Author: Todd Bowen

Ergonomics is the study of people’s efficiency in their working environment. As office workers, computer ergonomics extend outside of the time we’re physically at our desk. I consider nutrient-dense foods an important variable of my computer posture. Because the healthier we are when we sit at our desk in the morning, the better our computer posture will be. If we’ve been eating unhealthy foods that have dozens of artificial ingredients, our strength, energy, and computer posture will suffer much earlier in the day. Nutrition for better posture is an important variable of my computer ergonomics process.

Sitting at a computer for 8 hours a day is an endurance event. Some of our muscles and tendons are excessively overused in an attempt for good posture. The rest of our muscles and tendons are underused for long periods of time. They are hardly activated at all while we’re at our computer.

After this endurance event we call a work day, we go straight to the gym, run, or play sports. For years, I’d do this 5 days a week, while eating ultra-processed, nutrient-deficient foods everyday. This bad nutrition habit led to very increased risk of poor computer posture.

Continue reading Foods That Promote Good Posture

When it comes to sitting posture ergonomics, back pain is the most common work-related injury. In my experience, this was definitely true. However, shoulder pain was in a close second place.

But why does sitting at a computer cause shoulder pain? It’s not like we’re doing overheard shoulder presses at our computer desk. We’re not using our arm to throw a fastball. We’re not even pushing open a heavy door. Also, we’re simply sitting at a computer, holding a keyboard and mouse for 8 hours a day.

But that’s the answer. Our bodies were made to move. They’re designed to be athletic, strong, and flexible. We weren’t made to hold the exact same position for 8 hours a day. Especially if it’s a compromised, poor posture position at a computer. This can cause repetitive stress injuries. These overuse injuries cause chronic muscle tension that is very stubborn and hard to relieve. It takes much longer to release this muscle tension. Longer than it would to relieve normal muscle tension you’d get from sports or exercise.

Continue reading Why Does Sitting at a Computer Cause Shoulder Pain?

I recently wrote an article titled, Standing Desk Posture Tips. While writing it, I realized that going from a sitting posture workstation to a standing desk only requires 3 accessories. These accessories will also allow alternating between sitting and standing. Because we don’t want to go from sitting posture all day, straight to standing posture all day. We’d just have different computer-related injuries.

Sitting at a computer isn’t the enemy here. Working in the same position for 8 hours a day is the enemy we want to avoid. This is why poor computer posture creates so much muscle tension and chronic pain. Repetitive strain and overuse injuries don’t care what position we are working in. They care about how long we continue to work in that same compromised, vulnerable position.

We don’t want to sit, or stand, for long periods of time. Even if it is proper standing posture. I like to switch positions often, alternating sitting and standing posture. I’m dedicating this article to the 3 standing desk accessories that make a sit-stand desk transition quick and easy.

Continue reading Standing Desk Accessories

I started using a standing computer desk in 2012. Working in a sitting posture for long periods of time had left my body broken from poor posture. I had to figure out a way to work in a different position. So naturally, I decided to try a standing desk. But I had no idea what a proper standing posture was. And I made plenty of standing posture mistakes in the beginning.

Today, I’ve finally got my ergonomic standing position figured out. And I want to help you save time and energy, by sharing my standing desk posture tips to help you reduce computer-related injuries.

A lot of ergonomics experts will create a standing desk height calculator. It’s a chart that decides the desk height and monitor height according to how tall the user is. Personally, I don’t think a standing desk height calculator is necessary. I like to take a more organic approach to figuring out standing desk ergonomics.

Continue reading Standing Desk Posture Tips

My lower back pain caused by sitting was very difficult to figure out. It’s not like we’re really using our lower back when we’re sitting at a computer for long periods of time. We’re not carrying a heavy load. We’re not subject to a hard fall or impact. We’re not even absorbing soft and repetitive impact, like when running. These are all typical situations where a lower back injury is common.

But there is often a cause/effect relationship when troubleshooting sitting-related injuries. In this case, lower back pain is the poor posture effect. But the cause is located in other areas of the body.

Continue reading Why Does Sitting Cause Lower Back Pain?

Sitting at a computer for long periods of time takes a massive toll on our health. It doesn’t just affect us physically. It also affects us mentally. A full-time computer job requiring 8 hours a day quickly adds up to 40 hours a week. Multiply that by 52 weeks in a year. That gives us over 2,000 hours per year of sitting in a broken, vulnerable, poor posture.

But how can I improve my computer posture? How can I turn my computer workstation into an ergonomic asset that promotes good posture? Instead of a computer desk that’s a liability for my physical and mental health.

So, I’m dedicating this article to explain how to make an ergonomic computer workstation. I’ll explain good posture habits for computer users to include in their daily routine. All the tips in this article will promote good computer ergonomics at home or in the office.

