Most of the life of a modern person takes place in a sitting position. Whether it is office work, a trip in transport, watching movies or chatting on the network via computer. Prolonged improper body position can lead to problems of various etiologies. To avoid them, you need to know how to sit on a chair.
The consequences of an incorrect pose
Experts agree that long sitting in the wrong position can lead to irreversible changes in the body, leading to serious illness. A sedentary lifestyle alone causes spinal dysfunction. A prolonged improper posture leads to a limitation of blood supply to the entire musculoskeletal system. As a result of this, destructive processes in the disks, joints, vertebrae begin, which leads to a restriction of mobility. Further blocking of normal blood supply causes an increase in blood sugar and a risk of developing oncology of the pelvic and intestinal organs, provokes thrombosis and varicose veins. As a result, a person is deprived of the opportunity to lead an active lifestyle. To avoid such troubles, you need to take into account several points that will teach you how to sit on a chair.
What should be the right chair
To ensure maximum comfort with a long sitting position, you need to make sure that the chair is comfortable. Its design is obliged to provide an optimal posture during long work sitting, should provide for the possibility of changing the posture to reduce muscle tension in the back, neck and shoulders in order to avoid overstrain.
When choosing a chair or chair should take into account the growth, nature and duration of work. If this is an office chair for working with a computer, then it should be adjustable in height, the angle of inclination of the back and seat, the distance from the edge of the seat to the back, and have a swivel mechanism. Each adjusting mechanism must be independent and firmly fixed. The chair seat and backrest should be semi-soft, made of easily cleanable, non-electrifying fabric.
Specifications for work chairs
To ensure correct posture while sitting on a chair, you need to choose it in accordance with the optimal structural characteristics:
- The width and depth of the seat must be at least 40 cm.
- The front edge of the seat is rounded.
- The height of the seat should be adjustable at least 40-55 cm, and the angle of inclination - up to 15 ° forward and at least 5 ° back.
- The height of the backrest ranges from 30 to 32 cm, and its width should not be less than 38 cm.
- The vertical adjustment angle of the backrest is 30 ° in different directions.
- The distance of the front edge from the back can be adjusted by 26-40 cm.
- The length of the armrests should not be less than 25 cm, and the width of 5-7 cm.
- The position of the armrests relative to the seat is adjusted from 35 to 50 cm.
How to adjust the chair
When adjusting the height of the seat relative to the floor, it must be taken into account that the feet should be on the floor with their entire feet and their bend angle at the knees is 90 °. Only in this case, the vessels and joints will not be overloaded too much, and there will be no need for constant rearrangement of the legs in search of a more comfortable posture. The height of the chair relative to the table should be such that the hands can lie freely on the table with shoulders down.
The depth of the seat is adjustable so that it occupies at least 2/3 of the length of the hips.
Smart devices
If the chair cannot be adjusted so that it is comfortable to sit, special devices can be used to give the body the correct position:
- If the chair is too high, when the legs do not touch or do not completely touch the floor, a low bench can be placed under them.
- To adjust the depth of the seat and support the lower back, you can use special smart pillows. They crumple under body weight and maintain their shape. Such pillows are placed under the lower back, maintaining an optimal body position. An alternative is the mesh pad on the chair, which is attached to the chair with ropes. This design supports the lower back and allows free air circulation, preventing the back from sweating.
On sale there are special chairs, and chairs with a built-in cushion in the lumbar region. Such a chair allows you to rely on the roller, conveniently position the pelvic bones and not strain your back.
How to sit on a chair
The optimal position of a seated person is considered to be a pose in which arms and legs are bent at an angle of 90 ° and are approximately shoulder width apart. The pelvis should be positioned so that the entire emphasis is directed to the ischial tubercles, these are bones that feel good when sitting on a hard surface. In this case, the back is straight without bending back or forward, and the shoulders drop as much as possible and retract to open the chest and optimize the position of the shoulder blades.
It will help to ensure proper posture while sitting on a chair, light tension of the abdominal muscles. In addition, this technique contributes to the burning of fat in the waist area and optimizes the digestion process. The position of the neck should be such that it is an extension of the spine. To do this, slightly lower the chin and pull it towards you. No need to pull your legs under you and cross your legs. Since sitting in a chair at a computer for a long time does not always succeed, it is possible to slightly change the position, leaning slightly forward or backward, lean on the armrest, but the head should always look straight, and the load on the neck is minimal.
Workstation device
When equipping a work area, you need to remember about ergonomics. Everything that is necessary for work should be located in such a way as to provide comfort even during long work:
- The first thing that contributes to maintaining health during long sitting is a good chair, equipped with armrests and the ability to adjust the necessary parameters to adapt to individual characteristics.
- The second is a convenient computer table, the height of which should be sufficient so that when sitting, its edge appears at the level of the solar plexus.
- The monitor must be positioned and adjusted so that it stands at eye level, and when working, the head looked exactly ahead.
