Poor posture can be caused by habits from our everyday activities such as sitting in office chairs, staring at the computer, carrying a purse over same shoulder, driving, prolonged standing, caring for small children, or even sleeping.

To prevent chronic health issues and enhance your wellbeing, it’s important to develop healthy posture habits.

Despite office work being one of the safest jobs you can do, it’s also known today for its own host of health issues that are contributing to these workplace injury numbers.If you are someone who spends their day working at a desk and computer, you can often feel strain in your body. It’s important to implement workplace habits that improve your posture at work.

There are several reasons why desk-work causes health issues.
• The longer you stay seated, slouching occurs which keeps your spine misaligned.
• Poor workstation set-up causes neck straining if computer monitors are not at eye level.
• Lack of movement restricts blood and nutrient flow to spinal discs

Here are 5 simple ways to improve your posture at work.

1. Don’t stay in the same position for too long
Try to avoid staying in the same position for hours. For prolonged spinal health, you should alter your working environment. Move around the office, stand when possible or have a different seated position, just don’t spend the whole eight hours of your working day in the same position.

2. Keep your legs uncrossed
The correct way for you to sit on a chair is with your feet placed flat on the ground. Crossing your legs will put pressure on the peroneal nerve that is behind your knee that supplies sensation to your lower legs and feet. Keep your legs straight and in front of you.

3. Stretches
Various stretches throughout the day will improve your posture. This doesn’t mean you need to start a full gym workout in the middle of the office, but there are some that can be performed in a work environment. There are a few exercises you can do while sitting at your desk:
• Sit upright, and then lift your arms overhead, keeping your elbows straight. Interlace your fingers and bend slowly to the right side, then the left side.
• Cross your left leg over your right leg. Cross your body, placing your right arm over your left leg. Look over your left shoulder and slightly twist your body. Repeat this on the opposite side.
• Stretch out your left leg, pointing your toes forward. Then point your toes upward. Repeat this five times, then do it with the other leg.

4. Set up your monitor and desk properly
If you work with a laptop on your desk you are more than likely spending the majority of your day hunched over your keyboard and trackpad. Even working at desk computer, it is possible you monitor isn’t high enough for you, so you do not have to tilt your head down to look at it. The height of your monitor needs to be in line with your eyes, so you can look straight ahead and not have to adjust your neck angle to view the screen.

5. Find a supportive chair to help you maintain good posture.
Use a chair that’s ergonomically designed for proper support, meaning it supports all of your back, even the curve at the bottom. Also, make sure it’s designed for your height and weight. If you can’t get a new ergonomic chair option, try using a small pillow for lumbar support in the small of your back.

A desk job might not seem physically challenging, but it can cause us some serious physical problems. If this sounds a lot like your day-to-day life, it’s time to change things at work and try out these tips to improve your posture in the workplace and live an active life.