Sitting posture, seating position, or seat posture can make all the difference in comfort. For as long as I can remember, sitting straight up was considered the optimal position. Parents would preach it, doctors would suggest it. This just never made sense, because very few people really feel comfortable sitting straight up.
Recent studies show that the optimal sitting posture is not straight up (90 degrees) but actually leaning back at roughly a 120-135 degree angle. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, as this is arguably one of the most comfortable positions to sit. So, what are the mechanics for the “correct” sitting posture?
When strain is put on the spine, the spinal disks between each vertebrae will move or misalign in a minute way. This movement can be measured to determine what seating position causes the most stress on the spinal column. As it turns out, sitting at a 90 degree angle causes the most uniform stress on the spine. Slouching forward causes less stress on the upper spine, but more stress on the lower spine. The least amount of disk movement was observed in a person who was leaning back at approx. 135 degrees or more.
Here are a few examples of chairs that can provide the proper amount of tilt for optimal sitting posture:
1, 2, 3.
So, the next time someone corrects your sitting posture and asks you to “sit up straight” you can correct them and say “no, lay back at 135 degrees.”
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