A sedentary lifestyle causes excessive muscle tension, dysfunction, and computer-related pain. When sitting in an office chair, some of our muscles are not used at all. These muscles are constantly deactivated while sitting, so they get weaker. At the same time, other muscles are overused to a point of dysfunction.
But what muscle is affected the most? Is it an underused, or overused muscle group? This article will talk about the tightest muscle I had from sitting at a computer. The answer might not be the muscle you would expect.
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 the tightest muscle caused by poor computer posture?
In my experience, my chest muscles were the tightest muscles caused by poor computer posture. In 2011, my computer posture was at its all-time worst. The chronic pain and dysfunction I suffered from was just too much. I’d had enough.
It was then (in 2011), that I implemented as many good computer posture habits into my daily routine as possible. One of the first issues I set out to correct was how weak and tight my chest muscles were. I was an athlete who lifted weights. I had quite a bit of experience with bench press. I didn’t lift super heavy, but heavy enough. It was strange to me that my chest was so tight and weak.
Why does the chest get tight from sitting at a computer?
As office workers, the first thing we do after sitting is reach forward with our hands to lock onto a keyboard and mouse. This is kind of similar to a bench press movement, except while sitting vertical in an office chair. Pushing our arms forward like this contracts our chest muscles. Then, holding our hands here for long periods of time causes other anterior muscles on the front of our torso to contract. In this case, anterior means the front side. This includes the chest, shoulders, biceps, and abdomen.
When these anterior muscles tighten up, it can cause us to naturally slouch forward. Repetitive strain and overuse injuries are common when working in the same position for long periods of time, even when we have good computer posture. But when we slouch forward for long periods of time, it can cause spinal disc degeneration. This makes our computer-related pain much worse.
As the anterior muscles on the torso are constantly contracted 8 hours a day, our posterior (rear) muscles are getting the opposite effect. These back muscles are overextended and lengthened. This imbalance causes a lot of muscle confusion and dysfunction.
Sitting isn’t necessarily the enemy here. Working in the same position for long periods of time is also a crucial poor posture habit to avoid. Sitting with correct computer posture can help decrease the risk of computer-related injuries. But working in multiple different positions throughout the work day (with good posture) is an example of how to use correct computer ergonomics.
What other muscles get tight from poor computer posture?
Although my chest had the tightest muscles caused by my poor computer posture, other muscle groups weren’t far behind. I’d say my anterior shoulders and my hamstrings were next on the list of my tightest, weakest muscles. Another honorable mention would be my lower back.
Holding my hands on my keyboard and mouse for 8 hours a day caused excessive internal shoulder rotation. To learn how I fixed my computer-related shoulder pain, check out my article titled How to Sit at Your Desk to Relieve Shoulder Pain.
My hamstrings got so tight because of poor foot positioning at a computer. Believe it or not, incorrect foot positioning was one of the top 3 computer posture mistakes I used to make. It led to ankle dysfunction that was so bad, I required 3 ankle surgeries to correct it. To learn from this computer posture mistake I made with my legs and feet, check out my article titled How to Position Feet When Sitting at a Computer.
My lower back may not have been my tightest muscle group caused by poor sitting posture, but it was definitely the most painful. My compressed anterior muscles pulled the natural curves out of my spine. This caused me to slouch forward and overextend all my back muscles. The upper back muscles got overextended and tight. This pulled on my lower back muscles. They were also overextended and tight, but they hurt much more because my lower back is the end of that overextended muscle train. It’s also a much more tendinous area, which means it has a larger amount of tendons versus muscle tissue. To learn how I corrected this posture mistake and decreased my computer-related back pain, check out my articles titled Why Does Sitting Cause Lower Back Pain? or Back Exercises for Good Posture.
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 poor computer posture, 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