Sitting at a desk is a compromised, vulnerable position for us to work in all day.
It’s so easy to overuse postural muscles that support our body. Any type of repetitive strain or overuse can cause an imbalance of energy. And maintaining that imbalance for long periods of time has affected me, both physically and mentally.
When it comes to sitting for a long time, the hips are among the most common sources of discomfort. You can ask any physical therapist that.
I’m going to talk about my personal experience with hip discomfort (caused by sitting). I’ll also give you some ideas for what you can do about it (they worked for me).
Hip Discomfort While Sitting
A large percentage of adults experience hip discomfort when sitting. Especially when they have poor computer posture. And I used to be one of them. It can get incredibly uncomfortable. It used to disrupt my routines. It affected the way I ran, lifted weights, played sports. It even bothered me when I laid in bed at night.
It would also lower my productivity at work. Because joint pain is rough when sitting for long periods. But it can also lead to muscle tension and chronic pain in other parts of the body.
You can expect this article to talk about:
- What causes hip discomfort when sitting
- How to sit correctly at a desk to avoid hip discomfort
What Causes Hip Discomfort When Sitting
Hip Level is Below Knee Level
The best way for me to reduce hip pain quickly is to raise my chair. Especially if my hip bone is below my knees. This means my chair is too low. It’s putting more load onto my hips. It’s like holding a very light variation of a deep squat (for 8 hours a day). Holding this poor posture position all day led to pain in the hip for me.
Sure, it might only be a small percentage of my body weight being loaded onto the hip. Because I am sitting in a chair. But let’s be conservative and say 10 percent of my body weight (20 pounds) is being loaded onto my hips for 8 hours a day. This adds up quickly after 5 days a week, 2000 hours a year. All because my hip joint was below my knee joint.
Crossing Your Legs
I’ve been to quite a few chiropractors. One of the best I found, he told me something important the first appointment I had with him. He said…
“Sitting with your legs crossed causes hip dysfunction. Don’t ever do it. Avoiding it is the easiest way to prevent hip pain.”
That’s a line I’ll never forget. Because good posture is always going to be a process. Even for someone like me, who has put thousands of hours into learning about computer ergonomics.
Not Keeping Feet Flat on the Floor
I used to pull my feet under my desk chair. My toes would be resting on the floor, but my heels were suspended up in the air.
In order to get my feet in this position, I had to activate my hamstring muscles. Holding my hamstrings activated all day led to repetitive strain and overuse. My hamstrings became tight and shortened. This had a terrible impact on my knee and hip function.
This would often happen when I was using a laptop monitor. Because they are too low, which caused me to slouch forward with my torso. And slouching set off a chain reaction, which made me pull my feet under my desk chair. To learn how to avoid this, check out the article I wrote on best posture for working on a laptop.
Does A Sitting Desk Help With Hip And Glute Discomfort
In my experience, a sitting desk does not help with hip and glute discomfort. As a matter of fact, sitting does the opposite. It used to cause me hip and glute discomfort. My glutes became weak, deactivated, tight muscles from sitting for long periods. And I ended up in physical therapy.
On the other side of my body, my hip flexors became tight, shortened, and overused. This happened for a couple reasons:
- My glutes were weak from sitting, which is also known as dead butt syndrome.
- My hips got tight because my chair was too low. My hip level was lower than my knees. Which put more load onto my hips while sitting all day.
Among computer users, those are the 2 most common causes of hip pain and glute discomfort.
How To Sit Correctly At A Desk To Avoid Hip Discomfort
Maintain Correct Chair Height With Hips Above Knee Level
This is the first step I take to prevent hip pain when sitting. It’s a super easy fix, that makes a huge difference. I raise my chair level until my elbows are above my desk level. This correct chair height should also lift my hips above my knees. If it doesn’t, I need to lower my desk.
Finding correct chair height is the first step a computer user should take, as far as how to improve posture while sitting at computer.
Keep Feet Flat on the Floor (or a Footrest if Necessary)
Keeping my feet flat on the floor allows me to have:
- Neutral ankle position
- Neutral knee position
- Relaxed hamstrings
And all of those contribute to avoiding hip discomfort.
I’m 6’3″ tall, so I don’t usually need a footrest. But if I did raise my chair to get correct hip level (slightly higher than my knees), it could possibly lift my feet off the floor. If it does, I maintain that correct chair height. But I get a footrest. And I keep my feet flat on that.
Work on Glute Strength in the Gym
Sitting in an office chair destroyed my glutes.
I’ve been a weightlifter since I was 15 years old. But I always neglected my glute strength until a couple years ago. For context, I’m in my late forties at the time this article was written.
I used to build glutes indirectly from squats, deadlifts, and what not. But I never focused on them. Not until my weak glutes became a real problem.
That’s when I started doing glute drive, glute kickbacks, and glute bridge. These exercises have helped me strengthen my glutes into a strong foundation. This foundation supports my torso much better when I’m sitting in a desk chair.
To do a deeper dive on those exercises I did, check out my article titled, How to Build Glute Strength.
Improve Flexibility with a Yoga Hip Flexor Stretch
I’m not a yoga instructor, so I won’t explain how to get into these poses:
- low lunge
- lizard pose
- pigeon pose
But I will tell you that these poses helped me relieve hip tension and avoid future hip discomfort. I’d do these poses in a hot yoga class. It’s just my personal preference, but I don’t mess around with yoga at room temperature. At my age, it’s a lot easier (and more productive) to stretch in a hot room, compared to at room temperature.
When I first did yoga, the hip pain was rough. Luckily, all my bursae (small fluid filled sacs) were functioning well.
But we all have our own starting position somewhere. And I stuck with it consistently. Now, I have great hip function and no hip pain when sitting.
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Thanks for your interest in computer posture.
Todd Bowen – Computer Posture Correction and Pain-Free Ergonomics: For Part-Time Athletes Who Sit at a Computer Full-Time