Why you shouldn't lock your office chair's backrest

If yours is a sitting down job, then you may know the value of good quality office chair. But to avoid long-term problems, you'll need to make sure it's set so you can move around as much as possible.

To maximize your comfort, you need to use all possible features and degrees of freedom that your chair can offer, says Andreas Stephan, a specialist in workplace health at German accident insurer VBG.

A common mistake that office workers make is to lock the backrest of their chair, typically by pushing a handle beneath the seat. Instead, you should be leaving this unlocked so the back can rock back and forward and adjust to where your body is at a particular moment.

Some chairs will also enable you to rock your hips to the right and left, good news for your body which will appreciate any additional movement and muscle activity.

The general rule is to try and keep moving while sitting, so it helps to adjust whatever features your chair has so that you can lean back at times, stretch out your feet or even sit crossways.

The main aim is to avoid staying in one position for too long. Make sure your chair can incorporate as many changes of position as possible.

Sitting balls and pendulum stools? Not a long-term choice

In general, our bodies need to exercise and keep moving, says Stephan, advising people to integrate movement into their everyday office life. Try and stand up when you make a phone call, go upstairs, walk to the kitchen to get a glass of water and do exercises to loosen and relax your body.

Sitting alternatives such as a sitting ball or pendulum stool can also be a way of integrating a little more movement, though these are not a permanent solution as they do not offer you any support for your back. In the long term, this can lead to a sitting posture that is problematic, ergonomically speaking.

Your office chair must fulfil a few minimum requirements. Its seat should be height-adjustable, the backrest should also be adjustable and provide good support for the forward curve of your lumbar spine, according to Stephan.

Armrests are also important. If you adjust them in line with the edge of your desk, you can rest your upper arms on them and thus reduce the amount of work your shoulders have to do to hold them in place, he says.