the stretch is. I often get great results from light-intensity, long-duration stretches. I make sure to focus on my breathing slowly and deeply.
Sitting at a computer for long periods of time used to cause my hamstrings to tighten and shorten. Here is a classic example of a “touch your toes” stretch. I’ve used this stretch to improve blood flow and lengthen my hamstrings. Image via ChatGPT.
This article will talk about how I combat repetitive strain injuries with 2 of my favorite stretches. One is called a door stretch. The other is called a cactus yoga pose, which I get the best results from while laying flat on the floor.
I used to make painful computer posture mistakes when it came to monitor height. I would use a laptop monitor 8 hours a day. Laptop monitors are too small and too low. This caused me a lot of eye and neck strain. That neck strain would contribute to the painful headaches I used to get.
Once I realized using a laptop monitor wasn’t ergonomic, I switched to an external monitor. But I also kept that monitor height too low. I didn’t raise my external monitor up to the correct height until after the first couple years I had it.
This user is working on a laptop monitor. Notice his forward head posture. His head is tilted downward to see his screen. Holding this position for long periods of time will cause excessive muscle tension and chronic neck pain. Image via ChatGPT.
The proper monitor height is one of the most important variables of computer ergonomics. It’s helped me prevent:
eye strain
neck strain
headaches
slouching forward
spinal disc degeneration
This article will focus on reducing eye and neck strain with correct monitor placement. Which is actually a pretty simple fix.
I used to slouch forward at a computer from 2002 to 2011. It’s one of the most destructive things I’ve ever done to my body. I worked in this poor posture for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.
Since then, maintaining a neutral spine at my workstation hasn’t been easy. But I can say that it’s possible to come back from years of slouching at a computer desk. We just need to make small posture improvements and practice them on a consistent, daily basis.
This article will explain how to avoid slouching while working on a computer, by providing tips to sit upright at a desk. Image via ChatGPT.
This article will provide a list of what I require for my ergonomic desk setup for better posture. It will also go over proper computer posture tips to prevent slouching forward.
Sitting at a computer for long periods of time caused me poor posture, decreased energy, decreased mental clarity, and low work productivity.
I still sit at a computer part-time. But I also turn my desk into a standing workstation for part of the day. After all the damage that sitting has done to my body, I wanted to learn how to stand at a computer with good posture.
This article will talk about the correct standing position for computer work. Image by ChatGPT.
This article will talk about the furniture and technology I use for my ergonomic standing desk setup. It’ll also talk about my computer ergonomic tips for correct posture at a standing desk.
Computer workstation ergonomics can be a complex topic. Computer-related pain hurts. It’s also stressful, depressing, and it can impact work productivity.
The goods news is, we can always improve. It might only be a 1% improvement. But imagine a 1% improvement every day, over a period of a few months.
The best way of posture correction for office workers is through small, healthy habits practiced on a daily basis. It took a long time for sitting at a computer to break our bodies down. It’s also going to take a long time to improve our posture.
But pain-free, productive computer posture is an attainable goal. And you reading this article is a big step towards that goal. So congratulations! That’s something to be proud of. Let’s get started with some healthy sitting habits.
This article will talk about the correct sitting posture for computer work. Image by ChatGPT.
This article will talk about the furniture and technology that I require for my ergonomic desk setup. It’ll also talk about healthy sitting habits for proper computer posture.
Why does sitting at a computer even cause shoulder pain? We’re not pushing any weight over our heads. Also, we’re not throwing a ball. We’re not pushing a door open. These are all actions that require shoulder strength.
Sitting at a computer causes shoulder tension for a few reasons. You’ll learn some causes of it later in this article. But in the end, this shoulder tension is a result of repetitive strain and overuse. When using a computer, we use our shoulders 8 hours a day, for light-intensity, long-duration muscle holds.
What are ways to reduce shoulder tension from typing? Image via ChatGPT.
This article will talk about these ways to reduce shoulder tension from typing:
Computer posture can be a complex topic. I try to explain it in the easiest, most actionable way possible. But the advice, “Sit up straight,” isn’t going to get the job done. To get any real results, we’ll need to get more technical to improve computer posture.
How can I improve my posture while using a computer? Image via ChatGPT.
This article will explain how the technology and office furniture we use plays an important role in computer ergonomics. These tools can help us decrease computer-related pain, improve posture, and increase work productivity.
Computer-related injuries are a common cause for muscle tension and chronic pain. Computer posture can be a complex topic. But my goal is to simplify it as much as possible.
Pain-free, proper posture for computer use is an attainable goal. If you’re reading this article, congratulations! You’re taking a huge step forward to improve your computer ergonomics, as well as your quality of life. That’s something to be very proud of. Thanks for your interest in sitting posture.
