How to Sit: Ergonomic Seating Facts

Most of us are seated for a major part of our waking hours. Whether it is behind the wheel of your car, at a desk, using a computer, in front of a television, eating a meal, on an airplane or train, in class - you name it. We spend many hours a day seated.

As a consequence of not sitting properly, more and more people are experiencing lower back pain, neck and shoulder complaints and a variety of other physical discomforts. The reason for these complaints more often than not stem from poor posture and from not moving the body from time-to-time while seated and occasionally getting up to move around.

First, recognize that for most people being seated is a passive activity characterized by a slumped, slack quality which is, in fact, putting a great deal of stress on the body. This passiveness permeates the seated body and produces a compressive effect on the joints - particularly in the lower back. To shift this passivity when seated to dynamic, active sitting, we need to look at what some of the differences are between the two modes of sitting. From this understanding we can learn how to change from one to the other.

In a typical version of passive sitting, the pelvis is slightly rotated under the body. This causes load bearing on the tail bone (Cossyx) and on the back of the sacrum. This, in turn, contributes to a rounding of the lumbar curve and increased curving of the thoracic region of the spine (area of the rib cage).

As the two lower curves of the spine are positioned into one large curve this forces the neck to be compressed when the head is lifted as it is when driving, looking at a computer monitor or a movie screen, etc. The result is that the neck and shoulders are tensed in order to support the head.

Another mode of passive sitting occurs when a person bends over toward a desk and leans the head forward or supports the head on a bent arm.

Here the two curves of the back are again bent into one curve with the result that a lot of strain is put on the lower back and in the area between the shoulder blades.

Furthermore, if the person rests the head on a bent arm it puts extra compression on the shoulder of the supporting arm as well as in the carpel region of the wrist.

If the head is bent forward and is unsupported when reading, the neck becomes over-extended and the shoulders grip in order to support the head.

Summary of disadvantages that can arise from passive sitting:

• Weakens back muscles
• Compresses spine
• Reverses natural alignment of the lumbar curve
• Can lead to back pain and chronic back problems
• Stress on the muscles involved leads to fatigue

Sit squarely on the pelvic bones with the weight evenly distributed from side-to-side and from front-to-back. Sitting in this manner allows a wide range of motion - forward, backward, side-to-side - and with the ability to easily return to a centered position.

From this mobile, yet stable, pelvic foundation the spine can be lifted upward. That creates a powerful, supple column composed of the three counterbalancing curves of the spine. This interplay of the lengthened and now active spinal curves results in a springy load-bearing ability and transforms sitting into a dynamic, strengthening activity.

TruComfort is designed to help you develop these healthy, active sitting habits. You'll sit with proper posture!

Summary of advantages that come from active sitting:

• Strengthens back muscles
• Helps maintain the natural lumbar curve
• Helps prevent and relieve back pain
• Helps prevent sitting fatigue