How to counteract sitting at a desk all day (For Moda, TennPA and others).

[Benko]

In another thread (the end of the intermittent fasting thread) I was suggesting to Moda and TEnnPA certain exercises to counteract certain postural imbalances.  There is another suggestion which is good in general to counteract the tendency that many of us have whether we got it from sitting at a desk all day or we acquired it in other ways.  This pose was suggest for this purpose by my chiropracter.  It is a yoga asana called Cobra.  Bascially if many of us sit at a desk all day hunched over, CObra reverses that trend and the top half of our body is extended AKA bent over backwards (gently).  The idea is to do this and hold it for as long as comfortable and work up time.

You will need some instruction and be careful you don't hurt your lower back or neck or shoulders.  Keep your body LONG extend out top of head and toes so you don't crunch lower back.  Some core strength is helpful as well.

Yoga Journal has web site and I think there is video with instructions here:

http://www.yogajournal.com/video/video/cobra-pose-2/

but the video does not display to me because of the computer I am at .  Here is a video which I can verify and it does have some good instructions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su07NtYwMNQ  (1st 2 minutes of video)

Be gentle with yourself and your body e.g. many people many not be able to extend the top of their chest i.e. bend it back at all.  Have patience and if you wish see an yoga instructor (preferably IYENGAR since Iyengar instructors as very good at adapting asanas to people and using asanas for rehab purposes).

[madbean]

A very interesting topic for me since I've been sitting at a desk writing code for going on 40 years and don't think I can retire for at least two more.

My biggest complaint is my neck. My orthopedist pointed out last year how my head sticks out funny from the rest of my body and I never noticed it until then but now I have gone back and looked at pictures and I can see it myself. I guess sitting on your ass for 8+ hours/a day leaning forward into the computer will do that. It's been getting progressively painful and stiff for about the past 5 years.

I wrote myself a program to remind me to stand up every 20 minutes and I've been following it pretty religiously for about a year. When I stand up I do a little bit of stretching.

Second complaint would be my hands which started getting stiff even before my neck but I think I dealt with that in time about 15 years ago. I seem to have developed some kind of instinct about knowing when to give them a break and do a little stretching and it has worked pretty well.

If you do have to sit at a desk all day and stare into a computer  I definitely recommend that you adopt some strategies to deal with it early and avoid a lot of pain for yourself in the future.

[goodasgold]

Don't know anything about yoga, but a practical and effective exercise is to make a point of taking the stairs instead of the elevator. While working, I found a reason (or pretext) to go up and down five flights of stairs during the weekday routine, usually twice a day when possible.

This is an aerobic type of exercise that really gets the blood flowing and prepares your knees and thighs for long hikes on weekends. It worked for me.

[Mark Leavy]

Nothing corrects deskwork as much as deadlifts and barbell squats.

After a month or so of serious barbell work, your muscles will not let you sit in a chair all day.  They will demand that you stand up or do something to work the back and hamstrings and glutes.

[flyingpylon]

Nothing corrects deskwork as much as deadlifts and barbell squats.

After a month or so of serious barbell work, your muscles will not let you sit in a chair all day.  They will demand that you stand up or do something to work the back and hamstrings and glutes.

Yeah, that's what I need... more demands during the workday! 

Good topic though.

[Mountaineer]

The various comments about squats reminded me of something my wife's orthopaedic surgeon (replaced both of her knees) told her.  "Squats are the worst possbile exercise you can do in regards to long-term knee health."  I never checked out the validity of that statement.

... Mountaineer 

[Mark Leavy]

The various comments about squats reminded me of something my wife's orthopaedic surgeon (replaced both of her knees) told her.  "Squats are the worst possbile exercise you can do in regards to long-term knee health."  I never checked out the validity of that statement.

... Mountaineer

That is very much the conventional wisdom.

Properly done squats (check out Rippetoe) solved my knee problems.

Same with deadlifts solving back pain.  Deadlifts cured my back pain.

Best of luck in whatever you do.  Every person's life is different and I hope you find something that works for you.

Mark

[stuper1]

Some doctors are so stupid it's not even funny.  What do you think your knee is meant to do?  It's meant to bend.  If you don't use it, you lose it.  Sure you need to make sure that you are doing it properly; otherwise you may hurt yourself.

From what I've read, most exercise physiologists seem to agree that the squat is the single best exercise that a person can do.

[moda0306]

One thing I've realized helps a ton with upper back soreness from bad posture is putting my head against the wall and putting my feet out 1.5 feet in front of me, and use my neck to hold my body out straight down to my ankles.

Do that for 30 seconds, a couple times, and it significantly reduces tenson in your upper back and neck.

[Kriegsspiel]

Foam rolling is the shiznittlesnap. It feels like you're torturing yourself, and you'll just think "what the hell am I doing to my body? Is this what's in that torture report?," but knocking out all those knots and scar tissue will make you feel all springy and shit. Good stuff.

[Kriegsspiel]

Actually, yea, right here on page 257. They foam rolled his IT band, real gruesome. No wonder they hate us.

[MachineGhost]

Nothing corrects deskwork as much as deadlifts and barbell squats.

After a month or so of serious barbell work, your muscles will not let you sit in a chair all day.  They will demand that you stand up or do something to work the back and hamstrings and glutes.

I can't say I've ever noticed that, but then I don't hunch forward.  I lean back in my executive chair!    Proper ergonomics is critically important when using a PC.

Although I do find it hard keeping my lower back against the pathetic lumbar support part all the time.  There's usually a gap to relieve tension of some sort.

[MachineGhost]

Foam rolling is the shiznittlesnap. It feels like you're torturing yourself, and you'll just think "what the hell am I doing to my body? Is this what's in that torture report?," but knocking out all those knots and scar tissue will make you feel all springy and shit. Good stuff.

I do have a foam roller and torture does not even being to describe how painful that thing is rolling vertically across my shoulder blades, especially if you're not a SVOL or don't have thick muscles.

Maybe I better get back into the groove of using it.  I'm tired of the constant tension and semi-pain at the sides and back of my head, neck and upper back.  It does not seem that having my lower wisdom teeth removed made a damn bit of a difference.  Braces are next.

[dualstow]

Excellent video on computer posture - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnpHLxlj3fQ

My biggest complaint is my neck. My orthopedist pointed out last year how my head sticks out funny from the rest of my body and I never noticed it until then but now I have gone back and looked at pictures and I can see it myself. I guess sitting on your ass for 8+ hours/a day leaning forward into the computer will do that. It's been getting progressively painful and stiff for about the past 5 years.

I'm getting there. I gave my antique desk to someone who appreciated it more than me before moving back home, post-renovation. I was going to order this desk, which I may have discovered at this forum. It's just too expensive, though. Wrote to them and shipping is $450. Couldn't get a discount through my architect.

So, I'm hunched over two night-tables as I type this, and as I watch the posture video above. Sunk into a leather chair and hunched over like I'm ringing the bells at Notre Dame. Man, I need furniture.