Fast paced office jobs, where you need to focus on your work while you are desk-bound for a long time, can be detrimental to your health. When you look at a person working at the computer, the job may look completely harmless. Being busy and focused, you may not even notice the strain you are exposed to, until you actually suffer pain.

Our bodies have been created for movement, so when your body stays fixed in a confined space for long hours, without moving, the proper functioning of your circulatory, respiratory and other vital systems can become inhibited. Sitting is actually not relaxation, as many of us think. It is a big demand on our muscles to keep us in this static position. Holding your body still is in fact far harder work for your muscles and the musculoskeletal system than movement and exercise. Besides, we quite often habitually use the wrong muscles to support us while seated at our desks for a long time. The deep postural muscles that should be holding us up when we sit at our desks are quite often very weak in people with sedentary professions. We rely on our superficial muscles and seriously overwork them. No wonder they hurt as a result.

Long-term work with computers has the following impacts on us:

• Shallow breathing
  
• Inhibited circulation
  
• Compressed spine
  
• Muscle imbalance
  
• Stress and involuntary muscle activity