How to Sit Correctly in an Office Chair: 10 Things Everyone Should Know

Sitting at your desk all day but still aching by mid-afternoon? A good chair helps, but sitting correctly in it matters just as much.

Key takeaways

• Sit fully back so the backrest and lumbar support can do their work, with the seat depth suited to your height.
• Support the natural curve of your lower back with lumbar support to avoid slumping.
• Keep your hips level with or slightly above your knees, and change position through the day.
• Keep the top of your screen at roughly eye level to ease neck strain.
• Keep your elbows close and around 90 degrees, with the keyboard and mouse within easy reach.
• There is no perfect position, so keep moving. Movement beats perfection.
• Choose an operator chair that adjusts to you. A refurbished one brings these features within reach for less.
• Not sure where your chair falls short? Use our self-check quiz to find out which ergonomic features are worth looking for.

Introduction

Operator chairs come with a range of ergonomic features designed to support the body and take the strain off it, but they only work when adjusted to fit the person. This guide covers ten practical things everyone should know about sitting correctly, to feel less tired, stay more energetic, and keep focused through the day.

1. Sit correctly in an office chair, starting with your feet

Adjust the seat height so your feet rest flat and comfortably on the floor, with your knees at roughly 90 degrees. When your feet are properly grounded, your weight is spread evenly and the pressure comes off your lower back and hips.

• Feet flat on the floor, or on a footrest
• Knees at roughly 90 degrees
• Set it with the seat height adjustment (gas lift)
• Get this right first, everything else builds on it

If your feet dangle or you perch to reach the floor, that strain travels straight up into your back. A footrest helps if your feet do not reach comfortably.

The gas lift is what gets you there, letting you raise or lower the chair until your feet sit flat and your knees are level with your hips.

2. Sit fully back and let the backrest work

Sitting fully back in your chair, so your lower back touches the backrest, lets the chair support your spine instead of your muscles doing all the work. Most people perch on the front edge. Without the backrest you soon end up hunched over, back rounded, shoulders creeping up and head poking towards the screen.

• Sit fully back and use the backrest
• Let the lumbar support do its job
• The seat length should suit your height
• Leave a small gap between the seat edge and the back of your knees

The seat length should match your height. If the seat is too big you will feel it either lifting your feet off the floor or digging into the back of your knees.

If your current chair constantly leaves you aching, do not rush to buy new just yet. First check if it has a seat slide, which lets you move the seat forward or back to get the depth right. If it does not, and you still cannot sit back comfortably, it is worth looking at a chair that fits you properly. A second-hand ergonomic chair is well worth considering for its price and value.

3. Give your lower back the lumbar support it needs

Your lower spine curves inwards slightly, and keeping that curve supported is what stops you slumping and aching by the end of the day. Without support there, the curve flattens out and the strain lands on your lower back.

• Support the natural curve of your lower back
• Set the lumbar support at around waist level
• Adjust it to sit snugly into the curve
• Stops you slouching and rounding your shoulders

When your lower back is not supported, you tend to slouch, round your shoulders and let the whole upper body drop forward. Do that for hours and it is no surprise the back feels stiff and sore afterwards.

This is where lumbar support comes in. On chairs that let you adjust it, set the support to sit snugly into the curve of your lower back, roughly at waist level. If your chair has fixed lumbar support, sitting fully back helps you make the most of it. And if there is no real support there at all, that is a good sign the chair is not doing its job.

4. Keep your hips level and open

Sitting with your hips level with, or slightly higher than, your knees takes the pressure off your lower back and stops your hips stiffening up through the day. The trouble is not sitting itself, it is staying folded in the exact same position for hours.

• Hips level with, or slightly above, your knees
• Try not to cross your legs for long stretches
• Shift your position every so often
• A slight forward seat tilt opens up the hips

Staying bent at the hip all day is what leaves them tight and achy, and crossing your legs for long periods only adds to it by twisting the pelvis. Neither is a disaster now and then, but hours of it adds up.

The easy fix is to keep moving a little and change how you sit now and again. Some chairs also have a seat tilt, which lets you angle the seat slightly forward to open up the hip angle and ease the pressure. If yours has one, it is worth a try. If not, simply shifting position regularly does much the same job.

5. Relax your shoulders and let the armrests help

Adjust your armrests to the right height so they support your forearms and let your shoulders sit relaxed and low. Without that support, your shoulders creep up and hunch, and over a long day the muscles there stiffen and ache.

• Keep your shoulders relaxed and low
• Do not let them lift, round or reach forward
• Armrests should lightly support your forearms
• Set them so they support without lifting your shoulders

If your armrests are too high, they push your shoulders up towards your ears. Too low, and you end up leaning or hunching forward to reach them. Either way, the shoulders and neck take the strain. There is no single correct height for the armrests. As long as your arms rest comfortably and your shoulders stay relaxed, you have it right. Some operator chairs even have 3D armrests, which move not just up and down but also in and out, so you can position them exactly where they feel best.

