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2020-05-18 10:41:09
We spend on average 8h
a day sitting down. This can be at work, at home watching TV, or in the metro.
In our sedentary modern lifestyle, most of our jobs today requires us to stay
at our desk for an entire day which can largely explain the increasing number
of people suffering from back pain.
Indeed, sitting is not the best position for our back,
knees, neck or shoulders. Sitting makes us hunched forward and it weakens the
muscles of the core such as the abdominal wall and lower back. Nevertheless, most
of us don’t have a choice and the only way to go about this issue is to optimize the way we sit for better posture.
Bad posture weakens your core muscles which slowly weaken
your lower back vertebrae. Because sitting takes out leg movement, it also
weakens the glute muscles which are responsible for keeping our torso upright.
Sitting for long hours continuously can also weaken your neck and hunch the
shoulders forward over the years. Therefore, it’s very important to sit
correctly at all times as much as possible.
How to fix your sitting
While there are things you could do to fix your posture,
it’s best to sit as little as possible and keep moving around.
First and foremost, the more upright you are the less
stress you're going to put on your back. You have to sit in a way where your
neck, shoulders, back, and arms are perfectly neutral and you’re looking
straight ahead.
To achieve this, your desk has to be at the perfect height
for you. The height of your desk should be around where your elbows meet the
edge of the desk without shrugging. This is also the most comfortable position
for your back and neck since you don’t need to lean forward.
What is the best position
for your body to sit at your desk?
- Your head should be level with the computer monitor or display. You will find that this is much easier with desktop since you can elevate and change the angle of your monitor without changing your keyboard or mouse unlike a laptop since everything is a built-in integrated \ one piece.
- Your chest should be high and your shoulders should be relaxed and back. This posture will fix or prevent neck and shoulder pain down the road. It’s normal to feel your shoulders rising naturally as your work, but just try to keep them low and relaxed.