We’ve all been told to sit up straight at one point or another in our lives (or many times!). But there’s a good reason for this, as a bad posture can have serious adverse effects on your physical and mental health and well-being.
Bad posture can lead to severe shoulder, neck, and back injuries, and it can also raise your blood pressure, lead to incontinence in women, reduce your breathing effectiveness, and alter your hormone levels. Maintaining proper posture can reduce all those health risks, along with increasing your self-esteem and enhancing positive moods, making you feel better about yourself, which is why it’s vital that we learn how to improve posture at work.
There are many challenges in our modern life that can prevent us from maintaining a proper posture, as we are continually slumping or slouching when using our computers, smartphones or tablets. We tend to remain connected to some sort of screen from the moment we wake up until we go to sleep, so we are plagued by posture challenges.
We take a look at some of the best ways you can improve your posture, from making simple changes to the way you sit to the useful products that can make a big difference.
Tips to Improve Your Posture at Work
There are some simple ways you can keep an eye out for your posture throughout your workday; you just need some basic correct posture tips.
Don’t Sit at the Back of Your Chair
Avoid sitting right at the back of your chair, and always have a couple of inches between the back of your chair and your back. This will stop you from slumping against the back, and instead, you will sit up straighter. However, you shouldn’t lean your elbows on your desk and lean forward, you need to aim for a neutral and straight spine.
Your Ears Should Align With Your Shoulders
When sitting in front of a desk, we typically tend to crane our necks forward, which puts a lot of strain on our shoulder muscles and neck. To make sure your ears and shoulders are aligned, just imagine what your profile looks like. Your head is too far forward if the midline of your ears is in front of your shoulders. Your shoulders should also align with your hips. If all three things are aligned, you’re good to go posture-wise!
Raise Your Head High
Optimally, your computer screen or laptop should be at eye-level. However, if the position of your desk and monitor is static and can’t be changed, make sure you have an object at eye-level that draws your eye and is pleasing to look at, such as a personal motto, an inspirational quote or your favorite picture. When this object is at eye level, your neck muscles will be at their neutral position a few times during the day. Just remember to look up!
Opt For Some Back Support
If you struggle to maintain a good posture, then use a lumbar support, used to provide chair back support when using an office chair, as well as car seats or chairs at home. When your back and spine have that support, your lower back muscles won’t remain tight to maintain the right posture, meaning you can avoid lower back pain.
Many options exist on the market today to suit a variety of chair types, so it shouldn’t be difficult to find something suitable within your price range. For more information, check out our list of top lumbar cushions, which also answers some FAQ’s on chair back support pillows.
Use a Footrest if Necessary
People often forget about the ergonomic benefits of footrests. It’s not just about giving your feet somewhere to rest, but a good footrest can also help you maintain correct posture if your feet do not reach the floor or if you experience pressure on the back of your legs. Look for an adjustable footrest to achieve the correct height so that your hips situated just higher than you knees and don’t forget to keep those feet moving!
Products to Improve Your Posture at Work
Improving our posture at work isn’t as simple as replacing an old habit with a good one. While the above tips are helpful and you should put them into practice, having good posture is sometimes easier said than done. However, there’s no need to worry, as there are a lot of products that can help you improve your work posture.
Posture Correcting Seat Cushion
You may believe that sitting on just any old cushion will do, but a proper posture correcting seat cushion will assist you in sitting up straight while you work and improving your posture. If you naturally tend to slouch, this pillow will give you the needed support and prevent any harmful or poor postures and strained muscles. You’ll be sitting up straight instead of slouching, with your spine correctly aligned and upward.
Get it from Amazon.
Balance Ball Chairs
To improve both posture and balance, think about replacing your desk chair with a balance ball or exercise ball chair. Your body and muscles will work harder to realign your spine and maintain your balance since you are not sitting on a stable structure. Keeping stability and balance will force your body to continually engage your abs and core, so the first few days of using a balance stability ball chair may be tough, but the results will be worth it.
Get it from Amazon.
Supportive Back Cushion
For the majority of us, work entails sitting at a desk for hours on end, so one of your best options to improve your work posture is a supportive back cushion. This becomes even more important when you don’t have a comfortable, ergonomic, and supportive office chair. Make sure that it is correctly positioned and you are on your way to a perfectly aligned spine.
Get it from Amazon.
Posture Correction Brace
A lot of braces made for a healthy posture are posture correctors, designed with office workers in mind. If you tend to slouch your shoulders, an upper posture brace would be best for you, but if you suffer from back pain, your best option would be a posture correction brace which covers your whole back.
We recommend the Dozili brace, but there are loads of different braces on the market, so you’re spoilt for choice. Just make sure that you purchase one that’s comfortable enough to wear all day.
Get it from Amazon.
Posture Belt
Some jobs don’t require you to sit down all day. Sometimes you are required to stand on your feet for the entirety of the day, or you need to carry or lift heavy things. If this is your situation, then the most appropriate option is a posture belt, which tends to help with lower back pain.
Get it from Amazon.
Pelvic Posture Corrector
Does your pelvic area feel unbalanced? If this is the case and you have some room to spare in your office, this correction equipment is the one for you. During your breaks, stretch your body on this pelvic tool while lying down, therefore activating your abdominal and pelvic muscles. You will also train your back to stay straight.
Get it from Amazon.
Posture Correcting T-shirt
This wearable posture improver comes in the form of a t-shirt which you can wear under your regular clothes. Intelliskin has combined Kinesio taping and a compression fitted t-shirt, describing the technology as “PostureCue.” The materials mimic Kinesio tape, and strips of this fabric are sewn into the back and shoulders of the shirt, holding your shoulders and neck in place.
This shirt will not physically hold your shoulders back and straighten your posture such as when using a back brace, but your muscle memory is trained as your spine and shoulders are aligned.
Get it from Amazon.
Ab Strengthener Belt
When your core is stable and strong, it will be better able to support your upper body, as well as the weight that would otherwise be placed on your spine, thereby reducing the risk of inflexibility and back pain.
Ab belts have been around for a while, and they may seem like a gimmick, but these use innovative EMS (electrical muscle stimulation) technology to condition and strengthen all your essential abdominal muscles, including the outer and inner obliques and your transversus abdominis.
Furthermore, studies show that 54% of test subjects had posture improvement after using the ab belt strengthener. The electrical signals emitted by the ab belt are similar to those issued to the muscles by the brain during day-to-day activities or exercising, meaning you will maintain a good posture while you sit behind a desk.
Get it from Amazon.
Lift Posture Coach
This product is a different approach to improving your posture, acting as a tracker which syncs to your smartphone. It will alert you when you’ve slumped or slouched too far from a spine position which is neutral. A neutral spine position is the natural and strongest spine position, and the best to have whether you’re standing or sitting.
It works with a small magnetic sensor which you connect near your collarbone. To adjust it, you just need to roll your shoulders into a natural sitting position and set your posture target. When you move too far from this posture, you will be alerted to resume your position with the device’s built-in accelerometer.
While expensive, this tool will heighten your awareness of what a proper posture is, while being more discreet than many of the above devices.
Get it from Amazon.
Jon P says
August 6, 2018 at 1:08 pmThis is really very helpful. When the term back pain is used, no one concerns themselves about the office chairs or sitting posture and just focus on the working hours. I must say these products look helpful for back support. Thanks a lot for sharing these easy changes in lifestyle.
Saskia Smit says
August 7, 2018 at 7:59 amThanks Jon! Glad you found it helpful 🙂