I used to underestimate the importance of good posture, especially when it came to foot positioning. Besides, I was sitting in an office chair. I was hardly putting any weight on my feet. Does foot posture really matter? Could poor sitting posture really cause foot pain? I eventually found out the hard way. Foot positioning definitely matters.
The negative effects from poor foot posture caused multiple issues with my leg muscles and joints. Eventually, I would need 3 ankle surgeries to correct a torn tendon, bone chips, and bone spurs. All this was caused by poor foot posture while sitting in an office chair for long periods of time.
The above user’s feet on the left are a great example of the poor posture I used to have. Notice how his feet are underneath his body. I had to contract my hamstrings in order to pull my feet backward like that. Sitting with my hamstrings contracted for long periods of time led to them being very dominant over my quadriceps. The constant hamstring activation caused me to keep my knees bent so much that it overextended my quadriceps. My hamstrings got shorter and tighter. My quadriceps got longer and tighter. This caused a lot of muscle dysfunction, tension and pain.
How to Position Feet When Sitting at a Computer
Tension and pain throughout my body started with my feet very easily. Our feet connect us to the ground. The amount of pressure gravity puts on our feet, even when sitting in a desk chair, can get excessive. One poor posture habit with our feet can easily transfer to negative effects in all of our leg muscles and joints.
Today, I’m sharing the one basic rule I follow to have good foot posture while sitting at a computer. That rule is…
Positions Of The Feet When Sitting at a Computer
Feet Flat on the Floor
Keeping my feet flat on the floor avoids problems like ankle joint dysfunction, muscle tension and pain in the calf and the front of the legs, knee joint dysfunction, and lower back pain. Personally, I like to keep my feet hip width apart, while they are flat on the floor to avoid foot pain.
Feet Flat on a Footrest
Is a foot rest necessary when sitting at a computer?
A foot rest is not always necessary in my opinion. It depends on multiple variables. These include chair height, desk height, and the leg length of the user.
Notice how the user on the right doesn’t have her feet flat on the floor. Conversely, notice how the user on the left is properly taking advantage of a foot rest. She needs a foot rest because she couldn’t reach her feet flat on the floor without it.
The user on the left can’t lower her chair instead of using a foot rest. Even though her feet might be flat on the floor if she did, it would lower her elbow level below desk level. If her desk isn’t height adjustable, this would cause overuse of the biceps to lift her hands on the keyboard and mouse. Which, eventually caused both elbow and shoulder tendonitis for me. But that’s a story for another day. You can read that article here. It’s titled, How to Sit at Your Desk to Relieve Shoulder Pain.
What is the Correct Desk and Chair Height for Correct Foot Position at Computer?
Ideally, it’s best to have both a desk and a chair that are height adjustable.
This would eliminate the need for a foot rest. The user could lower their chair height to get their feet flat on the floor. Then, they could lower their desk level until it is just below their elbows.
Notice the height adjustable desks and office chairs in the below picture. This is beneficial because these 2 users are clearly different heights. Also, it’s not likely in this temporary office setting that a foot rest would be available if they weren’t adjustable desks.
Feet Pulled Underneath the Desk Chair
Look at the user on the left (in the above image). He has his feet flat on the floor comfortably. This allows him to maintain a balanced, neutral position in his ankles.
On the other hand, look at the user on the right. He does not have all of his feet flat on the floor. His toes are touching the floor, but his heels are suspended up in the air. His feet are pulled underneath his body. This requires activation, repetitive strain, and overuse of the hamstrings. The height of your chair is very important. This user’s chair is a little too low, which is causing him to pull his feet underneath his body. This also overextends his calf muscles. Sitting like this for long periods of time will lengthen his calf, while the front of his lower leg muscles will shorten (including the tibialis).
Side note: Both of these users are making another painful, poor posture mistake (below image). They’re looking down at their monitor screens at an excessive angle. This is definitely going to cause neck pain and back pain. In order to determine the correct eye level to have your monitor screen, download my free eBook here.
In the above photo, the user on the left has his feet flat on the floor correctly. This allows him to easily maintain a neutral position in his ankle muscles and joints. This is an example of good posture when sitting at a computer.
The user on the right has his feet pulled slightly underneath his desk chair. This is another poor posture example that requires constant activation of the hamstring muscles. He has his knees bent way too much, which overextends his quadricep muscles. Holding this sitting posture for long periods of time will shorten the hamstrings, while lengthening the quadriceps. All of those muscles will be overused and inflexible. In this case, a foot rest would eliminate a lot of this repetitive strain.
One Foot Flat on the Floor and Another Foot is Pulled Underneath the Office Chair
This user in the below image has one foot flat on the floor, while the other foot is pulled underneath his office chair. This will cause a terrible muscle imbalance between the 2 legs. Anytime a user pulls feet under the office chair, it causes overuse of the hamstring and overextension of the quadricep. Even if it is just one foot, while the other foot is correctly flat on the floor.
Regarding the image below, this is a good posture example of the user keeping both feet flat on the floor. He has his knees bent in a comfortable, neutral position. This will definitely minimize foot pain.
Difference Between Feet are Flat on the Floor and One with Poor Foot Posture
In the below image, the user on the left has his feet flat on the floor. However, his hip level and elbow level are too low. Raise your chair in this situation, until your elbow level is slightly above the desk. If the new height of your chair lifts your feet off the ground, a footrest is necessary. Otherwise, it could cause foot pain and joint dysfunction in the ankles and knees.
The user on the right is using good posture for the most part. However, he has his arms extended a little too much in my opinion. This will cause chronic internal shoulder rotation and joint dysfunction. It will also cause overextension, tension and pain on the muscles in the upper back. I would pull my chair closer to my desk so I didn’t have to reach as far forward to use the keyboard and mouse.
The feet are very a complex body part.
Look at how many muscles and tendons come down from the calf and the front of the leg. They pass through the ankle joint, then into the foot.
Sitting with my feet resting on my toes, heels suspended in the air, was one poor posture mistake I used to make with my feet. There’s another common mistake I would make when my feet were flat on the floor. I don’t have a good visual example of it. But as the day went on, I’d slightly roll my ankles laterally to the outsides. You’ll notice, in the picture above, there are 3 tendons that run down along the outer side of the ankle. Sitting with my feet like this for long periods of time stretched those tendons out. This decreased my strength and mobility a lot. Finally, I was playing basketball one day and sprained my ankle. This tore one of those outer tendons, which took 2 surgeries to fix. This joint dysfunction that caused me to roll my ankle was initiated by poor foot posture while sitting at a computer.
To learn more, read my post on how to set up your computer desk for better posture.
This might be helpful: Why Does it Hurt to Sit at a Computer?
You might also like: Are Toe Socks Good For You and Do They Improve Posture?
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Todd Bowen – Computer Posture Correction and Pain-Free Ergonomics: For Part-Time Athletes Who Sit at a Computer Full-Time