Stooped posture caused me excessive muscle tension. This tension led to chronic pain and joint dysfunction.
It didn’t matter if I would sit or stand, stooped posture stuck with me for years. It’s not necessarily the position my torso was in, it was the act of placing my hands on something in front of me (keyboard and mouse), then leaving them there for long periods of time.
Stooped posture is very common among office workers who sit at a computer for long periods of time.
It often develops gradually, due to long hours of sitting, poor ergonomics, back muscle weakness, or aging.
Many people do not realize they have developed a stooped posture until they begin experiencing neck pain, back discomfort, or limited mobility.
I’m dedicating this post to talk about what stooped posture is, and what someone can do to fix it, or even avoid it altogether.
What Is Stooped Posture
Stooped posture is when you hold your upper body in a forward manner. Your spine becomes excessive rounded (also forward), especially in the upper back.
Stooped posture occurs when the upper spine curves forward excessively, then is held in that position for long periods of time.
- shoulders and head tend to lean forward
- head is pushed forward in front of the torso
- shoulders are rounded and internally rotated
- upper back is curved in a hunch-like manner
- chest is collapsed
What Causes A Stooped Posture
Prolonged sitting
Sitting at desks or computers encourage slouching. Working in that slouched position long term will end up leading to stooped posture.
Poor workstation setup
I want my workstation to be an asset that helps me maintain good posture naturally.
I don’t want my workstation to be a liability that promotes poor posture soon as I sit down.
Screens that are too low, or chairs without proper support, can encourage forward leaning. Correcting monitor height, chair height, and foot position are 3 key ways to improve your posture.
Weak upper back muscles
After years of studying ergonomics, finding proper alignment at a computer desk is easy for me. But it will always be a process to maintain proper posture.
My upper back muscles got weak, especially around my shoulder blades. Because my chest muscles were chronically overused.
And since these upper back muscles overwork to support the spine, they weakened over time.
Tight chest muscles
My chest is the tightest muscle group I’ve ever had from poor computer posture. As soon as I placed my hands on my keyboard and mouse, my chest tightened up and compressed. It took years of hard work to get my tight chest muscles released.
My tight pectoral muscles also pulled my shoulders forward, causing a chain reaction of muscle strain throughout other muscle groups.
Frequent phone use
I used to look down at my smartphone for extended periods, which contributed to forward head posture and neck pain.
I try to stay off my phone as much as possible. If I have to use it, I hold it at (or near) my eye level.
Age-related spinal changes
Bone density changes or degenerative conditions can contribute to spinal curvature.
Can Stooped Posture Be Corrected
I corrected my stooped posture. It took a lot of time, patience, and hard work. It improved significantly with exercises, stretching, and posture awareness.
Mild to moderate cases often improve through strengthening the back muscles and stretching the chest and shoulders.
Because when I slouched forward, my chest and shoulders got tighter and shorter (as I held them in a flexed position for long periods).
But my back muscles got tighter and longer (as I held them in an extended position for long periods).
Severe cases of a muscle imbalance like this may affect spinal conditions, which may require medical evaluation by a doctor or physical therapist.
How To Fix Stooped Posture
Strengthen the upper back muscles
This decreased the excessive tension of my chest muscles.
Stretch tight chest muscles regularly
This made my chest muscles activate more effectively. It also increased their flexibility.
Practice chin tuck exercises
This helped activate the muscles on the front of my neck (which were deactivated and shortened from chronic overuse).
Do shoulder blade squeeze exercises
This helped me reverse the rounding forward of my torso in small doses.
Use a wall posture check
I would often stand with my back against the wall when I did my breathing exercises. It was a good guide that told me just how far my torso was slouched forward, versus how well I was progressing.
Improve your workstation setup
As mentioned earlier, I want my workstation adjustments to promote good computer posture.
- I want the top of my monitor screen to be even with my eye level.
- I want my chair height to allow my hips to be slightly above my knees. My thighs are parallel to the floor at minimum. I never want my hip height to fall below my knee level.
- I always keep my feet flat on the floor.
These 3 tips are my most important ways of how to improve computer posture while sitting at computer. Done correctly, they can lead to significant improvement quickly.
The below image shows how those 3 rules remain the same, at both sitting or standing workstations.
Take frequent posture breaks
Movement breaks are a great way to improve posture at computer. Because it’s not only how good our posture is, it’s how long we work in the same position that can cause computer-related pain.
Even with perfect posture, I still got repetitive strain and overuse injuries when sitting (or standing) for long periods at my computer.
Strengthen your core muscles
It’s a common misconception that core muscles are only found in the abdomen. When actually, they’re found in the abs, obliques, lower back, and pelvis floor.
The strength of these core muscles are incredibly important, especially considering how much sitting weakens and deactivates them.
Keep your phone at eye level
I try to stay off my phone as much as possible when I’m at my desk. If I do have to use it, I keep it short, and I keep it at (or near) my eye level.
Practice posture awareness throughout the day
Posture awareness is crucial to fix and prevent stooped posture.
Good posture is essential. But first, we have to know what we’re doing wrong before we can correct our mistakes.
Do resistance band rows
This helped activate and strengthen the muscles in my upper and mid back.
Perform thoracic spine stretches
This helped me improve the mobility of my upper and mid back. It also helped release some of my tight chest muscles.
How To Avoid Stooped Posture
Adjust workstation ergonomics
- I keep the top of my monitor height even with my eye level
- I keep my shoulder height slightly above my keyboard and mouse
- I keep my hips slightly higher than my knees
- I keep my feet flat on the floor (or a footrest, because sometimes raising my chair height to get my elbows high enough, may lift my feet off the floor)
Take movement breaks
I don’t do much. I just go for a walk to get the blood flowing. I don’t do squats, pushups, or anything like that. This is just what works best for me.
Strengthen posture muscles regularly
I used to always neglect my postural muscles. And I paid for it.
Now, I strengthen any posture muscles that support my torso, head, and arms.
Keep phones at eye level for long periods
Scrolling through my phone, while it was down on my desk, caused me to look down at an excessive angle.
It’s worse than using a laptop monitor. And if you’ve read any of my stuff, you know how much I hate using laptop monitors. They are too small and too low.
Practice posture awareness
When it comes to computer posture mistakes and fixes, it’s just like anything else. We need to know what we’re doing wrong, before we can correct it.
Thanks for your interest in computer posture.
Todd Bowen – Computer Posture Correction and Pain-Free Ergonomics: For Office Workers Who Want to Fix Their Sitting Pain
P.S. If you’ve read this far down, you’ll love the digital store I just published.
🙏 Thank you for supporting my work. -Todd