In the last few years the topic of posture has been thoroughly scrutinised in the world of physiotherapy, in its relation to pain.
A traditional definition of posture would read something like; Posture is the position in which you hold your body upright against the forces of gravity while standing or sitting. The key to good posture is training your body to sit, stand and walk in positions where the least strain is placed on supporting muscles and ligaments during weight-bearing activities.
However, the issue with this definition is that there is no link to time spent in a certain position nor what position is quote on quote ‘best for you’ to reduce this ‘strain’ place on the body.
Therefore, in recent years researchers have challenged this definition finding that there is minimal to no correlation between posture and pain in healthy individuals without neck or back pain. This is because our bodies are ridiculously strong and resilient. Rather the pain correlates with the period of time we spend in a certain position no matter what position that we sit in this is due to the increase in stiffness within the joints not the pressure placed upon them.
However, you may argue that you only seem to get pain when slumping in a forward position at work in front of the computer and never when sitting up straight. This can be explained by our human nature, due to a reduction in energy expenditure our bodies naturally slump forward and can stay there for a long period of time when working, concentrating or looking at a phone. Whereas, most of us can only adopt a tall posture for a short period of time so are constantly moving, reducing the build-up of stiffness.
Therefore, when you are working it is good to follow the following checklist to avoid those hours in front of a screen in a single position:
- Sit well back into the chair
- Tilt seat forward slightly to rotate top of pelvis so spine is in neutral
- Adjust chair height so hip is slightly higher than knee
- Ensure feet flat on floor, shoulder width apart
- Sit in balanced upright posture with head over the shoulders
- Move chair in close to desk to avoid stretching upper body forwards
- Adjust height of screen so that your eyes are level with the middle of the screen
To conclude the best posture to work in is the one where you keep moving.