Turns Out, There Is No “Best” Position to Work In
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While they do pay the bills, desk jobs are terrible for the body. There’s no one “perfect” desk posture or position that’ll keep a body from injury while sitting for six-plus hours a day, and though certain ergonomic products can help, the best habit of all is getting up and moving.
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The average American spends upwards of six and a half hours at a desk each day — that’s one more hour a day, on average, than in 2007. Almost everything, from a quick chat with the boss to a round of edits on a deck can be done hunched over a laptop rather than in person. A 2021 study out of the Department of Human Locomotion at the Chemnitz University of Technology in Germany found that sitting in a “slump posture” increased lumbar muscle stiffness in a majority of participants, and a 2021 study published in the journal Medicina found that a slumped desk posture caused “significant” pain — in those with pre-existing back pain and those without.
“Sitting for too long can lead to tight hip abductors which in turn put pressure on the lower back, shoulders, and hamstrings, leading to pain, and decreased mobility not just in the office, but in every aspect of life,” said Chris Antoni, a movement specialist at Tailor Made Fitness.
The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS), outlines that sitting with the knees, hips, elbows, and ankles at angles of 90 degrees or slightly higher is a best practice for minimizing discomfort. They also recommend having a raised monitor or laptop screen that keeps the chin up and the neck and shoulders relaxed. They also advise against sitting for more than 50 minutes at a time without a break.
Stephen Bowden, an accredited ergonomist at consulting firm Morgan Maxwell says to keep the spine straight as much as possible, as “prolonged stooping causes the reflex activation of the back extensor muscles to diminish and ultimately stop working.”
Slumping even a little bit (just five minutes) can have a long-lasting impact on the back muscles. “No matter where you sit or what you sit on, you should attempt to sit with a flat back during sitting and stand up and move as often as possible,” Bowden said.
Frequently standing up and moving around might seem like a distraction from getting work done, but a body that’s in pain hurts productivity more. A 2020 study in the British Medicine Journal (BMJ) looking at over 23,000 individuals in Sweden found that individuals with back pain were an average of 15% less productive than their pain-free counterparts. This resulted in close to $9,000 of money lost, per person, during the 12-month period of the study.
Sitting is inevitable, pain is not. The right equipment and focus on engaging certain muscles can neutralize hours spent sitting for the body and keep pain from hindering productivity.
The Best Ergonomic Desk Equipment
According to Harvard Health, standing desks may help people avoid the adverse health effects of sitting too much, which can include diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and even cancer.
A 2009 study from NASA had 15 adult men spend hours in bed each day to mimic the effects of weightlessness on the body and the muscular atrophy that can occur when the body isn’t working against gravity to move. They found that just standing up wasn’t enough to combat the effects of the lack of movement, but rather walking for 2-4 hours each day reversed the impact.
Furmax Electric Height Adjustable Standing Desk
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“Standing desks can help promote movement, but standing still is not the solution,” Bowden explains. “As per the NASA study, it’s the standing up against gravity that is beneficial; the movement should be the focus as opposed to the design of the chair.”
This standing desk makes it easy to transition from sitting to standing and back again throughout the workday, and reaches a maximum height of 48.1 inches so there’s plenty of room to fit a walking pad underneath.
SmarterLife Workout Exercise Ball
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Swapping a desk chair for a medicine ball will engage the core, and while encouraging users to rise from their desks more often. But the data around “unstable” sitting surfaces is not favorable due to the risk of injury.
SmarterLife’s exercise ball has an anti-slip texture on the outside and comes in three different sizes to suit a few different heights.
WALKINGPAD S1 Folding Treadmill
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Walking pads, smaller, slimmer treadmills designed for walking instead of running, make movement during the workday easier and don’t require getting up and leaving one’s desk. They’re a favorite amongst SPY editors for getting steps in and tasks done, but require an extra level of balance.
A lot of walking pads have cheap designs and motors that give out after a few hours. This brand, WalkingPad, makes some of the highest quality under-desk pads for the price. It folds in half for easy storage and comes with a remote control for convenient speed changes.
ARZOPA Portable Monitor
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Secondary monitors prevent users from staring at a single screen all day, and can be adjusted as the user alters seat position throughout the day. They help keep one’s neck upright, and shoulders straight without a hunch. With a 14.0″ full HD 1920 x 1080 anti-glare IPS display, this model offers crystal clear resolution on spreadsheets, emails, and more.
OMOTON Upgraded Laptop Stand for Desk
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According to CCOHS, products like this are useful for keeping the chin up and the neck and shoulders relaxed. This reduces tight muscle pain, making for a comfier, adjustable working experience. This model allows the laptop to be raised up to 13″ off the desk, and 360-degree rotation allows easy maneuverability and screen sharing.
HUANUO Quick Sit-to-Stand Desktop Gas Spring Riser
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A cheaper alternative to a standing desk, a desk riser will raise the entire desk surface, allowing users to stand or sit as required. This model allows users to adjust between heights of 4.7 to 19.3 inches, while its double tiers allow plenty of room for extra screens.
It’s tempting to think that innovative new products will fix poor workplace posture and supercharge productivity, but there isn’t strong evidence in favor of any one particular product. Bowden thinks the problem should be approached from another angle.
“When working with computers, humans should move away from attempting to adopt the ‘perfect posture,’ as the human body is designed to move from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to sleep,” he said. “Instead of focusing on if your elbows, neck, hips are the correct angle while you sit at your desk, focus on how you can increase your overall movement throughout the day.”
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