A question I get asked often is “what’s the best posture to sit at my desk.” The most common advice, aside from an ergonomic assessment, is to sit up tall and to take frequent breaks from your desk. While I think this is great advice, I believe the best biomechanical strategy is to change your position throughout the day. 

Your body, and especially your spine, wants variety. Sitting perfectly upright all day long with a great ergonomic set up can still lead to discomfort and issues. Changing your position redistributes the forces on your body. 

You should change the placement of your computer/keyboard and seat height throughout the day. A standing desk is a great tool but should also be altered often. Aside from the typical seated and standing positions, try out a stool or leaning.

As for at home, I have had a number of friends and family develop new issues from working from home for many months now. Aside from neck discomfort, they also note elbow, hip, and back pain. The majority of them do not work at a standard desk with a good ergonomic chair - but recall, those are nice to have, yet not absolutely necessary. I have advised them all to create more variety in their work set up throughout the day. 

Here are some ideas:

• Change out chairs

• Change your leg position (put your feet up on a box, or sit cross legged)

• Change your sitting posture by leaning forward or back

• Put a pillow behind you

• Change the work surface (on the floor at the coffee table, chair at the dining table, or stool at the counter)

• Put your laptop on a box and stand

And of course, the classic tips for breaks in general:

• Get up and stand or walk every 30/45/60 minutes

• Take calls standing up

• Go for a midday walk

• Do some stretches throughout the day

I like the strategy of variety as it doesn’t demonize any posture or set clients up for failure. Utilizing only one posture is not necessarily an attainable goal and can lead to frustration and disappointment. My goal with every patient is to increase their physical confidence, not increase anxiety. 

There is no perfect desk posture that will prevent discomfort. The issue is prolonged postures. So it’s ok to slouch, sit on the floor, or lean - it’s just not ideal to sustain it for hours at a time. Get creative and change it up!

(September 7 2020)