Sitting Is Bad for You

Turns out, our bodies weren’t meant to sit at a desk all day. I’m a designer and work at my desk, usually all day long, five days a week and as a result—my back feels it! So what do I do? Though it’s a challenge for me to remember, if I take breaks and get up and walk around—it helps. So does good desk ergonomics, exercise, chiropractic care, and massage. But I have found a few other items that can help me maintain good posture and good health.

1. Tricore pillow — Supports my neck as I sleep whether I sleep on my back or my side. Maintaining the curve in my neck is super important, as my neck wants to be stairstepped from hunching over my computer for years.
2. Laptop stand — At night, when I want to look something up on the internet, catch up on Facebook or watch a show on Hulu—I can now do it without hurting my neck. I can lay down flat, tilt the tray up so that my laptop is approximately at a 20° angle, and as a result my screen is directly overhead (picture shows tray at 45°, but it easily adjusts). No more propping my head up with pillows to see the screen, which encourages my head and neck to jut forward.
3. Trigger point foam roller — My friend just introduced me to this roller. Using your body weight, you roll your back over this—to release tight muscles. For me, it popped my middle back which I like because it’s not something I can normally do on my own.
4. Mouse arm rest — I’ve seen several versions of these. Some attach to your desk and some to your chair. I prefer to have it attached to my chair so that at all times my upper arm can stay by my side and my lower arm stay at 45°. I never have to reach forward to use the mouse. This is one thing I cannot live without in my office! Another version can be found here. You can see my well-used mouse arm attached to my office chair below.
5. Pain Free at Your PC by Pete Egoscue — Egoscue writes about posture therapy for your back. I have read most of his book, Pain Free and have been to an Egoscue clinic in town. I have experienced firsthand that his methods work if you faithfully do the corrective exercises! This book says it provides specific information on how to prevent or reverse repetitive stress injuries and the like (such as carpal tunnel syndrome). I need to read this book—as I need exercises specifically targeted to my sitting-related pain!
6. Treadmill desk — Research has shown that exercising several days a week, cannot undo the damage from sitting at a desk all day long! Yikes!  From sitting, electrical activity in the muscles drops, your calorie-burning rate immediately plunges to about one per minute, insulin effectiveness drops, and more. Dr. James Levine, the doctor who has researched this, created a treadmill desk to incorporate extra movement into sedentary workers routines (himself included). There have been several more treadmill desks designed since then, but though there are options—they are not cheap. They range in price from $479 on up. You can purchase the $479 one here and the one seen in the picture above here. I think if I get the courage to try this, because I’m a do-it-yourselfer—I’ll have to creatively construct my own version. You can read the New York Times article about treadmill desks here. You can read the New York Times article about sitting being a lethal activity here.

What do YOU use at your desk or home to help improve your posture, eliminate pain, or keep you from sitting for long hours?