Posture is the position we hold our bodies in. Ergonomics is the study of peoples’ efficiency in their working environment.
As office workers, computer posture always takes place while we’re at our workstations. In my opinion, office ergonomics should be considered even when we’re away from our desks. To have good computer ergonomics, we should be intentional about all of our healthy habits. Especially, those that contribute directly to how good our computer posture is.
This article will talk about the comparison of posture vs ergonomics. It’ll also answer some frequently asked questions about the ergonomics and posture relationship.
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 workplace wellness 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.
What’s the difference between posture and ergonomics?
As stated earlier, posture is the position we hold our bodies in. Ergonomics is the study of peoples’ efficiency in their working environment. To me, that means any healthy habit that makes us more efficient at work falls under the umbrella of ergonomics.
Is good posture the same as ergonomics?
No. Good posture is a healthy habit that is a subtopic of ergonomics. Posture is a tool in the tool box. Ergonomics is all the tools in the tool box.
How does ergonomics affect posture?
Ergonomics can affect posture in many ways. My ergonomic tool box consists of healthy habits in posture, sleep, hydration, breathing, and nutrition. All of these subtopics are important variables for good computer ergonomics.
How to improve posture with ergonomics
Sleep
If we get poor sleep at night, we will be tired earlier the next day. The quicker we get tired, the quicker we have poor computer posture. To sit or stand at a computer for 8 hours a day is an endurance event. Some of our muscles are deactivated and underused. But other muscles are constantly activated and excessively overused. This leads to repetitive strain injuries, which sleep is a very important healing process. Any healthy habit that contributes to musculoskeletal health is a valuable ergonomic tool that will improve our computer posture.
Hydration
If we are dehydrated, this can lead to decreased blood flow, muscle tension, more stress, and chronic pain. All of these are conditions that negatively affect our posture. Drinking the right amount of water per day is important. To determine what a healthy amount of water is, there are many variables involved. To learn about these variables, check out my article titled How Much Water Do I Need to Drink Per Day?
The quality of my drinking water is also important to me. I don’t drink tap water. Tests in my area have shown that chlorine, lead, and pharmaceutical levels are high in our tap water. I also don’t drink purified water in plastic bottles. We really don’t know what happens to the plastic bottle when it’s left in heat or in the sun. I’ve also heard that manufacturers create the plastic bottle, then fill it up with water before giving it time for the gasses to fully leave the bottle. I don’t know how true this is. And obviously, I can’t speak for every company. But, this is plenty of reason for me to avoid plastic-bottled water altogether.
The water I drink now does come from my tap, but I run it through a reverse osmosis filter before I drink it. It’s a countertop unit. It doesn’t hook up to any water lines. Setup was easy. You just fill it up with tap water, then the filter does work. It also comes with a remineralization option. I’m glad I got this. Although, I do normally add some quality sea salt to my water before drinking. The prices on these reverse osmosis filters have come way down in the last few years. I got mine for $320 off Amazon (not paid promotion).
Breathing
Shallow breathing used to cause increased stress and anxiety for me. Both of these have physical costs associated with them as well. Shallow breathing led to decreased blood flow and chronic muscle tension. All of which negatively impacted my poor computer posture. To learn about the breathing practices I use, check out my article titled Improve Your Posture By Breathing More Effectively.
Nutrition
For years, I’d always eat the “healthier” option when I was getting fast food. The grilled chicken, for example. However, I had no idea that chicken was cooked in cheap, unhealthy seed oils that caused a lot of inflammation and weight gain. I stopped eating fast food altogether in October 2022. I started cooking all my food at home. I lost 45 pounds in just a few months. I went from 235 to 190 pounds. It was eye-opening. To learn more about how I improved my nutrition, check out my article titled Foods That Promote Good Posture.
As far as what I cooked those foods in, I found healthy seed oil alternatives. You can learn more about that in my article How to Cook Without Seed Oils.
I don’t sacrifice taste in order to eat healthy. Everything I eat tastes good. And I’m still at 190 pounds. Fast food doesn’t appeal to me at all anymore. Especially considering what I’ve learned about how unhealthy it is, even the “healthy” options.
Can ergonomics fix bad posture?
Ergonomics can help improve posture. They can help set us up for success. But good computer posture is essentially up to the user in the end. An ergonomic workstation should be an asset that promotes good posture, before we even sit (or stand) at our computer desk.
Workplace ergonomic tips for better posture
We’ve covered plenty of ergonomic habits to practice while away from our desks. Now, here are my most important office setup tips for posture correction. These tips are great examples that relate posture habits vs ergonomic design, and how the 2 work hand-in-hand to complement each other.
- Raise your desk chair until your feet are flat on the ground, while your knees are at a 90 degree angle or slightly more. Just make sure your feet are still flat on the floor.
- Use a height adjustable desk. This is important for 2 reasons. First, I want to be able to switch from sit to stand, quickly and easily, multiple times throughout my workday. Second, I want my elbow height to be slightly above the desk level (regardless if I’m sitting or standing).
- Set up the monitor so the top of the screen is at eye level. I don’t use a laptop monitor if I’m going to be working on it for long periods of time. Instead, I’ll plug an external monitor into my laptop. I used to make the posture mistake of using my laptop screen all day. It led to chronic neck pain that took a lot of time, money, and energy to fix. To learn more about my experience with neck posture correction, check out my article titled Iron Neck Review.
Those are my favorite ergonomic solutions for common posture problems. To learn more about ergonomic posture for desk work, check out my book titled 45 Ways to Improve Computer Posture.
Posture and ergonomics health benefits
Good posture and ergonomics has provided many physical health benefits for me. It’s led to a decrease in muscle tension, chronic pain, and joint dysfunction. It’s also led to increased energy levels.
Good physical posture can also improve my mental and emotional health as well. It can increase my mental clarity, confidence, and improve my mood.
My main physical goals are to wake up every morning pain-free, strong, and energetic. I’m intentional with all my daily habits that contribute to these goals. Whether that is how I exercise, how I eat, my hydration levels, and of course how good my computer posture is.
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 article on the difference between posture and ergonomics, check out my book titled 45 Ways to Improve Computer Posture.
>>> Click here to download your free copy
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