Posture is the position we hold our bodies in. Ergonomics is the study of people’s efficiency in the workplace. Posture is one variable of ergonomics. But it takes more than good posture to prevent computer-related injuries.
For example, if I have poor sleep quality, my computer posture will suffer quicker the next day. If I’m dehydrated at my computer desk, my muscles will tense up quicker. If my breathing is shallow due to stress, that will affect my posture negatively.
This article will serve as a computer ergonomics guide. It will go over healthy habits of how to have good computer posture. It will also go over ergonomic variables like sleep quality, hydration, and breathing.
This article is not professional medical advice. It’s based off my personal experience and opinions. For years, my poor computer posture caused muscle tension, inflammation, and chronic pain. Bad posture also decreased my mental clarity, energy level, and work productivity.
All the desk worker health tips I write about are directly related to improving posture at a computer. We are our own primary caretakers. Do your research. Make good decisions. And be the best advocate possible for your own healthcare.
Computer Ergonomics Guide
I consider computer ergonomics to be any variable that affects posture at my desk. It doesn’t matter if that variable occurs while I’m at my desk or not. Anything that affects my posture, mental clarity, energy level, or work productivity falls under computer ergonomics.
Ergonomic Computer Setup
First let’s talk about the elephant in the room, how to prevent computer-related injuries. We want to do this by creating an ergonomic computer setup that is an asset for our good posture. As soon as we sit, or stand, at our desk, we want certain variables in place. We want to activate the minimum amount of muscles possible to meet those ergonomic variables.
Ergonomic desk setup for home office
The 3 most important variables for a computer ergonomics setup are:
- The top of the monitor screen should be even with eye level.
- Elbow level should be slightly higher than desk level.
- Feet should be flat on the floor (or a footrest).
Having my monitor too low used to cause chronic pain and muscle tension in my neck and upper back. It also caused me to slouch forward. There’s no need for a fancy monitor height adjustment guide. We just need to raise our monitor so the top of the screen meets our eye level (when we are sitting, or standing, with good computer posture).
Another common mistake I used to make, my elbows were below my desk level. This caused my biceps to be constantly activated. Once my biceps got tight and overused, they pulled on the tendons that connect those muscles to bone in my shoulder area. I would get shoulder pain, but it was caused by my tight biceps. My biceps were overused because my elbow level was below my desk level.
Finally, I used to sit with my feet resting on my toes, but my heels were suspended in the air. This vulnerable position caused me to activate a lot of muscles in my feet and lower legs. Once these muscles got overused, it caused chronic pain and joint dysfunction in my ankles. This led to me needing 3 ankle surgeries.
Ergonomic chair features to look for
When shopping for an ergonomic chair, the first thing I want to do is make sure it raises high enough. You’d be surprised how often a desk chair doesn’t go high enough. The best way to know is by the elbow level and desk level variables. As stated earlier, my elbow level is always slightly higher than my desk level. If my chair height doesn’t allow this, I know I need to get a new chair.
Next, I want to make sure the armrests on my desk chair don’t hit the desk when I try to slide closer to my keyboard and mouse. I’ve used office chairs before where the armrests hit the desk. This caused a natural tendency for my torso to slouch forward. To do a deeper dive on this topic, check out my article titled Why Office Chair Armrests Don’t Work For Me.
Finally, I want to make sure there is plenty of comfortable back support on the desk chair. The definition of “comfortable” can vary from person to person. I just want to make sure the back support is going to allow me to rest a percentage of my torso weight onto it. We don’t necessarily need to support our entire back. I also want to make sure it supports me while I’m keeping the natural curves in my spine. To learn more about the natural curves of the spine, check out my article titled Computer Posture: Why “Sit Up Straight” is Bad Advice.
Best ergonomic accessories for computer users
My 3 most valuable ergonomic accessories are my external monitor, my height-adjustable desk, and my anti-fatigue mat.
The external monitor helps keep the top of my monitor screen eye level, regardless if I’m working in a sitting posture or standing posture. This would be impossible if I were to use my laptop monitor.
