Proper Sitting Posture at Desk or Computer

Back pain, joint degeneration, spinal dysfunction, a potbelly, and rounded shoulders – do these sound like pleasant words to you? We bet they don’t. Ready to hear the harsh truth about yourself? You’re inviting all of them to your doorstep just by doing one wrong thing – Bad sitting posture.

Wait a minute! Who asked you to panic already? Just relax! You’ve still got the chance to fix it all up by maintaining proper sitting posture at desk. So, how much do you know about it?

Well, that ain’t going to be a problem even if you say you’ve got zero clues on that. We’ve got your back. Just focus on what we’re just about to tell you. If you’re ready to follow that, then you’re free to kick those health issues out of your life once and for all.

Proper Sitting Posture at Desk

You’ve already seen the headline. So, you know what we’re going to get started with. Often people misunderstand it as one of the easiest things to do but still, they don’t get it even after seeing their shrunk face made due to that horrible back pain. That’s only because they don’t know how to do that.

But you ain’t going to remain as one of them and for that, all you have to do is just check out the things we’re about to tell you. Here comes the first thing you’ll have to do for correcting your sitting posture.

Adjust Your Chair

Just picking a chair that’ll make your office look good shouldn’t be your first priority as you need one good enough to support your spinal curves. And when you’ll be sitting on it, make sure the height can be adjusted in a way where you can leave the feet flat on your floor or the footrest.

Plus, check out if you’re having any problem in keeping the thighs parallel to your floor. Don’t forget to put the armrest on the adjustment list too, so that you can allow your arms to rest gently there.

Key Objects

Want to know the easiest way to ruin a correct desk posture? Keeping the key objects at a distance where you’ll have to move too much from your place to grab them. So, if you don’t that to happen, then start keeping them at places you can easily reach. These objects can be anything like a telephone, stapler, etc.

And if it’s not possible to reach everything you need while sitting, don’t try to reach them from a sitting position. Just stand up and pick it.

Rest Your Feet on the Floor

It’s time to land the bottom on the chair. When you take the seat, check out if you’re having any problem in keeping the feet flat on your floor or not. Don’t miss having a footrest if you feel like you need one. By the way, don’t think about crossing them as that’ll mess up the posture and create postural problems.

Support Your Back

Well, if you rank having the right back support on the basis of importance, then may you’ll have to give it the top slot. As you’ve already adjusted the chair, examine if it’s delivering the proper support to your lower back or not. The perfect adjustment will make you feel like a relief on the back strain.

Arms

Want to know how to make your upper back lose strength? Just extending or stretching your hands forward is probably enough for that. And guess what will come next? The upper back pain. So, the best way to avoid that is to keep the arms at a 90° to 110° angle.

That’s all you need to do here too. For that, you better take the help of the armrest. Have the padded one gives a bit more comfort there.

So, How should I sit at my desk?

All this time what we’ve said to you was what you need to do have a better or proper posture. But wouldn’t it be better if we get you the instruction in a bit more ‘step by step’ way? Well then, here it is.

Step – 1: Adjust the chair height. Don’t go too down as you’ll know that if you see the thighs are not staying parallel anymore.
Step – 2: Get back support. Most of the chairs come with lumbar support and some even have the option to adjust tilting. Adjust it in a way where you can attain a 90° angle in the seated position. Now have a seat.
Step – 3: Keep the feet flat on the floor to have a better posture. Don’t cross the legs as you don’t want to interrupt the blood flow.
Step – 4: Keep the arms at a 90° to 110° angle too and the shoulder relaxed. Take regular breaks as sitting in the same position too long can also be harmful to your health.

Proper Sitting Posture at Computer

on’t get confused! Just because you’re sitting at the desk doesn’t mean you’ll have to keep using your computer all the time. But the truth is, this is where we invest most of our time at the desk. So, you need to grab some idea of how your posture has to be when you’re sitting on that chair of yours.

Make Your WorkStation Seat-Friendly

You’ve got a beautiful desk with nice chair but whenever you sit on it the only feeling you get is like sitting on a rock. Is this what you’ll call the seat-friendly work station? We bet you won’t. So, make sure you’ve got that covered with the perfectly comfortable and adjustable chair with an ergonomic desk.

KeepYour Keyboard in Front of You in a Straight Position

We at times see people putting their keyboards in an angled position. But what they don’t know is it actually changes their sitting posture. So when you really want to be at the proper sitting posture at desk always keep the keyboard in front of you while typing something.

If you’re asking for the required gap, then it has to be at least 4” to 6” so that your wrists can have enough space to rest. And yes, don’t forget to keep the arms in L-shape in order to avoid strain.

