Permission to Sit at Your Desk
Wait what? We’re allowed to sit at our desks!? Isn’t it as bad as smoking?
Yes, you’re allowed to sit at your desk.
Is it as bad as smoking? That’s debatable.
Although standing desks are all the rage right now, nobody actually recommends standing for the whole day. The current advice is to use your standing desk for about 15-20 minutes per hour, 30 minutes maximum. Less if you haven’t built up your standing fitness.
We will go into more detail about standing desks of course, but not today.
Today we’re talking about sitting.
Does it actually matter how I sit?
Of course.
Your posture can affect both your body and your mind.
Most people know that poor posture at the desk can increase the risk of experiencing pain in certain areas of the body, usually neck, upper back or lower back. But, all of the joints matter, because they affect each other.
Pain can be experienced with poor posture due to the extra stress on the muscles trying to hold you up. It’s often more common in people who’ve experienced pain in the areas before, because that part of their body may be a bit more sensitive.
That’s the body, but the mind too?
A study from San Francisco University in 2018, showed that an upright posture, compared to slouched, was associated with superior mental math and abstract thinking! The authors suggested that as slouching posture is a defensive position, protecting your organs, and therefore unconsciously tells your brain that you’re not safe, so brain power is taken away from unnecessary tasks.
A slouched posture can reduce lung capacity by up to 30%, according to the late Dr. Cailliet of the University of Southern California. Less oxygen into your lungs leads to less oxygen in the blood, eventually leading to less oxygen in the brain. Humans don’t work well without oxygen.
The Checklist
So, without further ado, rather than more words, we’ve made a diagram and checklist just for you!
You can download the pdf here
Where are the Arm Rests?
Arm rests weren’t included in the checklist because they’re optional. Although, they can be useful to support neck and shoulder injuries.
When considering a chair with arm rests you need to think about the pros, cons and best set up.
Arm rests can be beneficial to help workers with lower leg strength get in and out of chairs. If set up properly, they can support relaxation of the shoulders, upper back and neck.
In contrast, having arm rests in general can promote poor posture by providing a surface to lean on one side. If too high or too low they can place the shoulders in a shrugged or depressed position, creating muscular stress rather than support. The arm rests should also not prevent you from pulling the chair in closer to the desk.
What about laptops?
Many of us work from laptops rather than at a desk top. This adds a challenge to ergonomics, but there’s certain measures you can take.
It’s definitely worth investing in a laptop stand, external keyboard and external mouse. From there, tick off our checklist as much as you can.
If you can’t set up properly, it’s recommended to have more frequent postural breaks.
We are all individuals!
Perfect posture isn’t as black and white as it sounds. Everyone’s ‘straight’ might be slightly different. You shouldn’t be forcing yourself upright, out of comfort and towards more strain and pain.
The number one mistake people make when trying to improve their posture is sitting up too straight.
The recommended “up-right-ness” is 75% of your full height if you were to try to sit as tall as you can.
If you don’t currently have the strength to hold a neutral upright posture, it’d be worth committing to an exercise program to support your postural fitness.
MOVE!
No matter how “perfect” your posture is, the body isn’t made to stay in one posture for long durations. A part of healthy ergonomics also includes getting up, moving around and changing your posture!
Just a taste
This is just the basics! There’s a lot of other things to fine tune. If you’re not comfortable, or a bit of a perfectionist, you can look into organising an Ergonomic Assessment.
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~ Biara Webster, Exercise Physiologist
References
Office Ergonomics, Guidelines for Preventing Musculoskeletal Injuries (2010)
QLD Government, Office of Industrial Relations, Ergonomic guide to computer based workstations
Ergonomic Workplace Design, Musculoskeletal Relief Principles from the Exercise, Sports and Human Factor Sciences, Fraunhofer IPA
Peper et al. (2018) Do better in math: how your body posture may change stereotype threat response