6. Set your screen to eye level

Ideally, the top of your screen sits at around eye level, so your head can rest comfortably over your shoulders rather than tipping down or reaching up. This matters more than ever now, with so many people on laptops or multiple screens.

• Top of the screen at roughly eye level
• Screen about an arm’s length away
• Laptops usually sit too low, so raise them or add a separate screen
• With multiple screens, keep the main one straight ahead at eye level

Laptops are the usual culprit, sitting low and pulling your head down for hours. Multiple screens do the same when set too low or off to the side. Holding your neck at an angle like that is what leaves it aching, with the tension easily bringing on headaches too.

Getting the screen right often comes down to your chair or desk height. Adjust the chair first, then raise the screen if it is still too low. A monitor arm or riser can help here, but the main thing is that your eyes line up with the top of the screen while you sit comfortably.

7. Keep your elbows close and around 90 degrees

Keeping your elbows close to your sides and bent at around 90 degrees, with your wrists straight, keeps the strain off your shoulders and neck while you work. The moment you have to reach out to the keyboard, the tension creeps back into your upper body.

• Elbows close to your sides, bent around 90 degrees
• Wrists straight, not bent up or down
• Shoulders relaxed, not reaching
• Keyboard and mouse within easy reach

When the keyboard and mouse are too far away, you end up stretching for them all day, and your shoulders and neck pay for it.

The fix ties back to your chair setup. Set your seat height so your elbows sit roughly level with the desk, then keep the keyboard and mouse close together and directly in front of you, so everything stays within easy reach.

8. The best posture is your next posture

There is no single perfect way to sit, and even the best position is not meant to be held for hours on end. Changing position regularly does not just ease your muscles, it also refreshes your mind and helps you refocus, so the best thing you can do is keep moving a little through the day.

• No single position is perfect, so keep moving
• Move between sitting upright and leaning back
• Catch yourself when you drift into a slump and reset
• Movement beats perfection

Part of this is simply varying a good position, shifting between sitting up, leaning back and reclining as the day goes on. The other part is catching yourself when you have drifted into a bad one. The moment you notice you are staring too close at the screen, or your back has come away from the backrest, take a second to reset and sit properly again.

This is where a reclining backrest helps, usually through a synchro tilt mechanism. It lets the backrest lean back with you as you shift, keeping your back supported rather than left unsupported when you recline. Many chairs also have a tilt tension control, so you can set how easily it reclines to suit your weight, along with a lock to hold it at a chosen angle. If your chair has a tilt you have locked upright, try releasing it and letting yourself move.

9. Stand up every 30 to 60 minutes

Getting up every 30 to 60 minutes, even just for a minute, does more for your comfort than any single sitting position can. No chair, however good, is meant to be sat in without a break, and a quick change of scene gives your body and eyes a rest.

• Stand up every 30 to 60 minutes
• Even 60 seconds makes a difference
• Build small movements into the day
• Little and often beats one long break

You do not need a full workout. Refilling your water, making a round of teas for colleagues, walking over for a quick chat, stretching for a moment or taking a call on your feet all count. These small movements add up over a day, easing stiffness and helping you come back to the screen refreshed. For more ways to stay comfortable through the day, see our tips on how to improve posture at work.

The simplest way to make it stick is to tie it to something you already do, standing for every phone call, or getting up whenever you finish a task. A sit-stand desk makes this even easier, letting you switch between sitting and standing without stepping away from your work.

10. Choose an office chair that fits you

The best way to sit correctly is to start with a chair that can actually be adjusted to your body, because no amount of good habits will fix a chair that cannot support you. People come in every shape and size, so a chair should adapt to the person, not force the person to adapt to the chair.

• Adjustable seat height
• Seat depth or seat slide
• Adjustable lumbar support
• Adjustable or 3D armrests
• Synchro tilt with tension control
• Breathable, well-cushioned seat

If you have worked through the points above and still cannot get comfortable, the chair itself is usually the limit. A basic chair with a fixed seat and no lumbar or tilt adjustment can only do so much, however well you sit in it. The features in the checklist are what let a chair be tailored to you, and together they make every one of the earlier points easy to put into practice. For more on what to weigh up, see our guide to the top considerations for choosing the right office chair.

Not sure where your own chair falls short? Run through the quick self-check below to see which features are worth looking at.

This is where refurbished pays off. A refurbished operator or task chair brings these ergonomic features within reach, at a fraction of the price of new. Proper support does not have to mean a premium budget, and every chair comes with a 12-month warranty. In over 50 years of supplying and refurbishing office chairs, we have seen how much difference the right one makes.