
Back pain is an all too familiar occurrence for the modern-day office worker and it can severely hamper our performance and productivity when on the job.
Couple this with the fact that the UK works some of the longest hours in Europe (averaging 42.5 hours a week), it’s no wonder that many of us suffer from sitting induced back pain.
It’s not only back pain that can be caused from sitting poorly at an office desk either. There’s a risk to your neck, knees, hips and even contributing to poor circulation throughout the body.
Sitting for 6-8 hours every day in the office will naturally lead people to slump in their office chair unless they are mindful about how they sit - and this takes practice.
It may seem obvious on the surface, but being mindful of how you sit and sitting correctly takes practice and is harder than you think. Too often we find ourselves delving back into our bad habits that see such hunched over our office desk keyboard putting strain on our upper back and neck or slumped in our chair without adequate support on our lower back.
Maintaining a correct sitting posture in an office chair is surprisingly hard. Many of us fall into the trap of slouching without meaning too. If we’re not practising mindfulness while sitting, it’s very easy to find ourselves hunched over towards the end of the workday.
It’s recommended that we change position every 30 minutes but this can lead us to slump leading to poor posture.
The best solution is to stand up and take a break for a couple of minutes. Whether you take a stroll down the corridor, grab a glass of water or take that time to use the bathroom. Whatever you do, do it often so you can keep your blood flowing properly and ‘reset’ your ‘good posture’ position when you sit back down again.
While you might be self-conscious about stretching in the office, it’s highly advisable. Our bodies are not made to sit continuously for 6-8 hours a day. We need to stretch. We need to move about. Setting a timer for every 30 minutes will help you remember to stand up and move. The more you do this, the more of a habit it will become - and you’ll feel much better for it.
Moving about more regularly also helps reduce the risk of a repetitive strain injury which can occur for office workers mainly in the wrists and hands.
Ensuring you have good posture is much easier when you have the right ergonomic office chair.
Ergonomic office chairs are scientifically built with posture, comfort, support and health in mind. A good chair will help with all four of these considerations and for long term office workers, an ergonomic chair is vital.
The ergonomics of a chair explained is quite a lengthy process, but here’s a summary of what makes an office chair, ergonomic.
As seen above, there’s more to an ergonomic office chair than initially thought and with all these features combined, you can feel more comfortable and healthy while sitting at your office desk.
Is there a correct office chair? Everyone is different in size and weight therefore not one chair is suitable for everyone. There is no one-size-fits-all. But all these adjustable features help tailor your chair to your exact requirements.
Do you need advice on what ergonomic office chair to buy? Call our friendly customer team on 01234 834693 and they will help you.