[DCEite]

There was an article sometime back about a new study which concluded that sitting up straight is not good for the back. Infact, a 135 degree angle is better for the back.
Here is an excerpt from that article:


A sweeping study now confirms what ergonomic gurus long have preached: Reclining at a 135-degree angle is better for your back than sitting up straight.

In West Michigan -- ground zero for office-chair production -- designers are glad to hear the rest of the world is catching up. They've been incorporating reclining positions into their creations for years.

"We tell our clients, 'Forget everything your first-grade teacher told you about needing to sit up straight, because it's not the best posture for you,'" said Ken Tameling, seating general manager for Grand Rapids-based Steelcase Inc. "We're big believers in recline postures. ... It's the driving force for design for us."

Ditto for Herman Miller Inc.

"(The study is) proof positive that 135 degrees is the best angle for a healthy back," said Bill Dowell, the Zeeland company's research director and a certified professional ergonomist. "But we've always been a proponent of reclining. All of our chairs recline to at least that angle because we know it's a healthy posture."

Dowell said the study conducted at the University of Alberta Hospital in Canada used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to confirm what previous studies have found: The 135-degree recline relieves back pressure. The finding should not be that surprising, Dowell said, because researchers have found the human body automatically achieves that posture when weightless in space or water.

"It's a natural posture, so intuitively we probably should have known it all along," he said.

OK, but how is it possible to lean back and comfortably reach your computer at the same time?

"Some people out there will tell you it's not practical to recline when you're at a computer. Well, we think that's hogwash," Tameling said.

Workers just need the right kind of chair that allows them to recline without moving away from their work, he said.

Steelcase offers that in its popular Leap and Think chairs. Similar features are in Herman Miller's Aeron and Mirra chairs.

Leaning back may be good for your back, but experts say the best thing for office workers is to get an individual ergonomic review because work stations are unique.

"What you have to do at your desk makes a lot of difference in the way you'd set it up," said Marti Mehari, an occupational therapist and ergonomic specialist at Spectrum Health. "A lot of times people need to listen to their own body. ... If it doesn't feel comfortable, it's not good."

See this:


Source: BBC NEWS | Health | Sitting straight 'bad for backs'