On average, an American office worker sits for at least ten hours daily; this article will prove very handy if you can relate. Most of our tasks in the office involve working on computers and other devices, which means remaining glued to our workstations all day. Sitting for such extended periods can hugely affect your productivity and overall health. Sedentary lifestyles are becoming the norm, and our bodies suffer from them as several conditions threaten to cause great suffering later.
In particular, the poor posture that many of us are accustomed to is to blame for all the various ways that sitting too much can hurt your health. They include pains in various body regions, such as the back, shoulder, and neck, and stiffness in other related muscles. In addition, you might be at risk of musculoskeletal disorders caused by excessive pressure on your spine and the discs between your vertebrae. The results can devastate your health, as even circulation and digestion in your body can be affected. Consequently, your ability to perform office tasks can be compromised, and your productivity takes a nosedive.
Regardless, there is still hope, as you can salvage the situation with a few adjustments to your sitting position. You can enjoy the benefits of good office posture, including proper bone and joint alignment and improving muscle use efficiency with proper guidance. Additionally, you will significantly reduce tears along the surfaces of your joints, stress on your spinal discs, muscle fatigue, strains, injuries, and overall better health. Having seen some of how you can benefit from adopting the correct posture, it is time to look at several optimal sitting positions.
Here are the six best sitting positions for optimal health and productivity:
1. Sitting with your ears, shoulders, and hips in alignment.
For the optimal sitting position, you should make sure to align your ears, shoulders, and hips because this makes sure your natural lower back curve is maintained. The spine is naturally curved at your lower back, and aligning the three regions is vital in maintaining it. Deviating from this alignment can result in serious injury as too much pressure is put on the spine and pain while working. The setting also ensures that your head does not lean too far forward while your back is not crouched. It is common to adopt these two positions while working as your lean to look at your screen; nevertheless, they can significantly hurt your health, and ensuring your ears, shoulders, and hips are aligned is a surefire way of avoiding this.
To properly sit in the position, ensure your upper body is at a right angle to your torso, which should align the three parts mentioned above. The upright position is optimal for those of us who sit at our desks for hours on end because it effectively ensures that your spine is not unnaturally curved by hunching your back or shifting your head too far. So ensure that your ears, shoulders, and his are aligned the next time you're working at your desk for fewer injuries to your body and increased efficiency.
2. Sitting with your pelvis neutral to your buttocks.
Your pelvis is at the core of proper posture while sitting. The optimal position involves ensuring the pelvis' position is neutral to your buttocks in your chair. Begin by first locating the sits bones underneath your buttocks; they are the most conspicuous ones you can feel in the region. Locating them ensures that your lower back is rounded and slumped slightly. After this, slip your pelvis under, and you will feel yours sits bones as flat as your palms. Lastly, bend your lower back and move your pelvis forward, immediately shifting your weight to your thighs' backs. Underneath your buttocks, the sitz bones will now move from your palms as the support of your body weight shifts.
In this position, your pelvis is neutral in relation to your buttocks against the chair's back. Sitting like this will keep your pelvis from leaning too far forward or back, which can devastate your overall health. It also prevents your pelvis from constantly bearing your body weight while sitting, which can stress your pelvic bone and muscles. You should thus ensure your pelvis is neutral to your buttocks against your chair's back.
3. Sitting while ensuring your standard back curve is maintained.
As mentioned earlier, our bodies have a natural curve in the lower back whose maintenance is vital to good posture. However, it is common for most of us to adopt the all-too-familiar posture involving leaning forward while we stare at screens. The result is a hunchback position hugely detrimental to your body's well-being. Also known as kyphosis, a hunchback increases your risk of developing disc hernias, which can be very painful, strains, sprains, and other back injuries that can significantly jeopardize your health. Other musculoskeletal disorders, such as scoliosis, can also be developed from failing to maintain your back's natural curve.
However, it is easy to remedy the common posture mistake by adding support to your lower back, ensuring it is not in a hunchback position while you sit. Modern office chairs are designed with ergonomic capabilities such as lumbar support, which denotes added bearing to your lower back region. Flexispot's Soutien office chair will maintain your natural lower back curve with its stellar lumbar support. Unlike typical office chairs, the Soutien has extra padding for your lower back that keeps the hunchback at bay even after sitting for long periods.
4. Sitting while ensuring your weight is evenly distributed across both hips.
An issue that frequently goes undetected, shifting your body weight to one hip can have unforeseen consequences on your health. After sitting for long hours, it is common to find yourself leaning to one side. Despite seemingly being a minor issue, doing this can result in several injuries like strains and sprains to muscles. In addition, putting all your body weight on one hip can have dire consequences on your spine as it is made to twist and put excessive pressure on the discs.
By increasing the pressure on your spine and the discs between your vertebrae, you are at increased risk of developing conditions such as disc hernias and scoliosis, which can hugely affect your ability to perform work-related tasks. You can also increase your risk of damaging your hip bones and require frequent medical attention in later years. As such, ensure that you have evenly distributed your body weight across both hips for decreased stress and tension on the hips and back.
5. Sitting with both feet flat on the floor.
If you frequently find yourself sitting with your legs crossed, this is for you, as you are probably harming your body. Additionally, if you sometimes dangle your feet while sitting at your desk, you too are compromised on health because this can have varying consequences. Failing to place both your feet flat on the floor can result in the supporting muscles of the hip, pelvis, and back having to bear excessive stress and pressure. As such, they may be more susceptible to strains and injuries that cause compounding musculoskeletal disorders.
Another effect of not having both feet flat on the ground is interference with blood circulation, resulting in conditions such as thrombosis and even varicose veins. Crossing your legs can also cause significant damage to your health as it inadvertently forces you to lean on one side and bear your body weight with one hip. The consequences include an imbalanced pelvis which, as mentioned before, can thoughtfully contribute to pain in your supporting muscles. Consequently, avoid such injuries by always laying your feet flat on the floor while sitting; to aid you in this, Flexispot has a variety of foot mats through which you can browse for one that suits you. Foot mats ensure your feet are flat on the floor beneath your office desk.
6. Sitting with your forearms resting on your desk, parallel to the floor.
It is common to experience pain in your forearms after long hours sitting at your workstation. The culprit could be poor posture involving poorly positioning them while working at your desk; the correct placement technique involves placing them on your desk and parallel to the ground. The benefits include reduced tension in your forearms as they are resting on the desk as opposed to dangling while you work, which sees them accumulate stress. It can cause fatigue in your arms, impacting your ability to perform hand-related tasks. For better health and productivity at your office, ensure your arms are placed on the desk and parallel to the floor.
In the same line, ensure that your eyes are directly ahead of the top of your monitor.
The position ensures that you don't constantly tilt your neck to look up or down at an incorrectly placed monitor. An adjustable standing desk can also prove helpful if you are taller or shorter because its height is adjustable according to your preferences, ensuring that you do not have to lean back or forward to see your monitor while sitting. Flexispot has you covered on this front with its wide range of top-of-the-line standing desks guaranteed to this and many more of your posture requirements.
