The do’s and don’ts of sitting at a desk

If you are someone who works at a desk all day and is often left with back aches and hip discomfort, this blog article is for you! Most people may not think these matters, but the position you spend all day in has a great influence on your posture, your training and your overall health. If you spend 8 hours of your day hunched over, your back is likely to ache later during the day. 

The seated position might be comfortable overall, but by spending hours in the same position, your body starts adjusting. As a result, you might start to feel tight pec muscles, tight hip flexors and tight hamstrings, while other muscles get underworked like your back muscles and your glutes. You start to see some imbalances in your body that shapes your posture later. 

You may not pay attention to the small things you are doing while sitting at a desk either. For example, crossing your legs under the table might create imbalances around your pelvis if one hip sits higher than the other one for a prolonged period of time. This small thing alone can have an impact on the way you perform a squat or a single leg movement. 

Not only does this affect your training, but it also affects your health and your well being! I am sure you have felt pain in your back/neck/shoulders before, if not every day. But this can be fixed with some movements you can perform regularly while seating. The idea is to reverse the impact of your seated position by performing the opposite posture as the ones you sit in at your desk. For example, the opposite of a hunched over back would be an extended back (bending backward). This can be performed by simply putting your upper back against your chair, putting your hands on the back of your head, and bending your back backward over the chair. You can perform the movement about 10 times and see how you feel. Stretching your pecs and your hip flexors are also important, as well as working your glutes either performing squats or hip extension exercises. These movements are simply stretching the muscles that are getting tight while in the seated position and working the muscles that are underworked or stretched.

So, make sure you get some movements in between prolonged period sitting. Not only will you feel much better overall, but your posture and your training should also be positively impacted. If needed, set a reminder on your phone or on your desk so you don’t forget! No excuses to take care of your health!