How to Comfortably Sit on an Office Chair?

Even if you buy the most expensive ergonomic chair in the world, it will not help you reduce back pain and avoid other health issues if you do not sit correctly on it. How you sit on your office chair is absolutely crucial for keeping your mind relaxed, as well as your body healthy.

Let us see how each part of your body should look like when you are seated correctly on an office chair:

In order to keep back pain at a distance, it is important that you sit upright every time you work. That means, sitting in such a way that your lower back touches the back of the chair in order to get lumbar support. Getting support is important because it helps your lower back maintain the natural spinal curve while you are sitting. Other than that, be sure to avoid the urge to slouch. If you must slouch, do it without breaking the natural spinal curve on your lower back. In order to best support your lower back, choose a comfortable chair that has the ability to tilt forward slightly.

During typing or doing any paper work, it is best to keep your arms at a level that is slightly higher than the working surface. Also, the monitor is best kept at an arm’s length. In addition to that, in order to release limb tension from time to time, using armrests to rest the arms is recommended.

Your wrists should be kept straight at the joint while typing. In order to do that, you may want to use wrist rest to support your wrists while typing. Other than that, you may want to keep your mouse close to you, while using a wrist pad to work with it. In order to rest your wrists between long hours of work, try keeping a gap of about five inches in the front of your desk.

The elbows are best kept below your relaxed shoulders vertically, so that your arms form L-shape while you are working. As far as elbow height is concerned, keeping them at a level slightly higher than the work surface is ideal.

Your knees should be at the same level as your hips. Or, keeping them slightly higher than your hips may work well for you, too! You may want to try both the positions to find out which one works best in your case.

Ideally, the angle between your upper thighs and your upper body should remain between 90 degrees and 95 degrees.

When your thighs and your knees are positioned correctly, your feet should be able to rest flatly on the ground. In case your feet are not able to do that, you may want to use a footrest. Also, do not cross your legs while sitting no matter how tempting the idea may seem, because doing that may cause postural problems down the road.

Your eyes should look slightly below the parallel while working, but not so low that your neck gets strained after hours of work. The best way to ensure that your eyes are on the correct height is to keep your monitor at a level in which the upper part of the monitor lies parallel to your eyes.

If you are not used to sitting correctly on your chair, you may find the first few times of trying to sit correctly quite uncomfortable, or slightly painful. However, after a few days of keeping at it, your body will gradually begin to adjust to your new sitting position.