When seated in your office chair, proper positioning is a key element in keeping up good blood flow and body health. Movement is critical to good ergonomics. To keep the proper posture while constantly moving throughout the day takes some practice. It all starts with knowing how to properly position your back and legs.
Sit down in your current task office chair. Start by adjusting your backrest angle and the seat pan placing the torso and the upper legs at a 90 degrees or slightly more reclined position. This provides for good lower back support. Studies have found that the slightly reclined position is the most desired posture and a proper tilt mechanism, preferably with locking positions is critical to practicing good ergonomics.
Having your feet firmly on the floor is also very important. If your feet are not touching the floor, even with seat height adjustment, you will need to find a footrest or platform to rest your feet on. When viewing a picture of this posture on the human body, you will notice that 90 degrees is the overall effect. The arms are at an angle 90 degrees from the chest, the lower abdomen is 90 degrees from the lower leg and the upper leg is 90 degrees angled from the lower leg.
To keep the ergonomics in mind, placing your monitor at the proper height for viewing and making sure to keep the recommended manufacturer distance from the computer monitor is also important. Your eye level should be direct to the center of the monitor from the top and bottom and side to side to lessen neck twisting. The monitor should be adjusted accordingly to the seat height to get the right angles for comfort ability.
You probably spend a great deal of time typing or using a mouse device in your workstation. Relax your arms allowing them to hang down naturally from your shoulders. Next bring your forearms up so that they are positioned parallel with the ground. You want your wrist to be in a neutral position, very relaxed. Place your chair in front of your workstation desk and adjust the height of the seat so that your elbows are just at or above the keyboard height. You've done it with little effort, now practice makes perfect. Try to remeber to keep the posture throughout the day and soon it will come naturally.
Taking the right position in your office chair is critical for long term body health and good ergonomics can help to prevent future back, neck and arm problems. Ergonomic positioning is easy once you get used to the posture. When practicing your office ergonomics, make sure to remember how critical it can be to keeping productive and healthy in the workplace.
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