According to the British Journal of Sports Medicine, “For those occupations which are predominantly desk based, workers should aim to initially progress towards accumulating 2 h/day of standing and light activity (light walking) during working hours.”

Since it may not always be easy to follow the British Journal of Sports Medicine’s guidelines, here are a few tips for avoiding the negative effects of sedentary work, preventing injury, and maintaining proper posture.

1-How to maintain good posture while seated

-Keep your joints – such as hips, knees, and ankles – slightly open (more than 90 degrees)

-Keep your knees at hip level or lower

-Place your ankles in front of your knees

-Keep three fingers’ worth of space between the back of your knees and the front of your chair

-Keep your feet flat on the floor or use a footrest

-Follow this link for the full list of tips: https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/ergonomics/sitting/sitting_position.html

2-Best practice: using the proper muscles to get up from your chair

-If your chair has arm rests: press down on the arm rests to lift yourself out of the chair

-If your chair has no arm rests: move to the front of the chair, then get up

3-Best practice: Relaxing the spine and releasing tension

-Regularly get up from your seat – ideally, every 30 minutes

-Do a few stretches to release tension while you’re standing up

-The “chicken” stretch 😊

-Lift your shoulders up and down / back and forth, move your neck forward and backward, then alternate between lifting and lowering your knees for 20 seconds. It’s a great full-body stretch.

Sedentary work can have a negative impact on your long-term health, so it’s best to prevent future pain by adopting a few daily best practices.

Photo credit https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/ergonomics/sitting/sitting_position.html