Office Chair Posture: How to Sit Right and Avoid Back Pain

When you sit in an office chair posture, the way your body aligns while seated at a desk. Also known as desk posture, it directly affects your spine, muscles, and long-term health. Most people think it’s just about sitting up straight—but that’s not enough. If your chair doesn’t support your lower back, your feet don’t touch the floor, or your screen is too high, you’re not sitting right. You’re just leaning into pain.

Sitting ergonomics, the science of arranging your workspace to match how your body moves and rests isn’t about fancy chairs or expensive gadgets. It’s about simple, repeatable habits. Your knees should be level with or slightly below your hips. Your elbows should rest at a 90-degree angle when typing. Your screen needs to be at eye level so you’re not craning your neck. These aren’t suggestions—they’re basic rules for keeping your spine in its natural curve. Skip these, and you’re asking for chronic back pain, stiff shoulders, or even nerve issues like carpal tunnel.

Many think a lumbar support, the curve in a chair that holds up the lower spine is just a bonus feature. It’s not. Without it, your lower back collapses inward, forcing your muscles to work overtime just to keep you upright. Over time, that leads to disc pressure, muscle fatigue, and real injury. And if you’re using a cheap office chair from a big-box store? It probably doesn’t have real lumbar support—it has a thin foam pad that flattens after a week. You need something that fits your body, not the other way around.

People who sit all day—whether at a desk, in a call center, or working from the couch—often ignore posture until their back screams. But pain doesn’t come out of nowhere. It builds slowly, day after day. The good news? Fixing your office chair posture doesn’t require a complete office overhaul. A rolled-up towel behind your lower back, a stack of books under your feet, or adjusting your monitor height by an inch can make a huge difference. You don’t need a $1,000 chair to sit right. You just need to know what your body needs.

What you’ll find below are real stories and practical fixes from people who’ve been there. From how to tell if your chair is hurting you, to what to look for when buying a new one, to simple desk exercises you can do without getting up—these posts cut through the noise. No fluff. No corporate jargon. Just what works.