The diagram above is not too far from the reality of our own postures while we all sit at our desks. It is probably not detrimental to sit like this for a short amount of time, but when we sit in awkward and biomechanically disadvantaged positions like the ones above or even when we hold the phone between our ear and shoulder for extended times our bodies get cranky.
Studies show that primarily agricultural countries (where people are moving all day) have less back pain than countries that have sedentary desk jobs . The agricultural countries have nearly no back pain! But in America, nearly everyone experiences back pain in their lifetime (nih.gov).
The diagram below shows how the spine is most efficient when you sit upright and align each vertebrae on top of one another. The body does not have to work nearly as hard when the discs in your spine are stacked on top of one another. If you look at the skeleton on the right (highlighted in red), you will notice that the muscles on the back side of your neck(if you could imagine they are there) would have to work very hard to hold your head up. This can cause a chain reaction all the way down your spine to your lower back. It is best if the muscles can work evenly on either sides of your body to create balance and ease at muscle joints. So if you allow the muscles on the front side of your body to do some of the work by sitting upright there can be more balance in your body while sitting.
I believe, if you can keep your head back over your spine and your hips back as far as possible in your chair while working, you will have much less neck/back pain.
This is not easy. At first, you will have to train your 'postural muscles' to work a bit more. But when you begin to use your body more efficiently, you will find it is easier. You may feel stronger, you will concentrate and focus more and you will have much less incidence of headaches.
The main problem with chairs is most of our core musculature shuts off as soon as we sit down. To counteract this problem, at the beginning of each day wake up some of your core stabilizers by contracting them. Or try to suck all of your abdominal contents off of your pelvic floor. Yep, thats right, we want to use our diaphram, abdominals, obliques, quadratus lumborum and spinal erectors to help us work better and focus throughout the day;)
Please visit the following websites for some added information on workstation ergonomics.
http://www.merseyfire.gov.uk/
http://www.candgnews.com/
http://ergonomics.ucla.edu/
http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/
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