featured-image

Those trying to alleviate back pain after long hours of sitting at work may resort to painkillers, massage, acupuncture or heat therapy—but the solution may be as simple as switching out your office chair. Lower back pain during office work is often attributed to a lack of movement, with experts advising to take regular breaks from sitting as a temporary form of relief. A new study from University of Waterloo researchers compared dynamic sitting (involving movement) in a backless chair with a rotating seat pan with traditional (inactive or rigid) sitting in a conventional office chair with a backrest and armrest.

The study, "Traditional versus dynamic sitting: Lumbar spine kinematics and pain during computer work and activity guided tasks," was recently in and co-authored by Davidson, Kinesiology Ph.D. student Jackie Zehr and Drs.



Paolo Dominelli and Jack Callaghan. Researchers found that compared to sitting in the traditional chair, dynamic sitting increased lower spine movement during activity-guided tasks without negatively impacting posture or evoking pain. Participants completed blocks of regular computer work and activity-guided tasks, such as games that require hip and pelvis movement, while seated.

"The best posture is a changing posture," said Jessa Davidson, Biomechanics Ph.D. candidate in Waterloo's Department of Kinesiology and Health Sciences and a co-author of the study.

"When our participants were performing computer work or playing games in the dynamic chair.

Back to Health Page