Improve Your Posture at Work

Sitting at a desk all day can take a toll on your body, and having bad posture can make things worse. To avoid chronic neck and back pain, it's important that you try to maintain good posture while you're sitting at your desk. Fortunately, there are lots of things you can do to improve your posture at work, from adjusting your workspace to stretching throughout the day.

Steps

Adjusting Your Workspace

1. Adjust your chair height so your forearms line up with your keyboard. Having to reach up or down with your arms when you’re typing is bad for your posture. To have good posture at your desk, raise or lower your chair until your forearms are at the same height as your keyboard when you’re typing. Try to form a 90-degree angle with your elbows.
   • Most office chairs have a lever or knob underneath them that you can use to adjust their height.
   • If your chair isn’t adjustable, you may want to look into getting a new chair or desk so your arms are level with your keyboard.
2. Adjust your monitor height so your eyes line up with the top of the screen. You don’t want to be craning your neck up or down when you're looking at your computer screen. To avoid this, raise or lower your monitor so your eyes meet the top of the monitor when you look straight ahead.
   • If you’re using a laptop or a monitor that can't be adjusted, try placing it on some stacked books to elevate it if it’s too low.
3. Put a foot rest under your desk if your feet don’t sit flat on the floor. To have the best posture possible while at your desk, you’ll want your feet to be planted comfortably on the floor. If they’re not, slide a foot rest under your desk and keep your feet on it while you’re working.
4. Move all your work essentials so they’re within reach on your desk. Place your pens, sticky notes, paperwork, phone, computer mouse, and other items you frequently use toward the front of your desk so you can easily grab them when needed. Having to stretch for something or get up to grab it puts unnecessary stress on your muscles, and it can disrupt your posture.

Sitting at Your Desk Correctly

1. Sit up straight so your ears, shoulders, and hips are aligned. Think of your ears, shoulders, and hips as points on a line. Your posture is good when these points are all in a straight line. If you notice 1 of these points out of line with the others, readjust how you’re sitting.
   • Avoid slouching down in your chair or leaning to one side. Slouching and leaning can put stress on your muscles and affect your spine.
   • Try to get in the habit of checking in on your posture throughout the day. Then, if you notice yourself slouching or leaning, you can fix your posture by sitting up straight in your chair.
2. Check the position of your thighs, calves, and lower back. Sit down on your chair and check your thighs, calves, and lower back to see if your posture is good. If not, adjust the chair to help provide support.
   • First, take your hand and try to slide it under your thigh at the front of the chair. If this is hard, try propping your feet up.
   • Next, try passing a fist between your calf and the chair. If you can't do this easily, adjust the back of the chair up or sit on a cushion.
   • Make sure your lower back is arched slightly, with your bottom pressing against the back of the chair. Place a cushion or pillow down if you don't have adequate support.
3. Move your chair forward so your hands rest on your keyboard. You want to avoid reaching forward to use your keyboard, which can cause you to round your shoulders.
   • If your keyboard is still too far away when you slide your chair in toward your desk all the way, move your keyboard closer to you.
4. Avoid holding your phone between your ear and neck. Instead, talk on the phone using a hands-free option, like a headset or speakerphone. Holding a phone between your ear and neck is bad for your neck muscles, and it can disrupt your good posture.
   • If you can’t talk on the phone hands-free, use your hand to hold the phone to your ear and avoid craning your neck to the side.

Stretching at Work

1. Do sitting stretches periodically at your desk. Stretching helps to loosen your muscles and realign your posture while you’re sitting at your desk. Some sitting stretches you can try at your desk are:
   • Chin tucks. While sitting up straight at your desk, pull your chin in and down toward your chest. Hold for a couple of seconds, release your chin, and repeat 10 times.
   • Chin rotations. With your chin parallel to the floor, slowly rotate your neck from left to right 10 times.
   • Shoulder blade pinches. Bend your elbows at your sides so your arms make a “W” shape. Then, bring your elbows back until your shoulder blades pinch together. Repeat 10 times.
2. Do some standing stretches every 30 minutes. Standing up and stretching throughout the day is a great way to improve your posture at work. When you stand up to stretch, try to stretch for at least 2 minutes so your body is really benefiting from the stretches. Some standing stretches you can try are:
   • Shoulder blade stretches. While standing, lace your fingers together behind your back so your palms are facing away from you. Then, slowly lift your arms up as high as they can go and hold them there for several seconds.
   • Chest stretches. Place your hand on a wall and slowly rotate your body without moving your hand. Once you can’t stretch any further, let go of the wall and try again with your other hand.
   • Arms stretches. Stand with your hands at your sides and your palms facing out. Then, slowly stretch your arms out and bring them together above your head.
3. Go on walks during your breaks and lunches. Getting up and walking around at work will shorten the amount of time you’re sitting at your desk during the day, and it’s a good opportunity to loosen your muscles and realign your posture. Whenever you have a break, take the opportunity to walk around.
   • Even if you’re not up for walking outside, try walking to the bathroom or walking around the office on your breaks.
4. Set an alarm on your phone or computer so you don’t forget to stretch. It’s easy to get absorbed in your work and forget to stretch and readjust your posture, so set alarms for yourself as an easy reminder. You can even schedule them to go off every day of the week that you work so you only have to worry about setting them once.
   • For example, you could set an alarm to go off every 30 minutes throughout the day. Then, when your alarm goes off, you can take a couple of minutes to stand up and stretch.

Tips

• If you find yourself slouching a lot in your chair at work, try sitting on an exercise ball instead. On an exercise ball, you'll need to maintain a better posture to stay balanced.
• You can also try a standing desk at work. With a standing desk, you'll be less likely to slouch or lean to one side.
• Ask for a workstation assessment from HR. The British Chiropractic Association revealed that just a fifth of the 1,643 workers polled had been offered a desk assessment, ergonomic chairs or laptop stands by their employer to help reduce the level of pain they experienced. If workers use display screen equipment every day for more than an hour, then employers must do a workstation assessment.

Related Articles

• Correct Forward Head Posture
• Sit at a Computer
• Improve Your Posture
• Use an Exercise Ball As a Chair

References

See also

• Learn About Asbestos Legislation
• Avoid Germs at the Office
• Lift and Carry a Baby
• Find Alternatives to Sitting in a Desk
• Balance Work and Health
• Do Yoga at Your Computer
• Sue for Asbestos Exposure
• Put on a Cleanroom Suit
• Obtain OSHA Reports
• Measure Work Safety

Read more ...

What links here

• Stop Slouching