Correct Seating Posture

You may have the best seats in your vehicle, in terms of brand name, seat design, optimal ergonomics and choice of material, but you still can get backache. Having the best car seats doesn't mean you will be spared that pain in the back, especially after spending some time in the car, on a long distance drive or being caught in the daily traffic crawl. The only way you may relieve your tortured spine of unnecessary stress and the subsequent backache that occurs is to adopt a good driving position. Nevertheless, it is all up to you, to slouch or to adopt an ergonomically correct seating posture.

"Relaxed" posture is referring to a situation that you are slouching in your car seat with the back curved in a rounded manner. Eventually, this posture is 'murder' on your spine or more specifically, the discs, vertebrae and back muscle. This added stress leads to backache, if not in the immediate term, then surely in the time to come. It must be remembered that backache may also affect your driving performance by being a distraction that may take your attention off the road. Here are a few basic tips that will help you stay alert and yet feel none the worse, where your back is concerned, at the end of the drive.

1. Sit with your buttocks as close as possible to the backrest. The ideal position is having your leg slightly bent when you press a pedal to the floor.
2. Your shoulders should be as close as possible to the backrest. To achieve that, you should adjust the angle of the backrest to the point when you can easily reach the steering wheel with your arms bent.
3. Adjust the seat height to the highest comfortable position. And if you have a seat tilt facility in your car, the advice is to choose a tilt angle that allows you to easily press the foot pedals down to the floor. The backrest angle should also be adjusted to complement the tilt angle in getting a good driving position.
4. The fore and aft facility also comes into play where thigh , support is concerned. You should adjust the distance in such a way that your thighs are in contact with the seat cushion almost up to the back of your knees. A guide here is that the distance between the edge of the seat and the back of your knees should be about two or three fingers wide.
5. The upper edge of the headrest should be aligned with the top of the head since the headrest plays an important part in good driving posture. And if the headrest angle can be adjusted, it should be selected in such a way that there is about three quarters of an inch between your head and the headrest.

So, enjoy your driving - either to work or for holiday - by choosing the correct seating posture and feeling good for it!