Author: Todd Bowen

When working at a computer, prolonged periods of sitting time resulted in an increased risk of backaches and body pains for me. A sedentary lifestyle of 40 hours per week added up quickly to be a tremendous health risk. I’ve had many health conditions caused by the negative effects of sitting for long periods of time. Luckily, I was able to avoid serious negative effects like diabetes, obesity, and heart disease. But many people aren’t so lucky. Many have experienced these issues due to an increased risk caused by a sedentary lifestyle. Sedentary time can add up over the years and cause these conditions.

Fortunately, I’ve been able to change my lifestyle away from the typical 40 hour week grind. I’m not chained to the desk anymore. I no longer sit at a computer for long periods of time. I can pretty much make my own schedule. However, for those of us who don’t have that luxury, there are still plenty of ways to improve a sedentary lifestyle, even while working a demanding schedule that requires sitting for prolonged periods of time. *Disclosure: From time to time, I use photos from royalty free photo websites that feature products. I’m not affiliated with, or compensated by any product sellers or manufacturers.*

Standing desks are beneficial to me for many reasons. My blood circulation is improved throughout my workday. It improves my mental clarity, which makes me more productive and creative. The option to stand up straight at work allows me to activate muscles that would otherwise be neglected if I were sitting all day. Standing also allows me to keep a balanced activation between my anterior (front) muscles and my posterior (back) muscles.

If we were sitting instead, the anterior muscles are typically compressed and shortened all day. The posterior muscles are also compressed all day, but they are lengthened instead of shortened. This caused a major imbalance of functionality for me during exercise, sports, running, walking, sleeping, and even waking up in the morning. Using an adjustable standing desk has reduced the probability of straining my back either while working or exercise. Plus, my back just feels healthier and stronger.

One of my favorite massaging tools I use to improve my posture is the Hypervolt massage gun. It is made by a company called Hyperice. I’m not compensated by Hyperice in any way. I’m simply a customer who loves their products, which I paid for with my own money. All the info in this article comes from my personal experience of using the product.

There are three different versions of the Hypervolt massage gun. They all provide rapid bursts of pressure by giving a percussion massage, also known as a vibration massage. The version with the lowest intensity of pressure is the Hypervolt GO. The version with the highest intensity is the Hypervolt Plus. I own the version that has the output intensity in the middle of these two models. My version is simply called the Hypervolt. The Hypervolt is the model I will talk about here in this article, not the Hypervolt GO or the Hypervolt Plus.

The average American office worker sits at a computer desk 40 hours per week. That’s over 2,000 hours per year. Multiply those 2,000 hours by how many years you’ve had a job working in a sitting position. That’s a lot of repetitive strain to undo before we can sit with correct sitting posture. Learning to sit properly in an office chair is going to take patience. The good news is that I’ve been obsessively learning and testing different good habits for years. My story is based on my own experience. The different ways I corrected my poor posture aren’t medical advice. Choose which info could be helpful for you and your situation. Talk with your doctor and be the strongest advocate possible for your own health.

It’s super easy to hunch over a keyboard when you’re working for prolonged periods of time. It’s the most common poor posture habit when sitting in a desk chair. Reading a monitor from arm’s length, as well as using a keyboard and mouse, are all actions that occur in front of our bodies. These actions naturally force a large amount of muscles and tendons to constantly pull us out of sitting up straight.

Not sitting properly at a computer desk causes many negative effects. The short-term effects that bothered me the most were being tired constantly and having a cloudy mental clarity. The long-term effects I suffered from were pain in the neck and back, poor blood circulation, weak legs, stiff neck, tight hips, and weight gain.