I’ve suffered negative effects from sitting on my glutes for years. Just because we sit 8 hours a day, it doesn’t mean we’re successfully resting our muscles during that time.
Sitting at a computer for 8 hours a day is an endurance event. Most of our muscles are deactivated, but the rest are being overused excessively. Repetitive strain and overuse injuries are occurring in some muscles. While others are inactive, causing weak muscles that sometimes stop firing altogether. This is what happened to my gluteus muscles, after many years of sitting for long periods of time.
This article will talk about (in hindsight) the signs of glute inactivation. It will also talk about different negative effects of sitting on glutes. Finally, it will go over how to fix (and prevent) dead butt syndrome.
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.
What is Dead Butt Syndrome?
Dead butt syndrome is a commonly known term for gluteal amnesia. It’s when gluteus muscles become deactivated due to excessive inactivity. In my case, sitting at a computer for long periods of time caused dead butt syndrome.
Signs of Glute Inactivation
In my experience, the most notable signs of glute inactivation were:
- no stable foundation when sitting
- pain and dysfunction throughout my posterior chain
When sitting, our glutes are the foundational support at the base of our torso. Our glutes are the first line of defense against repetitive strain and overuse injuries. If our glutes are uneven or unstable when we’re sitting, it will cause muscle tension and pain throughout our entire back.
Our posterior chain is made up of the muscles on the rear side of our body. Calves, hamstrings, glutes, and back muscles are all parts of the posterior chain. Notice how the glutes are located right in the middle of all those muscle groups. If there is muscle deactivation there, it can easily create issues with other muscles.
It can also cause issues on the front (anterior) muscles of our bodies. In my case, weak and inactive glutes led to tight and weak hips. Our hips work opposite our glutes. If one is inactive, the other will overcompensate and get tighter. Despite this opposite reaction from the glutes and the hips, both muscle groups were getting weaker.
Effects of Sitting on Glutes
The biggest gluteal amnesia symptoms in my experience were:
- tight muscles
- weak muscles
- inactive muscles that don’t fire when they should
Sitting causes gluteal amnesia. But I also noticed the negative effects of sitting on my glutes when I was away from my office desk. My glute muscles were weak and they wouldn’t fire. This muscle deactivation led to pain in other parts of my body.
Everything in our bodies is connected, either directly or indirectly. This goes for muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia, and bones.
Organs are also connected to our soft tissues. I’m convinced one of the reasons I used to have digestive system issues is because of the physical strain and muscle tension caused by sitting at a computer. To learn more about how I healed my gut, check out my article titled Irritable Bowel Syndrome: How I Fixed my IBS.
How to Fix and Prevent Dead Butt Syndrome
1. Switch from sit to stand positions multiple times throughout the day
Sitting isn’t the only enemy. Working in the same exact position for long periods of time is the main enemy. This can cause repetitive strain and overuse injuries, regardless if we have good posture or bad posture.
This is why I use a height adjustable desk. It makes it super easy to switch between sit to stand positions. This is one of 3 accessories I use to switch between a sitting posture and a standing position. To read about the other 2 accessories, check out my article titled Standing Desk Accessories.
2. Chiropractic care
I go to the chiropractor once a week on average. This is because of my combined physical and sedentary lifestyle. I’m always getting pulled out of alignment. And my chiropractor does more than just align the bones in my body. She also does soft tissue release work. To learn more about my chiropractic experience, read my article titled Can Chiropractic Care Improve Your Computer Posture?
3. Glute Muscle release and recovery
I believe there’s a very important balance between strengthening vs. stretching our muscles. As office workers, this especially applies to our glutes as we get older.
I usually visit a deep tissue release healer about once a month. Healers like this (that typically aren’t covered under insurance) can get costly, but it’s more than worth it. My body is the most important thing I can invest in.
But to offset that cost, I save money by also practicing self-care muscle release daily. To see what my favorite healing devices are, check out my article titled Top Recovery Tools for Better Posture.
4. Glute strengthening exercises
Last, but certainly not least, is glute strengthening. As sedentary desk workers, having strong glutes that fire properly is a huge benefit to us. Since I’ve focused on strengthening my glutes, I’ve noticed a much more even, stable foundation for my torso when in sitting posture.
It’s also helped me improve physically when I’m away from my desk chair. My back pain has decreased considerably since I’ve taken full accountability of my poor computer posture. I also feel stronger when I’m running, lifting weights, or practicing hot yoga.
To learn more about my favorite glute activation techniques and dead butt sydrome exercises, read my article titled How to Build Glute Strength.
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 dead butt syndrome, 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