A Programmer’s Road To Physical Health
Hi! I’m a software engineer and I work at home. It’s great. Seriously, if you’ve never worked at home, try it. I have my own office and access to all my stuff all the time. It’s been several years and I’ve learned a lot from it. It took some time to learn what matters and what doesn’t but hopefully, this blog shows that you can feel healthy while working at home or anywhere for that matter.
New challenges
If you work at a desk for any amount of time then you will likely encounter challenges in staying healthy. I’m referring to physical health, like feeling good and limber and wanting to move because you have energy. It’s been years but I only recently started facing new challenges with physical health. I started developing back pain a few years ago. Mind you, I worked in an office setting for the preceding five years where I mostly sat but I was young and limber then. I’m active. I’m no professional athlete but I do walk, ride my bike, and skateboard regularly. That said, I like what I do now and that’s new to me. I previously disliked and eventually hated my last career so getting up and avoiding the actual job was much easier. Now I sit and focus for hours because I enjoy it. This can be very bad for your body if you’re not careful.
I’m no doctor or physical therapist so consult them if you want real advice. This is just what I’ve found to work for me.
Posture
This part is easy and difficult at the same time. It helps to have good equipment but we’ll get back to that. Here are the important bits, sans equipment, for proper posture.
Standing
The dumb part is standing is a shortcut to all of this. But you still need your monitor at eye level and your arms at 90 degrees with your keyboard. Then wear some comfy slippers or shoes and take breaks. I go for the ‘it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon’ mentality and I take breaks whenever I need to. I break for 10 minutes and maybe longer towards the end of the day.
Sitting
Try not to sit for longer than half an hour. Sit on your sit bones and sit up straight. This has a lot to do with distance from your keyboard and monitor.
- Don’t reach for your keyboard
- Don’t lean towards your monitor or away from it (usually ~20 inches away)
- Monitor’s top should be at eye level
Keep your legs level with the ground with your feet flat.
- You can get a pad or use a box/books
Ensure that sitting or standing, your desk with whatever pads for your wrists lets you keep your arms 90 degrees comfortably.
Any Google search should say roughly the same but I’m just here to echo it and say it’s worth concentrating on.
Equipment
Wrists
- I use one of those foam pads that level my hands with my keyboard.
- I also got a mouse glide thing that helps. That mouse glide always needs to be level or it can cause pain.
Monitor
- I recently bought a taller mount to make sure I do this standing and sitting.
Chair
- I bought a fancy chair and I have to say, you can probably pass on that unless you really want it. It’s worth it but not life-changing. Just make sure you get lumbar support.
- I’m short so I did get a footrest. It’s fine. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend that one but I do think it’s important to make sure you keep the feet planted.
Desk
- I have a sit/stand desk and I would not skimp on having a standing option one way or another.
- I stand at least a few hours a day but I try and stand over half of the day. I even bounce back and forth to avoid locking my knees and get a little extra exercise. It’s not easy figuring all that out and that’s why I’m writing this. It is absolutely worth the effort to stay healthy and comfy.
Shoes (for standing)
- I bought some Crocs slippers and they have a ton of padding in the sole. It really helps to have shoes or some kind of soft pad to stand for long periods.
All of the above is going to help immensely but that’s only half the equation. It takes some work to stay healthy but it’s one hundred percent worth it.
Motion
I think the issue is the lack of movement. We lack the motion. So I try to move a bit during the day. I do a mixture of stretches and workouts but a lot of it is so I can keep doing what I love outside of work. I don’t imagine all of these apply to everyone, it’s just what works for me.
I try to stand at least half the day if not more. I use a Pomodoro timer and take 10-minute breaks from standing when I need to but I try to stand for as long as possible. I move a lot too. I try to just bounce from foot to foot and move to whatever I’m listening to. It helps.
Since I’ve had the most trouble with my back recently, I’ve been getting up Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to stretch and do ab workouts before work. You need to keep your core strong or you can strain your back.
Stretches and workouts
- These are amazing. Try them. I hate having tight hips and calves and this is an easy way to loosen everything up.
- Anything offset will strengthen your core stability. You can do almost any leg or back workout with offset weight to work your abs indirectly. It’s also much more fun than planking. But also plank.
- Yep, still a good exercise.
Yoga
- I search YouTube for core workouts and save what I like. Adriene is great if you need a recommendation.
This is not exhaustive but these are some of my favorites that I’ve found. I do strength training but it’s infrequent. I have a bench, dumbbells, and a kettlebell. I pick them up and put them down sometimes.
Conclusion
No one said staying healthy was easy, especially as you get older. This isn’t something I do 100% of the time but I try my best. I just want to encourage others to try and learn. I don’t think you’ll regret it.
