Many of us work long days in the office. This means sitting for hours on end. And the longer we sit, the more likely we are to hunch or slump forward, which can lead to pain or injury. 

A common misconception is that sitting properly requires effort. The truth is this should actually require next-to-no effort to achieve! When sitting in a “good seat,” you should be able to maintain an upright position without aches, pains, or tension. So, are you sitting correctly? What does sitting correctly look like? Let’s take a look!

How Do You Know If You’re Sitting Correctly?

A proper seat, again, will require little effort. It should hold you up without you having to brace or readjust. Here’s a quick test you can do to determine if your seat is right for you (then we’ll reveal ways you can fix this, if not!).

• Sit in your chair.
• Then, inhale and exhale, completely relaxing.
• Let your body slump.
• If your chair is supporting you correctly, you should feel relaxed and effortlessly upright without pain or tension.

If you immediately hunch forward upon exhaling and relaxing, this seat is not doing its job! A rounded posture or inward curl of the body that limits deep breathing indicates that you need a bit more support. Continually using this type of seat will lead to overuse of certain muscles and, inevitably, aches and pains.

How To Improve Your Sitting Position

So, we now know the seat should be doing the job for us, but how can we get a seat that does that? Well, you could go and spend quite a bit of money on an expensive office chair only to have this not get you that much further ahead. Instead, try this:

• Use an ABC wedge (Ask about these in the clinic!): This immediately creates a higher seat in the back so that the hips are slightly higher than the knees. It also angles the pelvis correctly.
• Then, practice relaxing your body (as we did above).
• If you still significantly hunch forward, add some height to your chair. This may mean manually adjusting the chair height with levers or using towels under the wedge to lift yourself up.
• Again, actively relax the body. If you’re staying upright, you’re in a good seat and position!

Overall, a good seated position should have almost zero tension, no rounding, and it should feel comfortable. If you feel unbalanced and wobbly, your seat might actually be too high (keep adjusting until you find that sweet spot!).

Want to learn more about how you can optimise your posture and spinal health? Come visit us at Posture & Wellness. Book your FREE discovery call with your local Finsbury Park chiropractor! BOOK NOW.