Keyboard Placement & Sitting "Straight" are Killing Our Backs

Most of us have vivid memories from childhood of a slap on the wrist, whether from our parents or a teacher, accompanied by some variation on the phrase “sit up straight!” Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to work – we’re a nation of slouchers. Putting the disappointment of our mothers aside for a moment, there are real reasons to start taking our posture seriously as adults. Bad posture only begets worse posture, which can contribute to a myriad of health issues that take a major toll on businesses in terms of healthcare costs, performance and productivity. Back problems cost U.S. companies an estimated $100-200 billion annually, and research has shown that our bad posture can contribute to low libido, make us look lazier, shorter and heavier than we are, and even take 5 years off our lives!

But how does it get that bad? For most of us, it starts in the office. People who work at computers spend an average of 38 minutes out of every hour in bad posture – this clearly isn’t setting a good precedent, and only reinforces bad habits. Between misunderstandings about what constitutes “good posture,” keyboards and monitors poorly placed on desks that aren’t the right height, and “ergonomic” chairs that are all too comfortable to slouch in, we’re entrenched in bad posture habits. So why aren’t we doing anything to fix it?