What Happens to Your Body When You Sit in the Wrong Chair for Eight Hours a Day?

Yes‚ sitting in the wrong chair for eight hours a day does put constant strain on your body leading to fatigue‚ discomfort‚ long term bad posture and back pain․

Many office workers assume that discomfort is simply part of working at a desk.‚ but even the chair you sit in for hours at a time can make all the difference․ When chair support is absent‚ your body is doing the work‚ and while this may feel tolerable‚ it will cause other problems to occur․

The lower back is one of the first places to be affected․ Without lumbar support‚ the curve of the lower back can gradually get flatter․ Slouching is commonly caused by poor posture when sitting‚ which increases the weight on the discs and the muscles that support the lumbar spine․ Most people will report some stiffness‚ tenderness‚ or a dull ache when sitting for prolonged periods and on standing up․

Pain can also occur in the neck and shoulders‚ which normally results from an incorrectly positioned chair that requires you to lean towards the computer monitor to achieve a proper sitting posture․ This position can tire your neck muscles because they are working very hard to hold your head up‚ and may cause some people to develop tight shoulders‚ a sore neck‚ and frequent headaches over time․

Your hips and legs may also be affected by a poorly designed seat․ Poorly designed seat depth‚ height and cushion support can cause pressure on the thighs and the hips․ Compression of the same area of the body may cause discomfort and tightness on the lower limbs after long periods of sitting without an adequate level of body support․ Numbness and tingling of the lower limbs occur after sustained periods of sitting․ 

One of the first areas affected is the lower back: an unsupported posture would force the muscles to stay contracted the whole day․ You may not realize it‚ but your body is working harder to stabilize itself and keep you comfortable․ After a full work day‚ that extra effort can leave you tired and even less productive than you’d otherwise expect․

Ideally‚ an ergonomic chair is designed to support the natural curvature of the body‚ reducing discomfort and injury․ A chair’s features may include lumbar support‚ seat height adjustability‚ recline and adjustable arms‚ providing a range of options for the user to find a posture that is better suited to his or her body and work style․ Chairs such as the NextChair Luxe have been designed to help ease these adjustments and enable a healthy working posture․