Keeping a balanced posture is a goal for all activities, from playing sports to sitting at the computer. Yet many of today's workstation-based work environments can make it difficult to keep an awareness of one's posture while sitting and focusing on mental tasks.

It's all too easy to lose one's sense of posture when reading and typing, whether seated or standing. Many of us sit hunched over a computer more than ever before. If your work doesn't implicitly require this posture, then chances are you spend at least some time checking email, searching the web, etc., in your free time.

This tendency to hunch and to slouch can place undue stress and strain on the muscles, tendons, and skeletal system, and it can carry over into standing and active postures.and reduces your risk of developing a musculoskeletal disorder (MSD).  Left unchecked, poor sitting posture can manifest itself as serious musculoskeletal disorders later on.

Staying Neutral

The best way to adopt a comfortable working posture while seated is to find a position in which the the joints are aligned naturally. This is also known as neutral positioning. When it comes to working at a desk, that means seat height, work surface height, and monitor viewing angle should meet the requirements of the individual, not the other way around.  

As a start, the United States Department of Labor's Occupational Safety & Health Administration offers some tips on how to set up a computer workstation.

• Hands, wrists, and forearms are straight, in-line and roughly parallel to the floor.
• Head is level, or bent slightly forward, forward facing, and balanced. Generally it is in-line with the torso.
• Shoulders are relaxed and upper arms hang normally at the side of the body.
• Elbows stay in close to the body and are bent between 90 and 120 degrees.
• Feet are fully supported by the floor or a footrest may be used if the desk height is not adjustable.
• Back is fully supported with appropriate lumbar support when sitting vertical or leaning back slightly.
• Thighs and hips are supported by a well-padded seat and generally parallel to the floor.
• Knees are about the same height as the hips with the feet slightly forward.

(Source: http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/computerworkstations/positions.html)

While the contorted postures sometimes adopted to view and type on a laptop computer typically aren't maintained for the same length of time as on a stationary computer, care should be taken to be aware of one's posture when reading and typing from a couch, chair, bed, the top of one's lap, etc.

Change It Up

No matter how good your working posture might be, staying in the same posture or sitting still for extended lengths of time is not healthy.

Shifting working position frequently throughout the day can help. Some tips ideas include:

• Make small adjustments to the chair and/or backrest.
• Stretch the fingers, hands, arms, and torso. Stretching should always be done slowly and in a controlled manner. Do not stretch until it hurts, especially when stretching the shoulders. The shoulder joint is one of the most vulnerable joints in the body.
• Get up and go: Simply stand up and walk around for a few minutes from time to time. 

Poor postural habits develop over time, and they can take time to correct.

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed