Sitting for long periods of time used to break me down. Both physically and mentally. It can significantly affect the natural curve of the spine.
One of the most frustrating things to figure out was my chronic back pain. Specifically, located in my lumbar region (lower back).
I learned a valuable lesson from my chiropractor years ago. He taught me about the correct position of a neutral spine. And how important it was to maintain the natural curves of the spine, especially when in a sitting posture.
Using lumbar support is a helpful way for me to maintain ergonomics when sitting in the workplace.
In this article, I’m going to talk about what lumbar support does. And how much it improves posture in my experience.
What Does Lumbar Support Do
Not everyone needs lumbar support. But it’s been a valuable part of my computer ergonomics routine. It’s important to me, because if my spine is out of alignment at any one point, that can negatively impact my entire spine. Especially when it comes to the lumbar spine. Because everything above it will be affected.
What Is Lumbar Support
Good lumbar support is a physical object that I place between my lower back and my chair, to help maintain the natural curve in my lumbar spine.
Sometimes, a good office chair features its own built-in lumbar support. This can be very beneficial to computer posture. To figure out correct desk chair height, check out how to adjust office chair.
When it doesn’t, I’ve used different types of lumbar support add-ons. Sometimes it comes in a pillow-ish form. Others are a mesh webbing, which is supported by a wire frame. I’ve even used a standard pillow before (when I didn’t have an actual lumbar support). Especially when I needed a reminder to not let the natural curve in my lumbar spine flatten out.
My favorite type of support is the mesh webbing, supported by a wire frame. These are relatively inexpensive. I get them from Amazon (not paid promotion).
How Does Lumbar Support Work
Lumbar support is a physical reminder that allows me to maintain the natural curve in my lower back.
Arguably, some might say that the lumbar spine has the most important of the natural curves to keep intact. Because it’s the lowest curve in the spine, which absorbs the most weighted pressure from my upper body. It’s a crucial ergonomic factor, as far as how to improve posture while sitting at computer.
What Does A Lumbar Support Do
It helps maintain the natural curves throughout the rest of my spine.
Whenever my lumbar curve flattens or rounds out, the rest of my spine alignment immediately suffers. It causes me to either slouch forward, or sit up “too straight.”
It’s especially important for me when I’m sitting for long periods of time.
Because that’s when my postural muscles, which support my torso, really start to fatigue. A lumbar support provides a little additional support. This saves me energy, allowing me to activate less muscles, but still maintain proper lumbar support.
How To Properly Use Lumbar Support
It’s definitely possible to use a lumbar support incorrectly. This section will explain how I properly use one.
When Sitting With An Upright Torso
Sitting upright, with a balanced, neutral spine, with its natural curves intact. That’s how I describe good sitting posture while working at a computer.
I don’t want my desk to be a liability that creates bad posture, pulling my body out of neutral positions.
I want my workstation to be an asset that promotes good posture (as soon as I sit down). My desk chair is a huge part of this. I want my chair to work for me, not against me. The best way to do that is to add a supplemental lumbar support. This will keep my lumbar curve in the correct position. Which will have a positive effect on the rest of my spine.
When Sitting For Long Periods of Time
Postural muscles support our torso when we hold them upright. Those postural muscles suffer from repetitive strain and overuse. When I don’t use a lumbar support, these muscles get burnt out even quicker, opposed to when I do use a lower back support.
When Driving a Car or Truck
Driver seats are notorious for creating poor posture habits. Despite most cars having an adjustable lumbar support, car seats are a recipe for ergonomic disaster.
Our knees are almost always higher than our hips when driving. That causes overuse in our hamstrings, and lack of muscle activation in our glutes. This overuse in my hamstrings caused me to become hamstring-dominant. Exercising, sports, and walking around like this (for years) led me to years of knee and ankle dysfunction, while resulted in 3 different ankle surgeries.
The backs of car seats are straight, even angled back sometimes. This causes us to overextend our arms, shoulders, and upper back, in order to reach the steering wheel.
Where Should Lumbar Support Be
If you don’t have access to office chairs with lumbar support, this will show you where I place my lumbar support accessory.
Notice in the image below, how the lumbar curve in the lower spine pulls the user’s body away from the backrest of the chair slightly. This is exactly where I put my lumbar support.
I usually place it in the gap between my office chair and my lower back. This helps keep my spine properly aligned for the long term. Holding my spine in a compromised position for long periods of time can cause spinal disc degeneration.
In addition to lumbar support, correct chair and elbow height is also important for maintaining an upright torso. To learn those, plus many more ergonomic factors, check out how I improve posture at computer.
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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
P.S. If you liked this article, you’ll love the one titled Ergonomic Modifications For Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. It talks about how I completely erased my computer wrist pain in 4 days. And it hasn’t come back since then.
Or, join thousands of other high-performing, athletic office workers → Check out my digital store to level up your ergonomics game.
Because computer posture may happen at our desk. But computer ergonomics goes with us when we leave the office. Ergonomics also happens in the gym, the kitchen, even in the bedroom.
My book talks about healthy habits in hydration, breathing, and sleep quality. All these are directly related to how good (or bad) my computer posture is.