Continue reading Good Posture Habits for Computer Users

I used to suffer a lot of wrist pain from typing. This is commonly known as carpal tunnel syndrome. I couldn’t figure out why, or what I was doing wrong. I just thought wrist pain was something that came along with the computer posture territory.

Luckily, I finally figured it out (by accident). One day, I decided to get away from my home office. I still wanted to work, but I needed a new environment to work in. Maybe it would improve my posture. Or, at least change it from the normal poor posture routine I was in. But mainly I was looking for a more ergonomic workstation. I wanted to see if my creativity would improve by working in a different environment. So, for about a week, I started working in the lobby of my apartment building. They had public computers there. They were brand new Apple Mac desktop computers.

Continue reading How to Avoid Wrist Pain from Typing

I’ve been working in a sitting posture at a computer since 2001. Ten years into my career (2011), I had poor posture and my body was broken. Also, I lacked healthy blood flow throughout my body. My physical energy was low. I was constantly tired, no matter how much I slept the night before. My mental clarity was also very low. My productivity struggled at work.

Since 2011, I’ve learned as many desk ergonomic tips as possible. I wanted to prevent computer neck pain. Also, I wanted to reduce back pain from sitting. So, I wanted to create an ergonomic workplace setup that was an asset to my health, not a liability.

Continue reading Ways to Improve Computer Posture

Wrist pain from typing can be a stubborn, poor posture mistake to fix. However, having pain-free wrists while typing is a very possible reality. It only took 2 changes to my ergonomic workstation and 2 corrections to my poor computer posture.

First, this article will explain the computer posture mistakes that caused my wrist pain. Then, it will go over how I fixed my wrist pain caused by typing. It will talk about the good computer posture habits I used, as well as the best ergonomic devices for carpal tunnel syndrome that I purchased.

Continue reading How to Avoid Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Using poor posture on a computer keyboard and mouse caused lack of blood flow and muscle tension in both of my shoulders. I’d hold these vulnerable positions for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. That went on for about 12 years before I finally took accountability for my poor computer posture.

How to Avoid Shoulder Pain at a Computer

In 2011, I started studying good computer posture and workstation ergonomics. I was interested in anything wellness related that had a positive effect on my computer posture. In this article, I’m going to talk about a few good posture tips that’ve helped me reduce shoulder tension and pain from typing and using a mouse.

Quick side note, I’m working at my standing computer workstation today. But all the computer shoulder pain relief tips in this article are general shoulder ergonomics for computer work in any position. They all apply, regardless if we’re working in a standing or sitting posture.

Continue reading How to Avoid Shoulder Pain at a Computer

Many people don’t think proper backpack positioning and adjustment matters. In my opinion, the correct way to wear a backpack is very important. Especially for those of us who sit at a computer for long periods of time.

We get an excessive amount of internal shoulder rotation from holding a keyboard and mouse for 8 hours a day. As soon as I get up from my desk, I’m throwing on a backpack to go to the gym. The act of wearing a backpack used to tighten up my shoulders even more. My natural tendency was to rotate my shoulders forward when wearing a backpack. In addition to shoulder pain, rotating my shoulders internally for long periods of time caused muscle tension, neck pain, and back pain.

So, I’m writing this article to be an ergonomic backpack wearing guide for good posture. It’ll describe how to avoid shoulder pain and back pain from wearing a backpack. We’ll also talk about backpack wearing tips for comfort.

Continue reading How to Wear a Backpack Correctly

Posture is the position someone holds their body in while standing or sitting. Since I work at a computer desk for long periods of time, proper posture is very important to me. Working in the same position for 8 hours a day can cause repetitive strain and overuse injuries. Office workers who practice good posture are still at risk for this tension and pain. But office workers with poor posture will feel the negative effects much worse.

Bad posture can lead to a variety of aches and pains. I focus on good posture habits specific to the muscles and tendons first. Obviously, the spine can get pulled out of alignment too. But it’s the tight muscles and tendons that are pulling the spine into an incorrect position. I’ll cover some of my favorite back strengthening exercises in this article.

Continue reading Back Exercises for Good Posture

Why does sitting at a computer hurt my back? It’s not like I’m lifting anything heavy when I’m sitting. I’m not withstanding any impact, like I would when I’m running, or if I fell. I’m literally just sitting there. Poor posture was obviously the cause of my back pain. But what exactly was I doing wrong?

One of the most common work-related disabilities is back pain from sitting at a desk with poor posture. There are many reasons how this happens. A high amount of stress, the lack of lumbar curve, no lumbar support, the list goes on. My goal of this article is to prevent back pain by working at a computer (simply as possible). First, I’ll explain 2 poor posture habits to avoid. Then, I’ll give some ergonomic tips for back pain at computer.

