HOW TO FIX A SLOUCH BACK

THE RULES OF SITTING

Here is a summary of the Australian study’s findings:

THE
THE
RULES OF SITTING
 Adults who sat for more than 11 hours a day had a 40% increased risk of dying within three
THE RULES OF SITTING
years, compared with those who sat fewer than 4 hours.

Those who
DrPaula sat for 8-11 hours a day showed a 15% increase in risk of early death.
Moore
 The average adult spends 90% of his or her leisure time sitting down.

 Sitting for less than 4 hours a day is ideal.

The Rules of Sitting

According to one research study, “Sitting causes the pelvis to rotate backward and causes reduction

in lumbar lordosis, trunk-thigh angle and knee angle and an increase in muscle effort and disc

pressure. Seated posture is affected by seat-back angle, seat-bottom angle and foam density, height
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above floor, and presence of armrests.”

CONCLUSION: The lumbar lordosis (the normal inward curve of the spine) is affected by the

trunk-thigh angle and the knee angle. Studies show that if you are going to sit at your desk,

positioning the backrest at 110° to 130° and using a lumbar support results in the least stress to your

spinal discs.

Fully upright posture (90º) is hard on the discs in your low back, so avoid buying the “perfect

ergonomic chair” that keeps you bolt-upright. Although the research showed that a 135º reclining

angle was the least damaging to discs, such a position is impractical for working at a computer.

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 HOW TO FIX A SLOUCH BACK

It seems to be that 110-120° is about perfect for reducing the forward head posture that could occur

if you inclined the seat back any further. I favour 120º, with a lumbar roll for back support. In any

event, do remember to keep your head back, nicely in line above your shoulders. Inclining your seat

5° downward at the front and using armrests can further reduce lumbar disc pressure.

One word of caution here: for those with slouchback posture (which usually includes some forward

head posture), sitting with your seat inclined makes keeping your head back over your shoulders

even harder. Reclining your chair, even to the recommended 120º, may initially make your forward

head posture worse. It will take extra vigilance to keep your chin tucked when in this reclined

position, which may be why so many people incorrectly sit at a bolt-upright 90°.

It is important to realise that ‘correct sitting posture’ does not mean ‘best permanent position’. To

avoid prolonged flexion of the lumbar spine when seated (with resultant long-term injury to the

discs) use active sitting. Active sitting involves movement and frequent changes of position.

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 HOW TO FIX A SLOUCH BACK

What Chair Should I Buy?

My simple answer is: Don’t waste your money on an expensive ergonomic chair. If you can afford

one then maybe, if only to make your sitting periods a bit more comfortable.

The real problem is the age at which most of us start to give our posture some attention. When does

good posture matter most? Unfortunately, by the time most of us start to think about good posture, it

is already too late. Don’t get me wrong. Thinking about how we sit and stand, and about what we

eat and how much we exercise is important at any age, but it is even more important to give these

things attention before our bodies start showing the effects of poor posture: pain, stiffness,

unattractive slouching, brain fog, anxiety, poor breathing, etc. If this is you, and you already have

the signs and symptoms of poor posture, then do not wait another day to do something about your

posture. Start now!

There are some exciting ergonomic chair designs on the market, but chairs are not the real issue

here. No, instead of forcing your body to hold a particular body pose in the perfect chair, recognise

that even if you are sitting in your uber-sexy, ergonomic office chair (which set you back $1,000),

the real problem still exists. And that problem is SITTING!

Standing Vs. Sitting

There hasn’t actually been a great deal of scientific study on the long-term effects of sitting desks

vs. standing desks, because standing desks have only recently seen a surge of popularity. What

many sitting-desk designers are doing is drawing their own conclusions from various research

studies, and then using those conclusions to support the use of standing desks. That is, since

research says sitting is bad for backs, then standing desk manufacturers may suggest that standing

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