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In modern workspaces, many workers spend most of their day sitting at a desk. The best way to ensure this won't affect your health is to master your posture.
Why is this the case? Simple: the human body is built to move, and spending extended periods of time in a sedentary position can lead to all sorts of issues. With proper posture, you can minimize these issues and retain your mobility.
Fortunately, mastering optimal desk posture isn't too complicated. But before we get to the tips, let's go over why proper posture is so important.
What Is Optimal Desk Posture?
First things first: what is optimal posture? This refers to positioning your body to sit in a position that places less strain on your muscles and ligaments.
For most people, correct body alignment involves maintaining the natural "S" shape of your spine. Keeping your body in this shape consistently while sitting comes with a variety of benefits, including:
- Using your muscles more efficiently
- Decreasing the stress on spinal ligaments
- Reducing abnormal wear and tear on joints
- Preventing strains, sprains, and other injuries
- Avoiding muscle fatigue
How to Have Good Posture When Sitting at a Desk All Day?
If you're not careful, it's easy to catch your posture slipping after sitting down for a while. Here are seven desk posture tips that should keep your body aligned!
1. Keep Your Pelvis Neutral
Sitting with your pelvis neutral is essential for preventing anterior and posterior pelvis tilt. If you're not sure how to do it, start by finding your sitz bones. These are the bony points you'll feel when placing your hands under your buttocks.
Once you find the sitz bones, round the lower back into a slouched position and tuck your pelvis under. Then, arch your lower back to tilt the pelvis forward. A neutral pelvis is midway between the tilted and slouched positions.
2. Place Your Hips, Knees, and Elbows at 90 Degrees
The 90/90 rule is a classic posture guideline. It involves keeping your hips, knees, and elbows bent at 90-degree angles while sitting. To make this work, you'll need to adjust your chair and desk to an appropriate height.
3. Stop Your Head From Protruding Forward
As far as posture correction techniques go, keeping your head from protruding forward is among the hardest habits to learn. Why is this important? The more your head moves forward, the more weight you put on your neck.
In general, adjusting your workspace can lessen the need for head movements. Still, you'll likely need to make a conscious effort to avoid this issue as well. Keep in mind that the forward head posture can lead to many issues, such as:
- Neck arthritis
- Muscle spasms
- Neck and back pain
- Chronic fatigue
4. Keep Both Feet Flat on the Ground
When your feet aren't flat on the floor, you're putting stress on the supportive muscles of your hips and back. The crossed-leg position is particularly dangerous, as it forces you to lean to one side, causing an imbalanced pelvis.
5. Set the Monitor at an Eye Level
Every ergonomic desk setup relies on the correct monitor height and distance. If you're always looking up or down at a screen, you create a lot of tension in the muscles around your shoulders. Here's a simple monitor positioning guide:
- Keep the screen 20-25 inches away from your eyes
- Adjust the monitor height so that the top third is at eye level
- Tilt the screen slightly upwards
6. Keep the Ears, Shoulders, and Hips Aligned
One easy way to maintain the natural curve of your spine is to focus on the position of your ears, shoulders, and hips. While you're sitting, they should all be aligned in a straight line. Any deviation will put extra stress on the spine.
7. Have the Forearms Parallel With the Floor
Keeping your forearms aligned with the floor is a big part of a healthy sitting posture. When your forearms are parallel with the floor and resting on the desk, you reduce the amount of stress on your upper extremities.
To maintain this position, keep your mouse and keyboard at appropriate distances from your body. If you have to continually stretch your arms to reach them, your shoulders will keep rotating forward, potentially leading to upper back pain.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Are the Seven Ergonomic Hazards?
The seven ergonomic hazards are workplace situations that put added wear and tear on your body. They increase the risk of musculoskeletal injuries and are best dealt with by redesigning your workstation. The seven hazards are:
- Repetitive motions
- Awkward postures
- Direct pressure
- Heavy or frequent lifting
- Environmental factors
- Forceful exertions
- Vibration
Do Standing Desks Actually Help Posture?
Yes, a standing desk can help improve your posture. It encourages movement and reduces the sitting-related pressure on the spine. A standing desk also engages your core muscles and encourages better spinal alignment.
That said, standing still for the entire day isn't ideal either. For the best results, you should alternate between sitting and standing regularly. You should also ensure your standing desk is at the ergonomically correct height.
How Unhealthy Is Sitting at a Desk All Day?
Sitting at your desk constantly is unhealthy for many different reasons. Beyond physical issues like back pain, prolonged sitting slows down your metabolism. Other serious health risks of sitting down too long include:
- Obesity and diabetes
- Certain types of cancer
- Cardiovascular disease
Invest in Workstation Ergonomics Today!
Even if you have to sit at a desk all day, there's no reason you should torture your body while doing it. As this guide shows, optimal desk posture isn't too hard to achieve, and it could have tremendous effects on your well-being.
At Uncaged Ergonomics, we can help you maintain proper posture by upgrading your office space. Most of our ergonomic office furniture products are designed in-house with the goal of being useful, effective, and affordable!
We also offer free shipping on all orders over $39 and a 30-day, no-questions-asked return window. Take a look at our full selection of products right now!