Stretching - Ergonomics And Office Chairs And How They Affect Your Health

Workplace

Stretching - Ergonomics And Office Chairs And How They Affect Your Health

Amy Pedersen

Even with a well-designed workstation, problems may arise when working long hours in your office chair.When this happens, you must pay attention to the work at hand, and how it is performed daily if you plan to continue working such long hours.

When working for a long time in front of a computer or at a desk, you tend to hold the same posture for hours with little movement of certain muscles, and over-stimulation of others. This leads to nothing but muscle pain and strain.

Movement is critical to ergonomic posturing and keeping good body health when you must work at a single task for hours at a time. There are two important things to keep in mind when at work.

The first is to get a good ergonomic chair, that allows as much movement as you can afford. Some of the more expensive models are built for people in chairs for longer than 6-8 hours a day. They can mimic the body’s movements, keeping your feet flat on the floor, and your eyes at the same level, even when reclining. Any chair will do, as long as it has good reclining positions with tilt tension adjustment.

Secondly, it is crucial to your overall health to take frequent breaks when working in your office chair for long hours. It seems that everyone has a different recommendation for how long and how often to take these breaks. The average recommendation by most ergonomists seems to be 5-10 minutes of break time, after every hour and a half of sitting in a chair.

You can also help relieve stress while working by remembering some simple techniques to help reduce muscle strain.

Try to vary your daily tasks so that you are not constantly clicking on the mouse for long hours or typing away, without using anything else for hours. Also try to refocus your eyes on something other than your computer screen every few minutes to lessen eye strain and neck strain from being held in one position for too long.

If you can, try to adjust your posture and remember to slightly recline instead of hunching over as the hours progress, and your eyes strain to be closer and closer to your monitor. Stretching your legs while at the office, and getting out of that office chair every so often to stretch your back as well, can help to reduce the likelihood of suffering Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Chronic Back Pain, or any of the other muscle related office injuries that can be easily avoided with a little practice.

Author Amy Pedersen has worked in the ergonomics and office industry for a number of years. She is the co-founder of Sit On This Ergonomics, which operates a number of ergonomic websites dedicated to office chairs, and the practice of good workplace ergonomics.

Featuring a wide variety of executive, leather, and mesh office chairs, with an online catalog, their website also provides detailed ergonomic information on proper chair positioning and seating in the workplace environment.