Correct sitting posture was a mystery to me for years. I just couldn’t understand why I’d get lower back pain when sitting. I wasn’t lifting something heavy. And I wasn’t under continuous impact, like running. And I didn’t fall on the ground and land hard.
I was sitting at a computer. Which is what a large majority of us do for a living. And lower back pain is one of the most common concerns among adults.
Yes, we may be sitting in a slouched position with poor posture. But we do it for long periods of time. That’s where we get in trouble.
Any time we use our hands in front of our body, we tend to naturally slouch forward. Even if I have good posture, it still makes me slouch forward slightly. Holding this position for long periods of time, it overextends my entire back. And my lower back is the end of the line. That’s where I’ll feel the most pressure. And that’s where I’m going to feel the pain first.
There are several factors that caused my chronic pain. Today, I’ll share a practical guide on how to avoid lower back pain when sitting.
How to Avoid Lower Back Pain When Sitting
In this article, you can expect to learn from my poor sitting posture experience. I’ve fixed my computer posture mistakes, using solutions that are easy to understand. They’re also very actionable. Let’s get started.
Can Sitting Cause Lower Back Pain
In my experience, the answer is a definite “yes.” It can also cause spinal disc degeneration, which can lead to doctor visits, x-rays, and physical therapy.
Sitting caused a heavy imbalance throughout my core muscles.
Sitting caused me to flex (and shorten) my abdomen muscles. At the same time, it caused me to extend (and lengthen) my lower back muscles. This imbalance is not good. It can even happen with good sitting posture.
But with poor posture, my problems got exponentially worse. This can include slouching forward, or having my hip level too low (when it’s below my knees).
The lower back is under the most repetitive strain and overuse.
Imagine you’re looking at a computer user from a right side angle. Slouching forward causes their entire upper body to turn clockwise. Muscles on the front of the body flex downward and shorten. Muscles on the back of the body extend up and lengthen. All of that pressure has to come to a head somewhere. And the lower back is the end of the line.
Having chair height too low increased my lower back pain.
Sitting in a chair is kind of like doing a very low intensity squat. Holding that light squat, for 8 hours a day, is a perfect scenario for repetitive strain and overuse injuries. Especially when my chair height was too low. Because the lower my chair was, the more pressure it put on my hips.
How to Sit to Avoid Lower Back Pain
Avoiding lower back pain won’t be easy. But it’s very attainable. With the right posture cues, high body awareness, and consistency, I can honestly say that my lower back pain is gone.
The good news for you is, here are some posture cues I use to avoid lower back pain when sitting.
Minimize slouching forward with the torso.
This was the most obvious cause of my lower back pain. Slouching forward for long periods is never a good situation. There’s a process that helped me stop slouching the most. I turned my desk into an ergonomic asset that promoted good posture as soon as I sat down.
To stop slouching, the variables that helped me the most were:
- I adjusted my chair height until my elbows were slightly above my desk level.
- This chair height also left my hips slightly above my knee level.
- If that chair height didn’t lift my feet off the floor, then I kept my feet flat at all times.
- But if that correct chair height did lift my feet off the floor, I used a footrest.
- Once all that is correct, the final step was to raise my monitor until the top of the screen was at my eye level.
These are the most important ergonomic factors for me, as far as how to improve posture while sitting at computer. They’ve been super effective in fixing my lower back pain.
Use the correct chair height.
I used to sit with my chair way too low for years. In addition to back pain, it caused knee pain. All of it could’ve been avoided with one simple ergonomic adjustment. And that is making sure my hip level was slightly over my knee level. This is one of my all time, most valuable ergonomic cues for sitting posture.
Maintain the same amount of muscle activation throughout the entire core.
“Strengthen your core” is a common phrase among physical therapists. But there’s often a misconception on the meaning of the word “core.” A lot of people think it only means “abs.” The core is actually made up of multiple muscles, which are found all around the lower torso and the pelvis. These muscles go all around the body (front, back, and sides).
So when I hear “strengthen your core,” I make sure that I activate all my core muscles with the same amount of intensity. It doesn’t matter if it’s an ab muscle, or a muscle on my lower back. My goal is to give them all the same amount of activation. Because holding an imbalance of activation for long periods of time, it’s eventually going to cause a problem somewhere.
Maintain a neutral spine position with its natural curves intact.
The spine should be a straight line when looking at it from the front or the rear. But from the side angles, the spine has natural curves. When these curves get pulled out of alignment, it can cause chronic pain, muscle tension, and joint dysfunction. And back pain was at the top of that list for me.
- Get familiar with the natural curves of the spine.
- Increase your body awareness to know whether your spine is in a neutral position or not.
This was a game changer for me when I started my journey to improve posture at computer.
I also talk about the relationship between a desk job and back pain in this post.
Make sure your torso is supporting your spine.
“Torso supporting the spine,” that sounds backwards, right? Well, it goes both ways. Everything should work in harmony. My spine couldn’t stay in a balanced position if my arms were overextended, reaching far ahead of me to use my keyboard and mouse. And if my internal shoulder rotation was excessive, it would easily pull my spine out of alignment. Side note: If you like this article, check out the one I wrote on how to relieve shoulder pain from sitting at desk.
Body awareness isn’t just about keeping the spine in a neutral position. It’s about being conscious of the entire body, because everything is connected, whether directly or indirectly. High performers understand this. And it’s made a huge difference for me and my computer posture.
If you liked this article on how to avoid lower back pain when sitting, you’ll love my eBook…
Thanks for your interest in computer posture.
Todd Bowen – Computer Posture Correction and Pain-Free Ergonomics: For Part-Time Athletes Who Sit at a Computer Full-Time
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