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.
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.
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.
Stretching Versus Strengthening: The Fine Line Between Balancing the Two
Conventional Stretching
Conventional stretching has always been tough for me. I’ll do it. But as I’ve gotten older, my cold muscles just don’t respond much to static stretching. Especially if I’m only holding a stretch for a short period of time.
By sitting at a computer for long periods of time, my muscles get tighter over an 8 hour period. I just think static stretching for short holds aren’t doing much to counteract that muscle tension that’s been building up over an 8 hour workday.
Hot Yoga
I’d much rather spend my time in a hot yoga class (compared to cold, static stretching). I get much better results improving my flexibility in a hot yoga class. The temperature of the classes I take is 98 degrees Fahrenheit and above.
Surprisingly, one of my favorite parts of class is getting there 10 minutes early. I just lay flat on my back on my yoga towel. For those 10 minutes, I focus on breathing slowly and deeply.
When class begins, I’m already used to the hot temperature. And my muscles are warmed up and loose before I even do my first pose. The instructor takes all the guess work out of it for me. I don’t have to think about what poses to do. This saves me mental energy. I just have to follow the instructions that are given. I can focus more energy on the movements.
Hot yoga helps me focus on both the stretch and strength of the pose. I can also focus on the movement in between poses. Different classes have different focuses for me. Sometimes I focus more on the stretch. I tend to do this during classes that are at a slow-pace with longer poses. In other classes with a quicker pace, I’ll briefly focus on the strength of the pose, followed quickly by a focus on the movement in between poses.
Dry Sauna
I use the dry sauna for about 10 minutes, both before and after weightlifting. Ideally, the temperature will be about 180 degrees Fahrenheit. But sometimes guys will turn it up to 220 degrees. If it’s this hot, I’ll just spend less time in there, 5 minutes or so.
180 degrees is ideal for me. I’ve gotten to the point where I can comfortably breathe slowly and deeply in there. It’s a great warmup for me. There’s actually no warmup I can do that’ll get my blood circulating better than 10 minutes in the sauna.
The sauna doesn’t necessarily stretch my muscles, but it does improve my flexibility right before I start lifting weights. If I wanted to, I could do some light stretches in there. But I don’t really focus on stretching in the sauna. I mainly focus on my breathing and getting my muscles loose.
Weightlifting
Sitting at a computer for long periods of time is destroying our muscles. A lot of them are inactive and deactivated. The rest of them are chronically overused. Weightlifting helps me activate my underused muscles. It also helps me strengthen the muscles that are weak due to poor computer posture.
Obviously, the focus while I’m lifting weights is strengthening. This is just as important to me as stretching.
There’s a balance between stretching and strengthening that I like to find. This balance is different for each of us. The best way for me to describe the feeling I’m looking for: I want to feel strong, flexible, energetic, and pain-free every day when I wake up.
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 stretching versus strengthening, check out my book titled 45 Ways to Improve Computer Posture.
This book is a great supplement to the article you just read. It covers healthy ergonomic habits like posture, sleep, hydration, and breathing.
I wrote this book to be the resource I wish I had back in 2002, when I first started sitting at a computer for long periods of time.
Go to SittingPosture.com/book to learn more.
Take care,
Todd Bowen