How to Set Up and Use Your New Ergonomic Chair Correctly

You've just purchased an office chair and you're likely anxious to get it set up and start using it. But before you do, you might be wondering what the best way to set up and use your ergonomic chair is to optimize its health benefits.

How much time should I spend sitting or standing?Should I use a mat when standing and how do I set up my chair when sitting?

There is a lot to think about, but ignoring basic ergonomic principles won't get you the full benefit from your investment.

In this blog post, I'll walk you through the steps of setting up and using your new chair and show you how to adjust the height and position so that you can stay comfortable while working.

Sitting is a sedentary behaviour that can cause muscle and bone problems (1), and too much of it leads to increased all-cause mortality: cardiovascular disease mortality, cancer risk, and risks of metabolic disorders such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and dyslipidemia; musculoskeletal disorders such as arthralgia and osteoporosis; depression; and, cognitive impairment (2).

It’s more important than ever to get movement in our day and standing desks help workers achieve this. Alternating between sitting and standing will build movement into the standing desk users’ day, preventing injury and disease when set up and used correctly. Movement is related to ergonomics as subsets of human function.

Ergonomics are basic principles for properly fitting our environment to our body to prevent pain and even injury from performing an activity over long periods of time. When setting up and using a standing desk it’s important to follow ergonomic best practices because improper usage might lead to increased back pain, canceling potential health benefits from using the desk in the first place.

The good news is that Symmetrix is here to help. We are a team of kinesiologists; movement experts with 30 years of experience helping people overcome injuries and get active. The following basic ergonomics tips will help you get the most out of using your standing desk.

This guide is broken down into 5 parts to completely set up your workstation from the ground up:

Each section builds on the previous, so we invite you to read through, or skip to the section that you need most. In most cases an ergonomic setup starts at your foundation, your chair and feet.

It's no secret that sitting for extended periods of time is bad for your health. But where do you start with your set-up, and what about your office chair?

Since you’ll be spending roughly equal time sitting and standing, setting up the chair first is important because it sets your foundation for the rest of your ergonomic set up.

To optimize your standing desk set-up, we’ll start at the feet, and work our way upwards from the sitting position. We’ll start with setting up for a typical ergonomic office chair, with some tips at the end if you are using a non-ergonomic chair.

Some office chairs lack the adjustments above, or maybe you're using a kitchen chair for now and are looking to troubleshoot. Here are a few tips:

If you still have questions about your chair or if you have discomfort or back pain while using your new desk, you can connect with us for an ergonomic assessment. Something that might help you on your journey is this free resource: 13 standing desk stretches