- It is better if the keyboard is located on a special retractable stand below the countertop.
- For a better location of the hand of the mouse, you need to use a rug with a pillow under the wrist.
- The correct position of the hands during operation will provide an arched keyboard.
How to learn to sit properly
There are several exercises that help improve posture. To get used to keeping your back straight, it is recommended several times a day for 10 minutes to stand near the wall, touching it with heels, calves, buttocks, shoulder blades and the back of the head. Various exercises to strengthen the muscles of the back, such as the “boat”, tilts with a straight back with or without weighting, push-ups, a bar, lifting the body, lying on the stomach, and others, will also help correct posture.
How to sit on a chair can teach a large rubber ball of such a height that the legs are bent at an angle of 90 degrees. To maintain balance on the ball, you have to involuntarily straighten your back. Forty-minute daily workouts will help you develop a healthy habit. This exercise is popular in German offices.
By the way, girls were taught how to sit on a chair, noble maidens at institutes, putting a ruler under the corset between the shoulder blades, which did not allow to stoop.
What etiquette says
Before you go to an important meeting, date, visit a good restaurant, you should learn how to sit on a chair according to etiquette. When you need to sit at a table, you need to sit down to the full depth of the chair and move so that there is no more than a palm to the edge of the table.
It is necessary to sit with a straight back pressed to the back of the chair, and legs bent at an angle of 90 °. Feet sitting at the table do not cross. Elbows should be pressed to the body. They can not be put on the table.
You can move away from the table only after the end of the serving, for communication. During breaks, hands can be held either on the lap or on the armrests of the chair. If this conversation is not at the table, then the girl is allowed to cross her legs in the ankles. The knees must be brought together. It is also allowed to tilt both legs to the side.
Since it’s very important for a girl to sit in a chair correctly, because it is an indicator of good breeding and good form, it is worthwhile to learn such techniques primarily for important meetings and restaurant visits, as well as for everyday life.
How to sit a man in a chair, there are no special instructions, but according to etiquette, it is unacceptable to fall apart and spread legs wide.
Orthopedic Chairs
To prevent or alleviate existing problems, it is worth considering the use of orthopedic chairs. There are several types of them, including dynamic, saddle-chair and knee. Orthopedic chair-saddle provides the most physiological pose for a person. When sitting on it, an intermediate position between the sitting and standing positions is adopted. The legs are firmly on the floor, and the back is straightened, forming a regular bend.
An indispensable chair for people involved in complex, long, laborious procedures that require a long stay in one position. These are hairdressers, make-up artists, dentists. There are chairs with backs and without them. The backrest allows you to change position, lean back or swing back and forth. And it’s easy to sit on a chair without a back, just with your legs crossed. Mobility to the chair give the wheels.
Knee chairs have a design in which the load is distributed between the back, pelvis and knees. Physiology will tell you how to sit on a knee stool correctly, since its structure involves the adoption of a correct posture and optimal bending of the back. In addition, it allows you to change position, for example, relying on one knee, you can lean back with a bent knee, instead of knees rest in the foot rest instead of knees. The optimal tilt of the seat allows you to straighten your shoulders, open the chest and abdominal cavity, which improves breathing and digestion.
A kind of knee stool, supplemented by a dynamic component, allows you to change the position of the body, preventing leakage and fatigue. Reflex balancing of the body provides mobility of the joints of the spine, supports the tone of the muscles of the press and back.
How to sit with diseases
Diseases of the musculoskeletal system, varicose veins, hemorrhoids make sitting work very problematic. To alleviate discomfort and pain, special devices, the choice of a sparing posture, and breaks help.
For example, an improper posture increases pain during inflammation of the hemorrhoidal nodes, as pressure on the pelvic organs increases. How to sit with hemorrhoids in a chair to relieve pain? To do this, you need to combine drug therapy and the selection of a comfortable seat. The use of a chair or a special pillow with a recess or hole in the middle in the area of the location of hemorrhoids will help reduce pain.
And how to sit on a chair with a hernia of the spine, so as not to provoke a deterioration? Firstly, to choose the most comfortable pose with emphasis on the back of the chair, and secondly, slowly, without sudden movements, change the pose. This may not be a radically new pose, but a slight change in the position of the back, legs or arms. But we must remember that the head should look straight.
Useful Tips
To avoid problems associated with a violation of posture, you need to know how to sit in an office chair. General tips will help you figure this out:
- Form the correct posture. This will help a large rubber ball and exercises to strengthen the back, such as a "boat", leaning forward. In addition to strengthening muscles, it is necessary to stretch them.
- Choose a comfortable posture that needs to be changed every 15-20 minutes. It is necessary to ensure that the body does not numb.
- And every 40 minutes you should get up, walk around and do a little exercise.
- In your free time you need to walk more, to be in the fresh air.
These tips will help prevent the development of diseases, maintain a beautiful posture, cheerful mood and performance.