Welcome to today’s article, frequently asked questions related to computer posture. Image via ChatGPT.
This article will answer frequently asked questions related to computer posture. The questions are:
Why is computer posture important for health?
What are the effects of poor posture while working at a computer desk?
How often should I take breaks to avoid bad posture?
What causes shoulder tension during computer work?
Computer-related injuries are a common cause for muscle tension and chronic pain. Computer posture can be a complex topic. But my goal is to simplify it as much as possible.
Pain-free, proper posture for computer use is an attainable goal. If you’re reading this article, congratulations! You’re taking a huge step forward to improve your computer ergonomics, as well as your quality of life. That’s something to be very proud of. Thanks for your interest in sitting posture.
Welcome to today’s article, frequently asked questions related to computer posture. Image via ChatGPT.
This article will answer frequently asked questions related to computer posture. The questions are:
What ergonomic tools can improve posture while using a computer?
Neck and back pain are very common complaints from office workers. When using a computer 8 hours a day, repetitive strain and overuse injuries occur. The worse our posture is, the more pain we’ll feel.
But what if I told you that proper posture for computer use can be simplified? Making a couple ergonomic changes to our desk setup may not completely heal our computer-related neck and back pain. But those changes could greatly reduce our pain, as well as decrease the risk of future repetitive strain injuries.
This article will talk about my most effective ways of neck and back pain prevention from computer use. Image via ChatGPT.
This article will talk about why computer use causes neck and back pain. Then, it’ll cover ergonomic desk setup tips for reducing and preventing neck and back pain from sitting.
I used to do hot yoga on a regular basis. I stopped practicing back in 2013. Since then, my workouts have consisted of weightlifting and steel mace exercises. I’ve also spent a lot of time in the dry sauna before and after workouts.
But I don’t do exercises while I’m in the sauna. I focus on breathing deep and slow. The sauna helps improve my blood flow and warm up my muscles. It’s helped improve my workouts a lot. But I’ve been focusing a little too much on strengthening, not enough on stretching. I’ve been looking to add movement and stretches to my exercise practice, while focusing on my breathing in a heated room. So naturally, I’ve started practicing hot yoga again.
Can hot yoga improve computer posture? Image via ChatGPT.
After getting back into hot yoga recently, the first 2 months were very surprising. Sometimes a pose will come up in class, I’ll immediately remember how painful that pose used to be. But surprisingly, I’ll usually get into that pose and feel better than I did back in 2013. I can attribute this to a lot of variables of my computer ergonomic practice. One, I’ve been practicing healthy posture habits at a computer since 2011. And two, I’ve been practicing low-toxin living since January of 2024.
Can Hot Yoga Improve Computer Posture?
This article will talk about my experience with hot yoga. I’ll cover how I’ve used yoga for ergonomic health at work. I’ll also talk about the posture benefits of a regular hot yoga practice. Most importantly, I’ll talk about how hot yoga combats computer-related pain.
I sat at a computer desk with poor posture for 10 years until I’d finally had enough. Poor computer posture caused muscle tension, chronic pain, decreased work productivity, and lack of energy.
Once I committed to improving my sitting ergonomics for better health, I was surprised how simple most of the computer posture tips I learned were. It was one thing to learn the best ways to improve posture at the computer. It was another thing to maintain those posture correction tips on a daily basis.
Simple tips to improve your posture at a computer. Image via ChatGPT.
This article will talk about 3 of my favorite methods to improve posture at your computer desk. It’ll talk about how office ergonomics is so much more than just a healthy sitting posture. These are simple posture hacks for office workers that are so easy, you’ll be glad you’re here.
Carpal tunnel syndrome is a painful condition where a nerve in the wrist gets compressed. I suffered through this wrist pain for years. I thought it was just a part of my life going forward. If I wanted to have an office-based career where I worked on a computer, I’d have carpal tunnel syndrome from typing, indefinitely.
But in my experience, the theory that wrist pain comes from the act of typing is a misconception. I had carpal tunnel syndrome from using an old-school, tall, bulky keyboard and mouse. I had to extend my wrists to lift my hands onto my tall keyboard and mouse. Holding this vulnerable wrist position for 8 hours a day is why the nerve in my wrist was compressed. It actually didn’t have anything to do with how much I was typing. Instead, it was the repetitive strain and overuse of constantly extending my wrists.
Tools to reduce wrist pain from computer use. Image via ChatGPT.
This article will explain how I prevent wrist pain by typing correctly. It will also talk about ergonomic tools to reduce wrist pain. Finally, it will talk about how I strengthen my wrists away from my desk, which is also a method of wrist pain relief for computer users.