Continue reading Why Does Sitting at a Computer Cause Back Pain?

The standard American office chair is way too big for most of us. I’m 6’3″ tall and I weigh 195 pounds. The average chairs fit is even too big for me, despite the ability to adjust height and width. Not only is it too big, using armrests ended up causing dysfunction in my neck and shoulder. Using poor armrest posture caused an excessive amount of tight muscles and inflamed tendons. These repetitive strain injuries took a very long time to fix. Today, I’m dedicating this article to explain how to make office chair armrests more comfortable.

I’d like to design my own ergonomic office chair one day. Sign up for my email newsletter here if you’d like to receive easy, actionable ways to improve computer posture.

Continue reading How to Adjust Office Chair Armrests

I started to cold plunge at home in January of 2023. I’ve gotten many cold plunge benefits since then. The main health benefit: my cold plunge routine has helped improve my blood flow. When I have improved blood flow, my muscle pain is decreased. My muscle soreness is decreased. My muscle recovery is quicker. It’s one of my favorite home remedies for reducing pain and muscle tension. All these cold plunge benefits have helped me improve posture at my computer.

Setting up a cold plunge at home can be intimidating. It can also get expensive and time consuming. But it doesn’t have to be that way. I live in an apartment. And I wanted to cold plunge multiple times per week. So, I needed to find ways to make it easy, quick, and at a minimal dollar amount. I needed to be creative logistically. Here are the cold plunge tips for starters I came up with…

Continue reading How to Cold Plunge for Beginners

After years of sitting at a computer for long periods of time, I had poor posture due to muscle tension, decreased blood flow, overuse, and repetitive strain injuries. I used to sit in the same compromised, vulnerable position for 8 hours a day. In 2011, I finally took full accountability and started fixing bad posture at the computer.

Since 2011, I’ve studied how to correct computer posture and improve workstation ergonomics. Today, I’m sharing 4 of my most important tips on how to fix computer posture mistakes.

Continue reading How to Fix Computer Posture Mistakes

Poor posture at a computer for 8 hours a day used to decrease my grip strength in many ways. My hands, wrists, fingers, and forearms suffered muscle tension from repetitive strain and lack of blood flow. Poor posture on my keyboard and mouse for long periods of time caused carpel tunnel syndrome.

If you’d like to learn more about the causes of poor hand posture and its negative effects, check out my article titled, Why Does Typing Weaken Grip Strength.

Today, I’m focusing the rest of this article on a more optimistic, productive mindset. Continue reading below to learn how to enhance grip power.

Continue reading How to Improve Grip Strength

I recently wrote an article titled, How to Sleep Better at Night Naturally. It contains the 4 most valuable sleep improvement tips that’ve helped me. It specifically talks about better sleep habits like using blackout curtains, a grounding sheet, mouth tape, and a temperature controlled mattress cover. That article about improving sleep naturally can be found here.

While writing that article, I realized I have many more than those 4 habits for sleep optimization. As I often say, my sleep quality is directly related to how good (or bad) my computer posture is the next day. The earlier in the day I get tired, the quicker I have poor computer posture. Today, I’m writing this article to share 4 more healthy sleep habits that I practice.

Continue reading Guide for Better Sleep

I used to have very poor sleep habits. I’d stay up late watching tv. When I eventually got in bed, it would take me an hour to fall asleep. Then every time I woke up in the middle of the night to use the restroom, it would take an hour to fall back asleep. Finally, my alarm would go off and I’d hit the snooze button for an hour. I was averaging 4 to 5 hours of poor sleep quality a night.

When I first started trying better sleep strategies, I had no idea how extensive my healthy sleep habits would get. A lot of people may call it excessive. But all my sleep habits have become an easy, comfortable norm for me to improve sleep naturally.

Continue reading How to Sleep Better at Night Naturally

Until recently, I had been a chronic mouth breather all my life. Both on the inhale and exhale. This caused increased risk of many health problems. I was overusing my jaw muscles to constantly hold my mouth open. My overused jaw muscles were causing muscle tension in my head, face, and neck muscles. This was the catalyst for a lot of bad headaches.

Another problem was shallow breathing through my mouth. My breath wasn’t in my lungs long enough to be highly effective. I needed to slow my breathing down, so that air spent more time in my lungs.

I’ve gotten multiple benefits of mouth taping since I started taping my mouth shut in early 2023. My favorite benefits are how much it reduced muscle tension and improved my sleep. These were accomplished because mouth tape helped me keep my jaw in a closed, neutral position all night (compared to sleeping with my mouth open). Continue reading this article to learn more reasons why I use mouth tape for sleep benefits.

Continue reading Benefits of Using Mouth Tape for Sleep