How to Sit in a Gaming Chair the Right Way (and Avoid Back Pain)
The majority of gaming enthusiasts know how important it is to have a good gaming chair, especially for those who play for hours on end. An excellent gaming chair is part of the ambiance of gaming, and a great chair enhances your gaming experience. It’s just as important to know how to sit in a gaming chair properly to avoid injury over time. So let's take a look at what you should be doing.
Posture
Proper sitting posture is crucial to avoid injuries that develop over time, such as RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury). Adjusting the height of your gaming chair can make a massive difference to your posture. Ensure that your feet are placed flat on the floor and that your knees are properly in line with your hips, or slightly closer to the ground than your hips.
Be sure to sit up straight with your hips as far back in the seat as possible. Do not slump your shoulders, slouch your back, or protrude your back. Your back should be straight rather than curved. Relax your shoulders as well. It’s easy to become tense throughout your gaming session, and raise your shoulders towards your ears or lean forward. Adjust your posture accordingly every half an hour or so.
The angle of your gaming chair is also critical. Be sure that your gaming chair’s backrest is between 100° and 110° for the best posture. This angle is also quite comfortable.
Adjusting the Chair
Setting the correct height on your gaming chair is vital to achieving proper posture, as previously mentioned. Keeping your knees properly aligned with your hips is a great way to help your spine remain in a neutral position. Setting the seat’s height too low will have your knees positioned above your hips, and setting it too high will place your knees below the hips. Both of these positions strain the spine excessively.
The trick is to adjust the height of the seat so that your feet are flat on the floor, absorbing body weight and removing pressure from your back. Resist the urge to let your feet dangle or cross your legs while you play, as that can prevent blood circulation.
Armrests also play an important role in your gaming experience. Armrests are designed to properly support your arms, hands, and wrists while you sit. This may be common knowledge to most, but it’s worth mentioning nonetheless. The average arm weighs roughly 6% of the body it’s attached to, meaning that a 170-pound person’s arm weighs about 10 pounds.
Some gaming chairs can recline up to 180°. Playing around with your gaming chair's reclining options can help you get acquainted. Your chair’s recline should be about 100° to 110°. Using support pillows can also save you a lot of pain and discomfort in the long run. They can also help you train to sit upright in your chair even when you aren’t resting on them.
Gaming Chairs and Their Purposes
Not many people know that gaming chairs use the same seat design that racing cars do, which is known as the individual bucket seat design. Racing car bucket seats support the muscles in the back to keep the body upright. Sitting in an upright position helps the driver manage the steering wheel and see the track completely.
Gaming chairs follow this race car seat model by supporting the back, neck, and arms. This helps keep muscles relaxed and efficient. Relaxed shoulders support the neck better, and hand muscles need less effort to type or move the mouse.
Good gaming chairs have also been known to improve performance in gaming. Being comfortable for your entire gaming session is the first step in achieving improved performance. Soft, padded gaming chairs make it possible to game for hours on end, though this is not recommended for health reasons.
Which Gaming Chair Should You Buy?
There are various gaming chairs on the market, all designed to fulfill different needs. The right gaming chair for you depends on what you want from your chair, and how you intend to use it.
PC gaming chairs are the standard model and are what most people think of when they hear “gaming chair.” These chairs are designed to be placed behind desks, making them an excellent choice for PC gamers, or for someone who wants a chair that also doubles as a workstation. The majority of gaming chairs are set in an upright position by default but can recline to many different positions.
Console gaming chairs, as the name implies, are designed for gamers who game on consoles. They’re quite a lot more versatile than PC gaming chairs and are usually available in a broader range of shapes and sizes. Perhaps the most popular type of console gaming chair is the Rocker, which is a chair that, unlike their PC counterparts, doesn’t have wheels or pedestal seats.
A more abstract type of gaming chair is the bean bag chair. They’re large sacks filled with foam beads and are upholstered with microfiber. While not explicitly designed for gaming, many gamers choose these chairs for the comfort they provide and how they almost mold to your body.
Conclusion
Gaming chairs are an essential asset to many gamers and can spell the difference between smooth, comfortable gaming sessions, and extreme discomfort in the long run. Choosing the right gaming chair is an important task, but is not insurmountable, and once you do, you’ll be all the happier with your gaming experience.