How to Have Good Posture at Work

It's only recently that people have begun to realize how much of a problem having bad posture really is. Given the rise in people working office jobs, we're going to have an epidemic on our hands as the population ages and start to deal with the long term effects of having bad posture at work. Back pain is only the beginning of these effects. Sitting down in a bad position for 40+ hours per week is going to have a dramatic effect on every aspect of your life, whether you realize it or not. 

Naturally, you should be trying to have good posture so that you can minimize the damage as much as possible. The benefits of good posture aren't just to do with your physical health, though, as it can also have an impact on your confidence and mental health. With all that being said, let's talk a little bit about what you need to do in order to get good posture at work. 

Invest in Equipment to Fix Your Posture

If you've already been working an office job and you need to fix your posture rather than maintaining it, then you need to invest in some equipment to help you overcome that task. 

Specifically, you want to get yourself a good chair and a standing desk. 

Both of these pieces of office equipment are designed to assist you in fixing your posture by providing natural support to your spine. This allows you to straighten out any arches your back might have taken on, fixing your posture in the process. 

Fixing Your Posture with an Ergonomic Chair

Sitting posture for ergonomic chair users is vastly different than that of a regular office chair user. You're paying more for the lumbar support technology in these chairs, meaning you're forced to sit in different positions. 

This is where the benefits of an ergonomic chair come into play, though. By preventing you from slouching, your back is forced to maintain a straight angle. This, combined with a conscious effort to keep your shoulders relaxed and your body positioned correctly, is going to help you fix your posture. 

Fixing your posture isn't a challenge that can be overcome in a day or even a month or year. However, making small changes to the way you work is going to have incredible long-term effects. 

The differences might not be apparent now, but you're going to be counting your lucky stars in 10 years' time when your coworkers are struggling and you're not. 

Improve Good Posture with a Standing Desk

The other piece of equipment that we recommend getting is a standing desk. 

It might sound contradictory to get both an ergonomic chair and a standing desk, but we're specifically talking about desks that can switch between sitting and standing. Using these two together means that your back is going to be supported at all times during the working day. 

Not only that but standing up is considered significantly better for your posture than sitting is, even with a good chair. Although, no one expects you to stand for every single minute of your working day. 

That's why you should be looking for a standing desk with a built-in motor so that you can adjust whether you're sitting or standing throughout the day at will. 

If you wanted to go the extra mile with this setup, you could get a stool for standing desk rather than a chair. 

Stools require you to sit differently on them. This can have a dramatic effect on your posture as you're relying on your own body to keep yourself upright. 

The Number One Trick to Fixing Your Posture at Good

If you're looking for how to have good posture, this tip is the biggest one we have to keep. It also ties into our point of using a desk that you can both sit and stand with. 

That tip is to constantly change your position. 

There are several different types of posture with different professions to match. There is no one size fits all when it comes to how you're meant to be sitting. The only universal rule is that you should constantly be changing up your position. Ideally, you should be doing this every hour or so. 

By constantly moving around, you're keeping your body awake, active, and engaged. It prevents your muscles from getting comfortable or used to any particular unnatural position, keeping your back as straight as possible. 

Using a standing desk makes this extremely easy. Spend 10 minutes standing up for every hour that you work. It's not a lot of effort, and it's going to make a massive difference over time. 

If you really want to fix your posture, this is the main thing you should be doing. 

Have an Ergonomic Workplace Setup

Ergonomics is directly tied to getting a good posture, whether at home or in the workplace. By following ergonomic principle, you're naturally going to be improving your posture as you work without much conscious effort. 

Things like making sure your monitor is at the right height, your feet are firmly planted on the ground, and you're holding your wrists in the correct position while you're typing are going to make a massive difference with little to no adjustments in your daily working life. 

We have plenty of tips and tricks related to making your office ergonomic friendly over on our blog. Head on over and give it a read; you're not going to regret it. 

Pros and Cons of Having Good Posture

Good Posture

• You're going to look better and feel more confident
• You're going to enjoy work more, improving your mental health
• You're not going to suffer from back pain

• It can be a lot of work to maintain
• It can, at times, be uncomfortable