The height-adjustable desk allows me to switch from a sit to stand posture multiple times throughout the day. Because sitting isn’t the enemy when it comes to computer posture. Working in the exact same position for long periods of time is what causes repetitive strain, overuse, and computer-related injuries. This is why, adjustable standing desk benefits are an important variable in my computer ergonomics practice.
Finally, my anti-fatigue mat goes under my feet when I’m working in a standing posture. I used to have chronic knee pain when I’d stand at a computer. Once I started using this inexpensive anti-fatigue mat, my knee pain started to decrease quickly.
External keyboard and external mouse
I wrote an article that talks about my favorite ergonomic keyboard and mouse recommendation. It’s titled Best Ergonomic Devices for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
It talks about how I always use an external keyboard and mouse. My brand of choice is Apple (not paid promotion). I paid my own money for them. And I’m not compensated by Apple. I use their keyboard and mouse because it is very flat and low-profile. I used to suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome because I used a bulky, tall keyboard and mouse. This required me to extend my wrists in order to put my fingers on the keys of the keyboard. Holding my wrists in that extended position for long periods of time is what caused my carpal tunnel syndrome. Not the act of typing.
Once I switched over to Apple’s flat keyboard and mouse, my carpal tunnel wrist pain went away within a few days. It was pretty eye-opening to see how one small computer posture correction can prevent computer-related injuries.
Office Ergonomics Tips (not related to posture)
Now, let’s talk about some ways to improve our computer ergonomics that are not posture-related.
Sleep quality
The earlier in the day we get tired, the earlier our computer posture suffers. I used to struggle with sleeping 8 hours through the night. I would always wake up tired. In 2011, I started looking for ways to improve my sleep quality. Since then, I’ve worked hard to find healthy sleep habits that decrease my awake time in bed.
If we have poor sleep quality at night, it’s going to directly affect our computer posture the next day. It will also impact our energy levels, mental clarity, and work productivity. All of which, determine how efficient we are. Remember, as stated earlier, ergonomics is the study of people’s efficiency in the workplace. The earlier in the day we get tired, the earlier we have poor computer posture. This is why healthy sleep habits are necessary for me to have good computer posture.
To learn the healthy habits that help me sleep 8 hours through the night, check out my article titled Sleep Habits for Better Posture.
Hydration
The amount of water I drink, plus its quality level, is directly related to my computer-related injuries. When I’m dehydrated, my muscles tense up and tighten much quicker, causing my posture to suffer.
When I stay hydrated throughout the day, my posture is always easier to maintain. Improved computer posture is just one of the benefits of drinking water for me.
How much water do I need to drink per day? That depends on quite a few variables. All of our situations are different. So, there’s no 1 correct amount of water for everyone to drink per day. However, I wrote an article that details the variables I use to calculate my amount. Click here to read that article.
Breathing
Breathing is an important variable of computer ergonomics. When I sit at a desk 8 hours a day, physical and mental stress can cause shallow breath, tight muscles, and poor posture. It sometimes feels like the air I’m breathing barely passes below the airway in my neck, much less into my lungs. And as soon as the air would enter my lungs, I would exhale it out. Instead of letting my breath work for me efficiently, my brain and body were always in a more defensive state.
I knew that I needed to breathe deeper. I needed to increase the amount of air in my lungs. Also, I needed to increase the amount of time that air spent inside my lungs. To accomplish this, I started doing breath work. But this article is long enough already. If you’d like to learn about the specific breathing exercises I did, check out my article titled Improve Your Posture by Breathing More Effectively.
THANKS FOR YOUR INTEREST IN COMPUTER POSTURE.
If you’ve read this far, congratulations! You’re taking valuable steps to reduce computer-related injuries by improving your posture. That’s something to be very proud of!
If you liked this computer ergonomics guide, check out my book titled 45 Ways to Improve Computer Posture.
This book is a great supplement to the article you just read. It covers healthy ergonomic habits like posture, sleep, hydration, and breathing.
I wrote this book to be the resource I wish I had back in 2002, when I first started sitting at a computer for long periods of time.
Go to SittingPosture.com/book to learn more.
Take care,
Todd Bowen