Keep the Mouse Closer

When you’re using a computer, the only thing you use the most is probably the mouse. So, we don’t need to say much about why you need to keep it closer. Basically, when you’ll have to keep the wrist straight or has to bend over again and again to reach the mouse, it can cause strain sometimes.

And try to use a mouse mat that comes with the wrist pad. That’s not only to let the wrist rest but helps when you’re working with it keeping the wrist straight.

Placingthe Screen at Eye-Level

Some like it upper and some at lower than the eye level. But the problem is when you’re putting the monitor anywhere less than the eye-level it makes you bend your neck. And if you ask us, keeping the neck at that position is more than enough to cause pain there.

So, whenever you’re planning to work on a computer, make sure the monitor is at your eye-level. One more thing! Keep it away from yourself and the distance needs to as long as an arm.

Avoid Screen Reflection

It’s better to have a glare-free screen. If you feel like there’s a glare on the screen, simply change the position of the monitor to avoid that. You can also ease up using the monitor by adjusting its brightness and contrast.

Make Documents Easy To Reach

Getting up or stretching again and again for things like documents can not only be irritating but also stressful for your body too. So, it’s better to keep things you need frequently closer to you.

Telephone

If you’re a frequent telephone user, then you already know how painful it gets when you have to continuously hold it between your neck and head. Ultimately what you get is a pain in the neck.

So, try to use the speaker more often from now on. If you feel like you don’t want to let others listen to your conversation, then try using a headphone instead.

Take Regular Breaks

There’s no doubt that maintaining the right position or posture is essential. But what is equally important here is taking regular breaks. Staying seated for too long can even cause health issues like heart disease. So, for your own good, try changing the position every 30 minutes or have a walk.

Start Sitting Better Today at the Computer

It’s not easy to change a habit at once and so is the seating position. Somehow with older reflex, we get back to the wrong position again. But changing is hard, not impossible. So, it’s high time for you to give it a try.

Good Sitting Posture for People with Back Pain

There’re literally tons of reasons why you might end up in having body ache and one of them is a bad posture. But if you’re already suffering from issues like back pain, then we’ve got good news for you. you can fix that up by following a good sitting posture.

All you need to do is when you sit, let your back have the proper support so that the spinal curves can stay balanced and aligned. Try to use chairs with lumbar support to have a better posture. But if your existing chair doesn’t have that, you can use a rolled towel to create the support too.

And one more thing! Don’t stay seated for more than 30 minutes. Whenever you feel like it’s been too long, take a small break and get up from that chair of yours.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to stay completely still?

No, you don’t need to do that. Actually, it’s important to move at times so that you don’t get your body stressed. Sitting for a long time is something that can not only get your body pain but also major diseases. But you need to understand the difference between moving and ruining the posture.

No matter what kind of movement you’re making, don’t let your body to be in a position where it’ll have to hunch. This way you’ll push it towards the pain rather than saving from it. And yes, you should make a change in the position every 30 minutes.

What if the pain’s in my arm, not my back?

If you think that the wrong posture can only cause pain to the back then you’re wrong. Posture doesn’t only indicate how you’re putting your bottom on the cushion but also how you’re putting your hand and legs too while sitting.

If you’re having pain in the arm then it’s probably due to keeping it stretched forward or extended for a long time. In that case, to ease up that pain, it’ll be better if you can just keep the at a 90° angle and let it have the support of the chair’s armrests.

What about when I’m not using a computer?

What is right is always right and the same goes for the sitting position too. Doesn’t matter if you’re using a computer or not, you need to keep the position right. Let your arms be at a position parallel to your floor and keep the legs flat even when all you’re doing is sitting on the desk.

You need to let your back be against your chair and don’t let the shoulder hunch. Try to use an adjustable chair in order to get a perfect position. And of course, take breaks, stand, walk around after every 30 minutes.

Can I relax when I get home?

Yes, you can. But that doesn’t mean you’ll have to seat anywhere like a hunched bird. Even if you’re sitting to watch your favorite show, you better be in the best posture for watching tv and the same when you’re lying down on your couch. Just because you’re at home, doesn’t mean the pain won’t chase you down.

Final Thoughts

Even the minor things that we ignore in our regular life can cause severe damage in the long run and not maintaining proper sitting posture at desk is one of them. But if you just bring some minor changes in the way you seat, you’ve got a good chance of not seeing yourself with pains again.

Now you know what to do to fix that up. So, what are you waiting for? It’s time for you to start practicing and eliminate the chance of having postural pains, like FOREVER!

Clinton A

Writholic, Very passionate Writer, love to travel a lot