Posture Exercises for Office Workers

Computer work causes excessive muscle tension and chronic pain. It requires us to work in a sitting or standing posture for long periods of time. This makes our muscles, tendons, and ligaments incredibly tight and stiff. These issues are known as repetitive strain and overuse injuries.

But how do we fix this computer-related pain? How do we counteract this muscle dysfunction?

Living a pain-free life, while still working on a computer, is very possible. We just need to make small improvements to our daily habits. Then practice them on a consistent basis.

This image shows an office worker using a steel mace. I use a steel mace to do one of my favorite posture exercises for computer workers. There are a couple video demonstrations later in this article. Image via ChatGPT.

This article is about my favorite posture exercises for office workers. They require both stretching and strengthening in the same repetition. I use a weight that’s called a steel mace.

This article is not professional medical advice. It’s based off my personal experience and opinions. For years, my poor computer posture caused muscle tension, inflammation, and chronic pain. Bad posture also decreased my mental clarity, energy level, and work productivity.

All the desk worker health tips I write about are directly related to improving posture at a computer. We are our own primary caretakers. Do your research. Make good decisions. And be the best advocate possible for your own healthcare.

Benefits of Good Computer Posture — My ebook “3 Ways” is always free. It talks about the 3 most painful, poor posture mistakes I used to make while sitting at a computer for long periods of time. Then, it tells you how to fix those posture mistakes, immediately! You can download my ebook here.

Posture Exercises for Office Workers

Steel mace exercises

As an office worker, my tightest muscles caused by poor computer posture were in my chest. I’d lightly place my hands on the keyboard and mouse each morning. But my chest muscles would compress tighter and tighter as the day went on. This caused those muscles to get shorter and less flexible.

To fix this muscle tension, I use a steel mace to do my favorite posture exercises for office workers.

The steel mace exercises (in the videos below) are great chest openers. They lengthen and strengthen the chest muscles at the same time. This movement is the exact opposite of the slouching forward at a computer I used to do for years.

These exercises have also helped me build grip strength. Which is very important to me. Because typing on a keyboard and clicking a mouse for years caused my grip strength to weaken. To learn why, check out my article titled Why does typing weaken grip strength?

A steel mace is a unique exercise tool. The weight is at the end of a short barbell-style rod. Since the weight is at the opposite end of my grip, the force that builds up as I swing it is intense. These videos show the most beneficial exercises I’ve ever done when it comes to increasing hand, forearm, and grip strength.

The above video shows me doing the first exercise I learned how to do with an Onnit 10 pound steel mace.

This video shows me doing a similar exercise, but adding a modification to the end of each rep. This modification makes me stop the weight beside me, as opposed to in front of my center of gravity (like the other video). Stopping the weight beside me opens up the tension on my side lines. It also strengthens my oblique muscles. It’s a great exercise for thoracic spine rotation. Which is important to us computer users, because we avoid that motion all day long when we’re sitting at an office desk.

When the weight goes over my head and behind me, it decreases muscle tension and improves blood flow in the front of my torso. This used to be one of my biggest poor posture problems caused by a slouching forward at a computer.

There are tons of different steel mace instructional videos on YouTube. I still consider myself a novice, so I won’t explain how to do any exercises. I just wanted to introduce the steel mace to my readers. It’s given me the ability to hit different muscles in ways I’ve never hit them (compared to traditional strengthening exercises).

Onnit Steel Mace to help strengthen grip when typing weaken grip strength — Here’s a closer look at an Onnit Steel Mace – Photo via Onnit.com.

SIDE NOTE:

This is not paid promotion. I’m not compensated by Onnit. I paid for their product with my own money. And I enjoy sharing products that’ve helped improve my computer posture.

Onnit Steel Mace

The steel maces I have are made by Onnit. I bought 3 different sizes (7 pounds, 10 pounds, and 15 pounds).

USE A STEEL MACE: ERGONOMIC EXERCISES FOR OFFICE WORKERS

It’s important for me to stretch tight muscles. Especially when the stretch is going in the opposite direction, compared to computer-related tension.

But I’ve learned we also need to build strength in the opposite direction of our overused, poor posture caused by sitting at a computer. The steel mace helps me stretch and strengthen at the same time.

A steel mace is kind of similar to a kettlebell. But instead of having a handle, the weight is at the end of a short, thick, barbell-style rod. Since the weight on a steel mace is at the end of a short barbell, it’s far away from my hands. The momentum generated when swinging a steel mace is much more intense compared to swinging a kettlebell.

Sitting at a computer for long periods of time, 8 hours a day, puts an incredible amount of stress on my chest. Slouching forward causes all my chest muscles to shorten and tighten.

WHAT STEEL MACE I USE

I bought the 10 pound mace first. It was a little heavy for me as a first-time user. I could do it, but my movements were slow. So, I bought a 7 pound mace to get used to the movements. Using the 7 pound steel mace increased my speed a lot. At that point, I was ready to use the 10 pounder again. The 10 pound mace is the one I use the most these days. I also added the 15 pound Onnit steel mace to my collection.

USE A STEEL MACE: ERGONOMIC EXERCISES FOR OFFICE WORKERS

Sitting at a computer for long periods of time, 8 hours a day, puts an incredible amount of stress on my chest. Slouching forward causes all my chest muscles to shorten and tighten. Using my steel mace is a very dynamic chest opener that also improves my thoracic spine rotation and my grip strength. It really has been a game changer in improving my computer posture.

If you enjoyed this article on how a steel mace has helped improve my computer posture, you can compliment it nicely with my article titled Posture Stretches for Office Workers. It talks about how I combat computer-related repetitive strain with light-intensity, long-duration stretches.

THANKS FOR YOUR INTEREST IN COMPUTER POSTURE.

If you’ve read this far, congratulations! You’re taking valuable steps to reduce computer-related injuries by improving your posture. That’s something to be very proud of!

If you liked this article on computer posture frequently asked questions, check out my book titled 45 Ways to Improve Computer Posture.

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