Why Sitting Too Long Bothers Your Upper Back

Upper back pain and discomfort is common, especially with someone who sits a lot for work or leisure using a computer. 

Why does my back and neck hurt when I sit?

When we sit down we tend to sit down in good posture, this lasts about 20 minutes or so. Then we start getting a little lazy, well we don’t, our muscles get tired and we start curling up a little bit more compared to sitting up tall. This change is natural but left unnoticed it will eventually lead to upper back and neck pain.

What can I do about back and neck pain from sitting?

There are a few things to do to get rid of back and neck pain from sitting.

1. 20/20 Rule

2. Neck exercises

3. Back exercises

4. Regular stretches

5. Regular strength exercises

I’m going to break up the things to do for back and neck pain by things you can do right away when you’re sitting, and then regular maintenance and preventive things to do.

Things I can do at my desk when my neck and back hurt

20/20 Rule for sitting posture

The 20/20 rule is actually the 20/20/20 rule, but for ease I’m just going to talk about the 20/20 rule. The 20/20 rule for back and neck pain is every 20 minutes, stand for 20 seconds (the 3rd 20 is to look at something 20 feet away to decrease eye strain). This rule works really well to help prevent poor posture when you sit at your computer. When you stand every 20 minutes, even just for 20 seconds it allows for your hips, back, neck, shoulders to change position. It allows for circulation to flow and then when you sit again you’ll sit down in better posture than the posture you had right before you stood up. And it’s only 20 seconds so it shouldn’t interrupt your day too much. You can stay on the phone, you can stand up right after you send an email and before you start the next one, etc.

Exercises to do right at your desk for neck pain

Chin tuck for neck pain

I love the chin tuck exercise for any kind of neck pain, migraine, headaches and tension. Imagine you are wearing a necklace, tuck your chin and bring it backward as if you were looking at the necklace at the top of your chest right below your collarbone. This isn’t looking down, it’s a retraction, or sliding your neck backward. Go to comfort and hold for a second or two, do 10 every hour you’re at your desk.

Shoulder blade squeezes for back pain

This next exercise helps discomfort from the part of your back that’s between your shoulder blades. Maybe you call this area shoulder blade pain, mid back pain, upper back pain, however you define it the exercise to alleviate it is the same. Imagine you have a pencil between your shoulder blades, squeeze the pencil gently. Keep the shoulders down, don’t let them inch up to your ears.

Stretches to do for neck and back pain from sitting at a desk all day

1. Upper trap stretch

2. Pec stretch

3. Hip flexor stretching

4. Laying on your belly

5. Foam rolling thoracic spine

These stretches are important to help stretch out areas that get tight from sitting all day. THe upper trap stretch decreases the tension in the shoulders where we all tend to carry the tension and stress of the day. Sitting at a desk with our arms up typing all day makes this area prone to hiking up toward the ears. This stretch brings the shoulders down, away from the ears.

The pec stretch will open up the chest and bring the shoulders back into better posture.

The hip flexors get so tight when we sit all the time so regular hip flexor stretching can keepthese muscles flexbile.

Laying on your belly helps take the pressure off the low back. When we sit a lot our low back stays in a rounded position so laying on our belly forces us to stretch that part of our back to be neutral. 

Foam rolling your thoracic spine helps keep the joints in your upper back mobile and prevent them from feeling stuck in a forward bend posture. This will release tension and keep the joints mobile to keep you in good posture.

Exercises to do for neck and back pain from sitting at a desk all day

1. Sitting on a stability ball rows

2. Deadlifts

3. Bridging

Sitting on a stability ball doing the row exercise is good for 2 things. Sitting on the stability ball in good posture will strengthen the core to be able to sit in better posture for longer. Then adding in the row exercise strengthens the upper back between the shoulder blades, bringing you in better posture and making your muscles stronger to keep you there.

Deadlifts are important to help strengthen the hamstrings, glutes and core which take a hit when we sit for so long then we start getting cramps in hamstrings and our butts fall asleep.Regular deadlifts help make and keep these muscles strong and keep the circulation good in these areas. And if you’ve been in my world for any length of time you know that doing deadlifts regularly for me was a game changer because it completely eliminated the hip tightness at the front of my hips.

Bridging is an excellent strength exercise for hamstrings and glutes, so it has the same benefit as deadlifts, and it also stretches out the front of the hips to keep those hip flexors mobile.

Let’s recap: sitting at a desk all day for work or leisure using the computer so often can often lead to upper back and neck pain. There are a few things you can do right at your desk including every 20 minutes stand for 20 seconds, doing the chin tuck exercise and shoulder blade squeeze to keep the area mobile during the day and to bring you back into better posture. Doing regular stretching like upper trap, pec, hip flexors, laying on your belly and foam rolling your thoracic spine keep your muscles and joints mobile to maintain proper posture. Doing regular strength training like rows while sitting on a stability ball, deadlifts and bridging can help keep your core and body strong to help decrease any muscle cramping, spasms and keep you in good posture when you’re sitting.

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