There are thousands of office furniture and ergonomics products on the market. Some of them are great but some are pretty useless. Never fear though, I’m here to explain what you need.
Today I’m looking at foot rests. Are they any good, or just more office clutter?
Foot rests are useful for a lot of people, particularly those under 5’6″ or with particularly high desks.
Here’s how to find out if you need one:
– Sit at your desk in your usual chair.
– Raise your chair so that when you bend your elbows, your arms are level with your desk.
– Are your feet touching the floor? Can you rest both feet on the floor when sitting back in your chair?
If you can, that’s great and you don’t need a foot rest.
If your feet don’t comfortably rest on the floor, you should get a foot rest.
Why? What’s so good about them?
You really need a stable surface for your feet to rest upon. If you can’t easily each the floor, your body will do all sorts of strange things to compensate.
Common examples include;
– Crossing your legs
– Sitting on the edge of your chair (and probably leaning on your desk) so that you can reach the ground.
– Tucking one leg underneath so you’re sitting on your foot.
– Slouching and sitting very low in your chair so you can reach the floor.
Unsurprisingly, none of those lead to great posture and may contribute to neck and back pain.
Examples of Foot Rests
You can make your own foot rest out of some reams of paper, empty boxes, yoga blocks, phone books etc. Your feet need to rest on them comfortably but they shouldn’t be so high that your knees are above your hips.
Alternatively there are lots of options for sale: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Do you get back pain at work? Osteopathy may help you. Call 020 8520 5268 to make an appointment.