Terrible Desk Posture… Help!

I seem to be getting worse and worse at slouching at my desk.. there seems to be lots of gadgets online now from kickstarter type fame that apparently help but I’m not so sure.. I’d rather hear real world experiences…

How can I stop slouching?!

Get a decent chair.

Get a sit/stand desk.

Get a proper DSE assessment with correct setting of desk height, chair arm height, keyboard and monitor position.

Get up and walk around every 45 mins.

Get a back brace.

Sit up straight.

Seriously, it doesn’t need a gadget, just SUSTFU.

(I’m a terrible sloucher, BTW)

What Tallpaul said!

IIRC, desks are built for people who are 5’6″ tall, if you don’t fit this, you’re quite likely sitting a desk which is at the wrong height. Also, get a decent chair! Ergohuman V2 is what I use, but you may also find some comfort with a chair like the Herman Miller Aeron.

Get an assessment!

Correct monitor height helps a lot I find – too many monitors are sat really low on desks so you end up slouching to be in-line with them. The monitor should be in front of your eyes when you are sat up and looking straight ahead.

A foot rest can help a lot too.

Get a sit/stand desk.

I’ve recently got a sit/stand desk and can’t believe the difference even when seated.

It seems a lot of my slouching came from my desk being too low, the chair being too low and not being able to get my lower body posture correct.

What kind of back brace? would that not further weaken my back maybe?

I’m thinking going to a physio more often may help get into a better routine to be aware of my posture… anyone else had a success with this?

I’ve got a sit stand desk but more often than not I find it easier to concentrate sat down so usually stay seated!

I’ve got the correct desk height / monitor height ect

my chair is supportive… however not super dooper spendy..

I still slough like a sloth though!

Typing now I’m obviously sat up right and well positioned but give it an hour or 2 and I’ll no doubt find myself hunched over!

Getting up and moving is something I’m fairly terrible at so I’ll set a timer to remind me to do that

Haha that family guy clip is very true!

I’ve got a bit of a make shift sit stand desk.. I was going to get one of the Ikea electric ones but I spend my time in very different places so I’m looking for helpful tips that I can take with me more than being fixed to a location.

My montiors are nice and high.. but maybe they can go higher thinking about it now as I to tend to find myself writing replies or working ect in the bottom part of the screen more than the middle or top

Typing now I’m obviously sat up right and well positioned but give it an hour or 2 and I’ll no doubt find myself hunched over!

This is where ‘just sit up straight’ comes in. It’s not the kit that’s making you slouch, it’s you not having the discipline to do it, meaning the muscles you need to do it weaken, which means you slouch more, etc etc.

Make an effort to do it, the muscles you need to do it will strengthen, which means you’ll be able to do it for longer, so they’ll strengthen more etc etc.

ok post it note is on the monitor to remind me to situp! I’d have thought i’d have ok muscles from climbing but obvs not!

I’d have thought i’d have ok muscles from climbing but obvs not!

Maybe you’re just a lazy get 😉

I’ve got the correct desk height / monitor height ect

just checkin, so the top of your monitor is a at eye level with you sat up straight (just a guide, but a good starting point). I sit in a room full of IT engineers & virtually none of them have a decent DSE setup & telling them that doesn’t go down well – ppl get ingrained into bad practises. TBH I wouldn’t rely on gadgets (not including decent chairs or a desk setup in that) it’s about you retraining yourself, as I would hunch when at a computer or driving long distance, you need to be aware of it and stop doing it, in my case it caused back issues.

IHN +1

Terrible posture here !

Get proper desk height, ie probably higher
Get lumbar thing for chair, forces you to sit forward
Put your feet back under the chair (forces you to sit up)
Put keyboard near edge of desk

All of this is difficult when you start as it feels so odd and back uscles aren’t strong enough

My colleague got an excersize ball to sit on, much ridicule in office of course and takes up a lot of space as he had a chair to one side.

Simple problem with a simple solution. Spend more time engaging your core & thinking about your posture and less time slouching. Get up & walk around often, stand more (engage core when walking/standing; it’s perfectly possible to still slouch otherwise), do some weight training/yoga or climb more regularly. Basically spend less time sitting. Maybe get a new job. 🙂

It’s not something you can solve with gadgets IMO (although I think a stability ball would probably help, but you WILL look ridiculous); it’s a lifestyle problem.

Is it causing you any problems? Some research says slouching is better for the back, e.g.

http://www.officeteam.co.uk/2013/06/21/proof-that-slouching-is-officially-better-for-your-back/%5B/url%5D

This winter since I’ve been on the bike less I’ve been suffering low back pain and sciatica, which I blamed on poor muscle tone resulting from less exercise. Over the Christmas break I’ve been out 4 or 5 times on the roadie and I’ve done the plank exercise for a few minutes and the pain has gone away, as I expected.

I use a secretary type chair with hard arms and a very firm backrest and that suits me just fine. When they tried to replace it with a new, less supportive chair I played hell and got mine back.

Is it causing you any problems? Some research says slouching is better for the back, e.g.

http://www.officeteam.co.uk/2013/06/21/proof-that-slouching-is-officially-better-for-your-back/
Is that slouching though? Looks like he’s being properly supported by an ergonomic chair to me. The first pic with the red X looks much more slouched to me, look at his slumped shoulders & the way he’s craning his neck. He’s going to have his entire spine in compression. There is a difference between slumping straight and sitting up straight by engaging your core & creating height & space in your spine.

Also pretty sure no-one who makes an office chair suggests you sit bolt upright at 90 degrees in it!

In any case, this is the real take-home from that article:

As we all know, the human body isn’t really designed to be sitting around all day

I was just about to post something about not sitting up straight like DSE specify – but someone already has.

Sitting upright just puts too much strain on your back, sitting back at more like 135 degrees equalises out the stresses and strains more.

If you can also tilt the seat of your chair to compensate and allow you to keep your lordosis curve that would be even better.

If the back of your chair doesn’t have good lumbar adjustment to help you keep that lordosis curve then consider using a McKenzie lumber roll, or half-roll.

That Aeron chair is OK (I have one) but some of the HAG chairs are a lot better – like the H04 for example.

The DSE advice about sitting upright is just rubbish, ask any of the proponents how many hours they spend sitting at their desks without getting up to do other stuff. Then go and find a programmer with lots of years under their belt and ask them about chairs…

So what is the problem with terrible desk posture? I’ve always had it but suffer no adverse problems. In fact the current thinking is that sitting bolt upright at your desk forcing your lower back muscles to hold a stress position for long periods is more likely to be the cause of back issues and not a cure for them. Our bodies simply are not designed to sit at desks for hours on end so far better to take a break from sitting at your desk frequently rather than to force your body to maintain a wholly unnatural posture.

i shelled out for a days 1:2:1 coaching,
the improvements just keep coming

🙂

Wedge cushion helped me a lot.

Wedge cushion… does it feel like you’re being pushed off the chair or fairly natural? and do you use that with foot support?

Thanks

I bought one of these

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/desks/office-desks/bekant-desk-sit-stand-birch-veneer-black-spr-59061181/

Varying posture and lots of breaks will make a huge difference. I’d buy another if i needed to

Yes that was what I was going to get but I dont work from the same location so I need something more portable sadly.

I’ve bought an exercise ball as I dont share an office so I will only have myself to bully!