Do you spend hours a day sitting in an office chair? Chances are, the answer is yes. And if you’re like most people, you probably find your current chair to be uncomfortable. A study by the Harvard School of Public Health found that American workers spend an average of 7.7 hours per day seated. That’s a lot of time in an uncomfortable chair! To make matters worse, many office chairs are not adjustable, meaning they can’t be customized to fit your body type. But don’t worry – there are ways to make your office chair more comfortable.
Sitting in a chair all day can be uncomfortable, especially if your office chair is not properly adjusted. Sitting in an uncomfortable office chair for hours on end can be extremely frustrating. You might be surprised to learn that there are a few simple things you can do to make your chair more comfortable. In this blog post, we will discuss some ways to make your office chair more comfortable.
Here are three tips:
1) Adjust the height of your chair so that your feet rest flat on the ground or a footrest. This may involve removing your existing base and replacing it with a footrest. If you’re not very tall, this may require you to raise the entire chair on risers.
2) Adjust the armrests so that they are parallel to your keyboard or desk surface. If your current armrests cannot be raised or lowered, possibly due to being fixed in place, try placing a small pillow or folded towel on each of them so that your arms have something soft to rest against.
3) Lower the back of your chair so that it does not press into the small of your back while seated upright. A good rule of thumb is to have a friend measure from the ground below your knee (wherever bends) up to the top of your desk. Use furniture risers if necessary to adjust the height of your chair according to this measurement.
4) Don’t forget that you can combine these adjustments, for example by lowering both the back and seat of your office chair! When you are finished with all these changes, make sure to try out your new more comfortable office chair!
5) Change where the lumbar support is located on your chair – usually located within the curve between the lower half and upper half near where it meets at spine – pulling it forward or pushing it backward, depending on how much support you need/want. For optimal spinal alignment throughout the day, keep lumbar support relatively low but just before a slight slouch set in. Try to avoid lower back support that is too high or too low. Make sure the curve in your back remains while you adjust the lumbar support so it doesn’t feel like a big pillow behind you!
6) Change the height of both the seat and back of your office chair – if possible, try to keep a level pelvis/torso while maintaining a natural curvature in your lower back. Be careful not to slouch when making changes to the height of these components. When lowering these pieces, sit up straight and lean forward slightly to maintain balance over your hips. If you have trouble balancing yourself while doing this then raise them slightly. In any situation, do not slouch into or bend at your waist; instead, think about dropping your chest down towards your thighs while maintaining a natural curve in your back.
7) If you’re not using lumbar support, use a small pillow/rolled-up towel to give yourself some mid/low back support. This will allow your pelvis to rotate forward slightly which will reduce the pressure on your discs. Also make sure that the pillow is beneath your bottom, not behind it! When sitting up straight, make sure there’s no gap between the lower part of your back and the seat of the chair to prevent putting pressure on your spine and sliding around when you lean back at different angles.
8) If it feels like you sit too low or too high relative to where you should be positioned (your feet should be able to reach the ground while sitting in a chair with armrests), raise or lower your chair accordingly.
9) If you can’t fix it, get a new one! Chairs break down over time and depending on how often you sit in them, will need to be replaced every few years at least. I’m not suggesting that you spend money buying a new chair every time you need something fixed, but if yours is unusable or has been damaged too much from regular use, get rid of it and buy another office chair.
In the end, what is important is that your office chair is comfortable. Of all the things about your desk job, it’s remarkable how little we think of our chairs as a hazard to our health. After all, we spend upwards of 8 hours a day on them so being comfortable should be a top priority! I hope these tips provided help in making more people aware of how easy it is to comfort their backs and improve their working environment.
Other tips
If you spend a lot of time sitting at your desk in your office, it’s important to make sure that your chair is comfortable. Here are three ways to make your office chair more comfortable:
1) Add a pillow or cushion to the seat of the chair. This will help to add some extra padding and support.
2) Use a lumbar support cushion. This will help to keep your back supported and comfortable.
3) Place a heating pad or cold pack behind your lower back. This can help to relieve tension and discomfort.
If you’re in the market to buy a new office chair; check here for some great tips to select the right chair.