Sitting in an office chair for long hours is an endurance event. Some muscles might be deactivated all day. But other muscles are constantly, chronically overused for 8 hours straight.
The term “ergonomic chairs” is subjective. A chair that works for one person, might not work well for the next. Because each person has a different body structure. And not all office chairs are built for every body type. We all have different heights, widths, limb lengths, etc.
Taking the time to adjust my office chair helps me feel comfortable while working. It turns my desk into an asset that promotes good posture as soon as I sit down.
We shouldn’t have to adjust our bodies to get out of poor posture. It should come easily and naturally to improve posture at computer.
In this article, I’m sharing a guide on how to properly adjust an office chair for ergonomics.
How to Adjust Office Chair
I’m going to talk about how an adjusted chair can affect comfort and posture in a good way. Chair height dictates the correct elbow height and hip level for an office worker.
It doesn’t matter if a chair is high quality, if those 2 ergonomic adjustments are correct, this will cause negative effects like repetitive strain, muscle tension, and chronic pain.
Adjusting my office chair to the correct height is the first step I take in how to set up computer desk ergonomically.
Can Office Chair Hurt if Not Adjusted Correctly
Yes, this has been very true in my personal experience.
If my chair is too low, my elbow height and hip level are also too low. This has historically caused back, neck and shoulder pain for me.
When my elbow height is too low, it causes overuse of the biceps, in order to lift my hands up onto my desk. Over time, this causes my biceps to get tighter and shorter. Which eventually puts a heavy strain on the tendons that connect my biceps to bone, in both the elbow and shoulder areas. These tendons get inflamed and painful.
When my hip level is too low, it causes my knee level to be higher than my hips. This causes excessive compression of my hips. And sitting already causes hip tension as it is. Sitting with my seat height too low, for long periods of time, made my hip problems even worse for me.
How to Adjust An Office Chair For Ergonomics
Ergonomics is the study of someone’s efficiency in the workplace. So this applies to any posture tip that will help me reduce strain at my computer. The less strain I have when I’m working, the more efficient I’ll be at my job. Not only physically, but also mentally.
I adjust my chair height until my elbow height is slightly above the desk level.
My personal preference is for my elbow height to be about 2 inches above the desk level. This allows me to use my biceps, but not overuse them. This is the perfect height for me to reduce strain throughout my entire arms.
Correct elbow height is the very first ergonomic variable I get right as far as how to improve posture while sitting at computer.
Avoid this mistake: I never work with my elbow height below desk level anymore. This made me have to activate my biceps to lift my hand up onto the keyboard and mouse. This led to bicep overuse, which led to painful tendonitis in both my elbows and shoulders.
Avoid this mistake too: I never work with my chair too high anymore either. It caused me to naturally slouch forward to reach for my keyboard and mouse.
I make sure my new chair height places my hip level slightly above my knee level.
Sitting in a chair for long periods already puts excessive strain on my hips. If my hips are above my knees, this puts less strain on my hips (and my knees too).
Avoid this mistake: I never sit with my hip level lower than my knee level. This means my chair is too low. It used to cause excessive tension in my hips, abdominal muscles, and pelvic floor. All these muscle groups are on the front side of my body. And they all got tighter and shorter as time went on. This would cause decreased blood flow to muscles on the back of my body, including my glutes and lower back. They became overextended, lengthened, and dysfunctional over time.
I use a chair with an adjustable lumbar. If one isn’t available, I add my own supplemental lumbar support.
Not all office chairs have an adjustable lumbar where we can tighten the tension. When this is the case, I use my own lumbar support. I have a couple that I bought on Amazon (not paid promotion). One provides a little more support than the other. Which is perfect for me. Because I need more lumbar support as the 8 hour workday goes on.
I only use a chair if it has a supportive, comfortable seat cushion.
Sitting in an old, broken down chair is one of the worst posture mistakes I could make. I want both of my glutes to be supported well, and evenly.
Even though I’m sitting, my glutes are the support system, the foundation for my entire body. If they are uneven, unstable, or working too hard, it can cause gluteal amnesia (aka dead butt syndrome). And that became a big problem for me. Not only when it comes to computer posture, but also my physical ability as a whole.
If the correct chair height lifts my feet off the floor, I use a footrest.
Adjusting my chair height correctly usually puts my elbow and hip level in a good spot. It usually allows me to keep my feet flat on the floor as well.
But sometimes, that correct chair height will lift my feet off the floor. When this is the case, I maintain that same chair height, but I use a footrest. And I keep my feet flat on the footrest. Because when it comes to elbow height, hip level, and foot position, I don’t want to sacrifice any of them. They’re all an important part of my computer ergonomics process.
I don’t use armrests on a chair if they cause me to activate my shoulder muscles to rest my elbows on them.
I very rarely use the armrests on an office chair. Even if they are adjustable armrests, they’re almost always way too wide for me. The standard office chair is too big for the majority of us (even for me at 6’3″ tall and 200 pounds).
I would rather leave my elbows suspended in the air, then put my posture in a compromised position because a chair’s armrests are too wide.
Avoid this mistake: I used to flare my elbows out laterally to rest my elbows on office chair armrests that were too wide. This caused activation and repetitive strain of my shoulder and neck muscles.
If you liked this article, you’ll love my Computer Posture Checklist.
Learn how to:
- Improve computer posture
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Here’s exactly what you’ll get:
- A 4-page PDF checklist
- All 27 computer posture cues that I use
- How to sit at a computer
- How to stand at a computer
- How to turn your desk into an asset that promotes good computer posture
- The minimal amount of posture info that’ll produce the most results
Whenever you’re ready, click here to snag your Computer Posture Checklist.
Thanks for your interest in computer posture.
Todd Bowen – Computer Posture Correction and Pain-Free Ergonomics: For Office Workers Who Want to Increase Work Productivity