Working from home? Here's how to improve your posture
Elevated laptops, keyboards and mouses can help improve posture and decrease neck, back pain
Working from home can be a pain -- literally.
Posture is becoming a problem as many Americans work from home without an adequate workspace like a desk, propped up monitor, keyboard and mouse. And sitting slouched over a laptop can lead to neck and back pain, according to certified personal trainers.
Elevating a laptop or investing in a keyboard, mouse and desktop monitor could help alleviate back and neck pain, personal trainers advise. (iStock).
“Most of the time when we’re looking downward at a screen we’re crouched over a desk creating a hunch back,” Sharon Zarabi, a New York-based certified personal trainer told FOX Business.
For starters, she advises positioning your laptop at eye level using books, boxes or containers if you don’t have a proper desk or money to shell out for a standing desk to avoid straining your neck.
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To prevent or alleviate lower back pain, Zarabi recommends keeping your knees in line with your hips to avoid arching in the back.
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“If you can’t elevate your screen, elevate your feet. When your feet are dangling off the floor if your chair is too high, your lower back starts to arch, which can lead to lower back pain. You always want your body to be in some form of a 90-degree angle,” Zarabi said, adding that workers should get up and take breaks every 90 minutes or so.
Studies show that getting up to walk around every half hour could promote blood flow to the brain while giving your back a break. And it's much needed, considering the average American spends 6.5 hours a day sitting, an increase of around an hour since 2007.
Being sedentary for extended periods of time has also been associated with health conditions like a heightened risk for obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease and other health issues.
If available, Zarabi also recommends using a stability ball instead of a chair because it helps to engage the core muscles and take the strain out of the lower back.
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“A lot of the time when you’re straining any part of your body it’s going to have this synergetic effect on your neck your back your hips – and if your hands aren’t level in the same way you’re also going to get carpal tunnel,” she said.