Also called office posture, or sitting posture

Desk posture

There is no perfect sitting position, and looking for one is the wrong goal. The problem with desk work is not the shape you sit in but the length of time you hold it. What follows is a setup that stops actively working against you, and the resets that interrupt the hours.

How to tell if you have it

  • Neck and shoulder tension that builds through the day and eases overnight.
  • A lower back that aches after sitting but feels fine when you walk.
  • Wrists or forearms that complain by the afternoon.
  • You notice you have been leaning toward the screen without deciding to.

Why it happens

  • A monitor below eye level, which pulls your head forward and down for the whole day.
  • A chair that supports the seat but not the lower back, so your pelvis rolls back and takes your spine with it.
  • Hours without standing up. Time in one position matters more than which position it is.
  • A laptop used alone, where the screen and the keyboard cannot both be at the right height.

The exercises that address it

All bodyweight, all doable in the space beside a desk. Each one is in the app with a spoken instruction and a timer.

  1. 01

    Bruegger's Relief Position

    A sixty-second reset built specifically to reverse the slumped desk position. Done at the desk, which is the only reason it gets done at all.

  2. 02

    Shoulder Rolls

    Releases shoulder tension without standing up or explaining yourself to anyone.

  3. 03

    Chin Tuck

    Counters the forward head drift that a day of screen work produces.

  4. 04

    Seated Spinal Twist

    Returns rotation to a spine that has been held still, without leaving the chair.

  5. 05

    Upper Trapezius Stretch

    Releases the muscles that have been holding your shoulders up toward your ears since the first meeting.

  6. 06

    Wall Posture Check

    A ten-second calibration against a wall. It tells you where neutral is, which is information you cannot get from the inside.

How long it takes

The end-of-day tension usually eases within one to two weeks of breaking up sitting time. Fixing your setup changes things faster than any exercise here — it removes the cause rather than treating it every evening.

When to see a clinician instead

Nothing on this page is a substitute for an assessment. Skip the exercises and book an appointment if any of this applies:

  • Numbness, tingling or weakness in your hands or arms that persists rather than passing.
  • Pain that continues at rest, or wakes you at night.
  • Any new pain following an injury.

Questions

What is the correct sitting posture?
Feet flat, hips and knees roughly level or hips slightly higher, lower back supported, top of the screen at or just below eye level, and forearms roughly parallel to the floor. But the more useful answer is that no position is correct for eight hours. Changing position often beats holding the perfect one.
How often should I stand up?
Every 30 to 45 minutes is a reasonable target, and standing for a minute or two is enough. The interruption is what matters, not the duration.
Are standing desks better?
They are better than sitting all day and worse than alternating. Standing still for eight hours brings its own problems. The benefit comes from being able to change position, not from standing as such.
Do I need an expensive ergonomic chair?
Less often than the marketing suggests. Monitor height and how often you get up matter more than the chair, and both are free. A cushion for lower back support fixes most of what a basic chair gets wrong.