Last Updated on October 11, 2021 by Andrew Blakey
Bad Sitting Posture At Work
Bad sitting posture is something that many people don’t think about during their day at work. Unfortunately, the effects our body goes through during bad sitting posture at work affects you even after you’ve left the office.
Bad sitting posture can cause certain muscles of the upper back and neck to tighten and cause tensions resulting in things such as headaches, nausea, pain, and even heartburn.
A couple things you can do to set-up a better work station at your work and to promote better posture include:
- Ensuring your computer height is at a proper height (about eye level)
- Ensuring you have a comfortable ergonomic chair that has proper support
- Take regular walk and stand breaks
What Causes Rounded Shoulders?
Has anyone ever told you to “stand up straight?”. If you’ve heard this before, there’s a possibility that you may have rounded shoulders. Your slouched shoulders could be caused due to a variety of factors ranging from weak muscles of the back, being stuck in the same position all day at work, or even simply from tight chest muscles.
We all are guilty of sometimes having a bad sitting posture, but it’s even more common if you work a desk job. Think about it, all those hours at your desk looking at a computer screen that’s likely not optimized for ergonomic efficiency.
Pain and poor posture is also more likely to present itself when you’ve been in a poor ergonomic environment for a prolonged duration.
It’s also possible that any pain you’ve been experiencing due to bad posture, is a culmination of months or years of mechanical inefficiency, improper training, or tightness of your muscles due to being stuck in the same position for hours on end. That being said, with something such as pain caused by bad sitting posture that has taken years to occur, it will also take time to reverse the effects.
Pain From Bad Sitting Posture Can Be Reversed
It’s important to understand that poor posture and the effects caused on the body by bad sitting posture can indeed be reversed! Below are 3 great exercises you can do at home in order to begin strengthening the muscles needed to help promote a healthy posture.
It’s important to remember that no matter how much strengthening of the muscles needed to implement a healthy posture, no amount of exercise will fix your slouching shoulders if you don’t make changes to your workstation. Here is a link to a great article targeted at how your daily activities have been influencing your back pain.
3 Great Exercises You Can Do Today
Wall Angels
This exercise (Video) is great for putting your shoulders in a position that is both healthy for posture (shoulder blades retracted) and great for strengthening the muscles responsible for doing so. This exercise helps improve shoulder mobility and is one that can be performed against any wall in your home. Another great exercise that works similar muscles is the band pull apart which we’ve written an entire article on!
Things to focus on:
Focus on keeping your lower back flush against the full, by arching your back, you take the mobility required for this exercise, and throw it out the window! To ease into the exercise if the mobility isn’t quite there is to start by putting a rolled-up towel between your mid-back and the wall.
Try to keep the back of your hands flat against the wall
Perform this exercise SLOWLY, this isn’t a dog trying to chow down on some leftover watermelon
Superman or SuperWomen!
This next exercise is great for strengthening your lower back and is another great exercise that when performed correctly can help you strengthen those oh so valuable muscles that help us with so many different movements in our lives! Check out this short video on the proper form of the superman
Things to focus on:
Really think about driving those thumbs straight up toward the sky. Feel the movement of your shoulders as you perform this exercise
Squeeze the muscles between your shoulder blades to initiate the movement. If you’re not sure what I mean by this, watch this video to learn how to properly retract your shoulder blades.
Variations of Rowing Exercises
One of the things that could be contributing to your rounded shoulders and improper posture is a lack of strength in your back. This can be caused by many things ranging from previous injuries to chest dominant workout programs, to simply not exercising. It’s much more common than you would think and that is why with my workout programs I give my clients, I commonly include at least 1 back exercise for every chest exercise performed.
Below is a list of 3 great exercises using various equipment that you can begin adding to your workouts.
These are three great exercises you can do if you have access to a dumbbell and if not, check out this banded exercise below!
By utilizing the exercises listed in this post, you will be able to strengthen the muscles needed to help keep your shoulders in a healthy position. For those of you who are having improper posture due to tight pectoral and chest muscles. Consider adding more stretching to your routine. Making stretching a part of your daily life is something that can help with mobility, and healthy joints and muscles!