Sitting at a computer desk 8 hours a day is an endurance event. It’s working in a position of light-intensity, for a long-duration of time. Humans can get into this vulnerable position with no problem. But we’re not designed to stay in that position for long periods of time.
Stretching Versus Strengthening: The Fine Line Between Balancing the Two. Image via ChatGPT.
As office workers, some of our muscles experience excessive inactivity. The rest of our muscles are put through repetitive strain and overuse. Sitting posture causes some muscles to shorten and some to lengthen. With this type of muscle confusion, we need to make sure we are stretching and strengthening our muscles.
This article will talk about how I improve flexibility with stretching, as well as how I build muscle strength.
Computer ergonomics is one of those topics they don’t teach much about in school. The only time I learned about it was in college. And that’s only because I was an Information Technology major. It was a 101 intro class about basic computer knowledge. We covered ergonomics for about 2 days. That was it.
As athletes, how many times has a trainer explained how to do a squat correctly? Or how to improve our bench press, so we can push 10 more pounds?
How many times has a coach taught us how to shoot a basketball? Or throw a baseball?
Computer Ergonomics for Athletes. Image via ChatGPT.
Sitting at a computer may not be a sport, but it is an endurance event.
It’s very different from a marathon, which is high-impact and high-intensity. Sitting at a computer is a low-intensity, long-duration event that can cause repetitive strain and overuse injuries. These computer-related injuries can cause chronic pain, muscle tension, and joint dysfunction.
Posture is the position we hold our bodies at a computer. Ergonomics is the study of our efficiency at a computer. Posture is only one ergonomic variable. If you’d like to learn about computer posture tips, I wrote an article titled Computer Posture for Athletes.
The rest of this article won’t talk about posture, specifically. It will focus on the other ergonomic variables that are important for office workers who are athletes. These variables include sleep quality, hydration, breathing, and nutrition. Even though some of them don’t actually take place at our computer desk, they’re still an important part of my computer ergonomics practice.
Athletes are at peak performance when they’re active, strong, flexible, and energetic. But a computer user is forced to be the exact opposite of those adjectives. When we sit at a computer for long periods of time, we’re inactive, weak, tight, and tired.
These computer-related posture issues create big problems for athletes. Not only at our office desk, but also in the gym and on the playing field.
Computer Posture for Athletes. Image via ChatGPT.
This article will talk about my favorite ways of computer posture correction, which will improve athletic performance. It’ll also cover ways of preventing future injuries from poor computer posture in athletes.
In 2011, I was broken from poor computer posture. I also had low energy, brain fog, and low work productivity. That same year, I implemented as many healthy computer habits into my daily routine as possible.
Thanks for reading my computer posture guide. Image via ChatGPT.
Proper desk posture, while working on a computer, is the most important variable of computer ergonomics (in my opinion). This article will talk about how to improve posture while using a computer, as well as how to prevent computer-related injuries.
Chronic neck pain was one of the worst issues I had before I corrected my computer posture. But the act of “sitting” at a computer didn’t cause my neck pain. Because computer-related neck pain can also occur when working at a standing workstation.
Why does sitting at a computer cause neck pain? Photo by People Images via Megapixl.
So if it wasn’t the act of “sitting” that was causing my pain, what was it? This article will talk about a few different computer posture mistakes that caused my chronic neck pain and tension. It will also provide office work neck pain solutions.
I enjoy sharing products with my readers that’ve improved my computer posture, not to mention my quality of life. I’m not compensated by any companies who make the products I’ll mention in this article. I paid my own money for all of them.
This photo contains some of the best computer posture correction devices in my opinion. Photo by Norbert Levajsics via Unsplash.
This article will talk about my favorite computer posture correction devices. 3 of them are beneficial in creating a healthy workstation setup. The other 2 are great recovery devices to use away from your working environment. But they are still directly related to improving your computer posture.
For 10 years, I sat with poor computer posture everyday for 8 hours a day. I didn’t even know what the word “ergonomics” meant.
Ergonomics means “the study of people’s efficiency in their working environment.” But in my opinion, ergonomics doesn’t only take place inside the “working environment.” Posture takes place in the working environment. And posture is an important variable of ergonomics. Arguably, the most important variable.
The Ultimate Guide to Ergonomic Computer Posture. Image by Kiosea39 via Megapixl.
But what about sleep quality. If I get terrible sleep the night before work, I’m going to get to work tired. This means my computer posture will suffer much quicker that day, opposed to a day where I got 8 hours of quality sleep the night before. In my mind, sleep is an important variable of computer ergonomics.
This article will talk about different variables of computer ergonomics that’ve helped improve my posture. Some of them occur in the working environment. And some occur outside of it. The computer ergonomic variables covered in this article will be:
