I don't give much of anything back to this community, so here's a little something that may benefit those of you who take it to heart.
First of all, let's look at the obvious: we're seated for hours on end. What does that lead to? Think about it: your knees are flexed, so your hamstrings are in a shortened position and they, inevitably, will shorten. Your hips are flexed, shortening your hip flexors and your rectus femoris (one of your quadriceps; the only one that crosses the hip joint). This tightness will lead to changes in the kinematics (movement) at the hip, knee, and ankle (Kinetic Chain).
Your arm or arms are stretched out in front of you, probably mostly just the side you use for your mouse. At the shoulder, this is called protraction. This changes the kinematics at the glenohumeral joint (shoulder). Depending on how bad it is, how long you've been like this, etc. it can lead to impingement at the shoulder. A quick test for this is to take your hand and place it on your opposite shoulder, leave it there, now bring your elbow to the ceiling. You feel a pinch? You may also notice it in overhead exercises like military press, incline bench press, skull crushers, etc.
Scapular Protraction:
vs
Scapular Retraction:
Shoulder impingement Test:
So, if your shoulders are constantly protracted, then the muscles on the posterior (rear) side will be put in a lengthened and essentially weakened position (Length-tension curve), namely your rhomboids, middle trapezius, and lower trapezius. This leads to winging and tipping of the scapulae (your shoulder blades). Winging and tipping essentially lead to instability/pain at that joint. This also puts the muscles on the anterior (front) side in a shortened position, which usually then become more dominant. This is often referred to as pec or pectoral-dominance as the muscles generally affected are the pec major and minor.
Winging and Tipping:
Let's talk posture. I can pretty much guarantee that your posture sucks. No big deal, right? Wrong. Maintaining crappy posture throughout the day has a variety of long term effects. Depending on how much time you put in on your computer, having your mouse at a different height than your keyboard may lead to a functional scoliosis (lateral curvature of the spine). Additionally, flat back and forward-head posture are common among people who spend a lot of time at their computers. As you can imagine these lead to neck and back problems.
Thoracic kyphosis + forward head posture:
Scoliosis:
This is really just the tip of the iceberg to be honest. If there's a significant amount of interest in this, I may post some follow up stretches/exercises prescribed with the internet poker player in mind. If not much interest is shown, you can always google exercises, or go pay for physical therapy (chiropractors can't help you, don't burn your money).
Second: Downloaded this movie off of funfiles last night, pretty decent/entertaining. Kinda like Cloverfield, but much better cuz it didn't suck.
I'll give it 3.5/5 stars
I've become infatuated with this girl but this pic is too low-def for my monitor. Anyone got a high def version? I'd give my left testicle for a night alone with her.
