Is Ergonomic Office Equipment Worth the Investment?

As previously covered on VerticAlign, sitting at your desk all day isn’t as harmless as it seems. Our bodies aren’t designed for long periods of inactivity; rather, we’re meant to be pushing, pulling, bending, lifting, and turning often throughout the day. This is difficult to accomplish when you’ve got a job that has you working at a desk all day, and we’ve already talked about Why a Standing Desk is NOT the Solution. Instead, companies should prioritize employee comfort by investing in more ergonomic office equipment.

What represents ‘ergonomic’ office equipment? Pain Free Working claims that there’s so much more to the word than the employees’ comfort, as it also involves improving the overall efficiency, productivity, and safety of every member of the staff. A cohesion of these physical and mental factors should improve workplace conditions.

Here are some supportive and ergonomic office equipment worth investing in:

Back Rests

Changing the entire office’s chairs can be quite expensive, but there are many backrest options available on the market. Some are even self-inflating to ensure maximum lumbar support to your desired degree. They can even be used in other environments like long commutes.

Contoured Seat Cushions

Another wise accessory for chair support is contoured seat cushions which are flexible enough to accommodate varying weights. They help evenly distribute your weight, which lessens the strain on your lower back and hips from stiff and non-adjustable seats, especially if you will be sedentary for most of the day.

Memory Foam Mouse Pad

The ideal wrist position shouldn’t be bent but kept straight to avoid Carpal Tunnel Syndrome which is one of the most common overuse injuries. There are various mouse pad options that conform to your movements and even offer gentle massages to reduce strain when needed.

Adjustable Stands

Adjusting entire desks can be a struggle across different offices. An adjustable monitor stand or riser can help you elevate your computer monitors to the right eye level. Some of these models include a second level where your keyboard and mouse can sit. There are also stands for laptop users which make typing much easier because of its adjustable degrees.

Task Light

Sitting in front of a computer all day and overworking your eyes to read the fine print of documents can cause great strain to your eyes, and can even cause eventual headaches. Shifting between reading on a screen and on paper requires different levels of light levels. A task light is beneficial in reducing eye strain as it can adjust to optimal levels of required light for different tasks.

An article on Business Insider warns that desk jobs can destroy your health. Factors don’t just include your peers and supervisors who add pressure to the equation, but also your positions and movements (or lack thereof) that put you at greater risk for muscular-skeletal disorders, obesity, heart disease, and the like. Investing in the right equipment means investing in the well-being of your people.

Of course, if you want to take better charge of your health and posture and eliminate the aches and pains that come from years of inactivity, you can start with our 10 Minute Daily Desk Pain Solution or sign up for some of coach Zeena Dhalla’s posture solutions today.

Does This “Shark Tank” Posture Brace Really Work?

Posture braces are ALL THE RAGE! “Posture brace” is a new buzz word… I’m sure you’ve seen the add on Facebook/ Instagram…

“Fix your posture by wearing this handy device!”

“Wear this shirt and we guarantee amazing posture!”

In my opinion,  there is a little to no value in almost all  these new products. I just don’t believe that one external source, on its own,  can solve your “posture” problems. Posture is, and will always, be controlled by your joints and muscles. What is the best way to adjust your joint positions and muscle length and strength…. why exercise of course!

This email is NOT another diatribe on why you should be doing daily exercises at your desk and in your home to help combat your life of sitting/texting/driving (I do send a lot of those messages out into the universe). Today’s post is about a particular posture brace called Better Back. 

I saw this produce on Shark Tank year’s ago. I remember thinking to myself “ why didn’t I think of that!?” This particular brace is unique. It’s not the “place straps around your shoulders to pull your shoulders back” kind of posture brace. I’ve been approached plenty of times to review those kinds of braces and I’ve always said NO. I believe that your scapula muscles need to be trained to hold your shoulders back on their own. 

Better Back helps with sitting posture, and adjusts a very important body position that will translate up through the rest of your body,  making it easier for you to pull your shoulders back naturally.

Take a look at my review here so you can see what I’m talking about:

Comment below and tell me what you think! Do you believe that you would use this at work? Will this be a purchase you might make?

Kickstart Your WorkStation Posture with This Brilliant Solution

Every once in a while you stumble across something so brilliant you want to shout it from the rooftops!

This is the exact case for this posture product review of the new software Brightday (currently available through a Kickstarter Campaign only).

As a posture fitness specialist, I’m not a huge fan of posture braces. When a brace is holding your body in position, it trains the “brain” to sit in better posture, but the muscles are still being assisted by the brace. I’m a bigger fan of products that force you to find movement and proper alignment using your own body mechanics and musculature.  

For example, I reviewed a product a while ago called “Upright Go”, which is a device that sits on the upper spine, tracks alignment, and buzzes you when you fall out the position. You set “training” sessions throughout your day to practice sitting in “proper posture”, because wearing it all day long doesn’t make sense (if you bend over to pick up your bag you would be buzzed).

Now in theory, this product is brilliant, but in reality there are some downfalls. Do you know what happened to my upright go? I wore it home one day (accidentally) and took it off, and kept forgetting to charge it and take it back to my workstation. The “forgot to put it on and charge it” element of the posture device, leaves more than desired when it comes to ease and effort.

Now along comes Brightday, billed as posture software with no straps or gadgets. At first glance, my thought was “I don’t want to have to download something new that may or may not work”. But, when I realized it was compatible across many devices and platforms, and that I could program it to open at a particular time of day that worked for me, I was in.

The download to my HP laptop was easy. The set up took less than 5 minutes. Figuring out how to use it was a breeze.

With a posture wearable device, you are forced to reach around and awkwardly place it on your back to put it on, and then to press a button to “calibrate” it for your proper posture. Instead, Brightday software showed me a video of how to sit properly, asked me to find this position, and then recorded my position using the camera on my own laptop.

Much like the other wearable posture devices, I then set a “training” session for myself. I sat in the correct position and noticed that when I started to slouch, the indicator on my screen turned a different color. So, I immediately correct myself! By the end of my 10 minute training session I received a notification letting me know what percentage of the time I was in “proper posture”.

I’m not the posture coach who will tell you that you should be sitting in the same position all day long. In fact, I believe the exact opposite of this. I believe that movement is key and immobility is killing us (I actually just launched a coaching program that ensures movement and posture positive exercises at your workstation).

HOWEVER, I do believe in what Brightday offers because it is important to build the awareness around what is “good” posture. These muscles need training. The mind controls the body and the mind needs re”minding”.

This software is currently on Kickstarter, and I urge you to support this amazing endeavor. It’s bound to instantly provide value for you (especially since a year subscription only costs $49 for 1 user, with additional discounts for family and small office packages).

Brightday will “kickstart” you into better posture and without all that crazy posture pain, you are bound to have brighter days ahead!