Last Updated on August 26, 2020 by Jake
As gamers, we are prone to sitting in our gaming chairs for extended periods of time. That’s just the nature of the beast. Unfortunately, the human body isn’t designed to remain in a sitting position for extended periods of time. There are some tips and things we can do, like how to sit in a gaming chair correctly, that can help out our health in the long run.
So with that in mind, we thought it would be really helpful to create a guide of sorts. Consider it a guide full of tips for improving your posture and other sitting tips for gamers.
Table of Contents
How to Sit in a Gaming Chair
A proper sitting posture is incredibly important. There are some elements of how to sit in a gaming chair that only applies to PC gamers (due to the mouse and keyboard), but many of these tips apply whether you game on a PC or a console.
Gaming Chair Height
Adjust your gaming chair height so that your feet are flat on the floor and your knees are in line with your hips. It’s ok if your knees are slightly closer to the ground than your hips too.
Proper Gaming Chair Posture
Make sure you sit up straight with your hips as far back into the seat as they will go. Do NOT slouch your back, slump your shoulders, or protrude your neck. Your spine should be straight and not curved.
Relax your shoulders. Over the course of a gaming session, it’s easy to lose focus and slowly start to raise your shoulders towards your ears or lean forwards. Check-in with yourself on how your posture is every 30 minutes or so.
Monitor Positioning for Gamers
The neck is one of the parts of the body that we hear the most people complain about when it comes to pain from sitting in a chair all day. If you want to minimize strain on your neck, it’s important to keep it relaxed and in a neutral position.
You can do this by placing your main monitor directly in front of you, with the center of the monitor a few inches above eye level. This monitor positioning will help your neck stay in a nice non-protruding state.
Your monitors should be at a minimum of 20 inches away from your face when you are in your sitting position.
Gaming Chair Angle
The backrest of your gaming chair should be between 100 and 110 degrees for optimal posture. This angle range promotes proper gaming chair posture while also remaining comfortable.
What to Look For in a Gaming Chair
Sometimes your ability of how to sit in a gaming chair can depend on the features (or limitations) of your chair. There is a reason, after all, that an entire industry has been built around building chairs specifically fine-tuned for gamers. The best chairs for gaming are comfortable, durable, and adjustable.
Backrest Features
First and foremost, you need a chair that properly supports both your upper and lower back. Having an adjustable backrest angle is an absolute must, and the design of the backrest should fit your spine.
Bonus points if the chair comes with lumbar support cushions. These cushions can be a great way to ensure you don’t slouch in your chair and that your lower back gets the support it needs.
Adjustability
Almost every gaming chair in existence has an adjustable seat height – this is a required feature to support how to sit in a gaming chair properly.
Just as important though is armrest height adjustability. Your common resting position in a gaming chair is usually with your arms or elbows resting on the armrest. It’s crucial that you’re able to adjust this height to the point where it’s parallel with your keyboard.
Seat Material
Seat material has less of a direct impact on your posture, but indirectly it can make a big difference.
For me personally, I’m much more likely to slouch and constantly adjust my position if I’m not comfortable in my gaming chair.
For example, if the material on my chair doesn’t breathe well, I’m likely going to start getting sweaty.
From there, I’m a lot less likely to sit properly with my back straight on the backrest. Because if I do, my shirt will get drenched in sweat. That’s why it’s super important to consider the type of material on your chair – because it can affect how you sit in a gaming chair.
We’ve dedicated an entire article to the differences between PU leather, real leather, and fabric for your gaming chair that you can check out if you want to read more on this topic.
Take Breaks – Stretch and Exercise
We’ve written an entire post on wrist stretches for gamers that you should check out! It’s a great resource to keep your body limber and in the best shape possible for gaming.
When it comes specifically to sitting in a chair, here are some more tips for helping out your long term health:
Get Up and Move Around
As simple as that sounds, getting up and moving around throughout the day can honestly make a massive difference. Studies suggest that you should stand up and walk around at a minimum every 30 minutes. This increases blood flow to your entire body (a good thing!) and re-energizes your mind and arms/legs (also a good thing!).
Getting up every 30 minutes is easier said than done. In a battle royale, for example, 30 minutes might get you one complete game. It’s incredibly hard to even remember to get up and move around after only one game.
We wouldn’t be recommending you do it if it wasn’t important though. Taking breaks frequently will add up and make a HUGE difference in your body over the long run.
If you need help remembering to take breaks, set a timer on your phone to go off every 30 minutes or so. Whenever the timer goes off, stand up and take a quick lap.
Take One Big Break
This tip really only applies if your gaming sessions regularly last 3 or more hours. If you are gaming or sitting for that long, it’s super important to take one big break (30 minutes or more) and have some physical activity.
Something as easy as a walk is perfectly fine for this. The point is to really stimulate your body and get major blood flow going. A prolonged break can counteract the negative effects of sitting for long periods of time by engaging your muscles. Sitting in a gaming chair correctly becomes much easier when your muscles are engaged.
Use a Foam Roller
A foam roller is one of the best investments any gamer can make. High-density foam rollers serve as massagers that work out knots and strained muscles. All you need to do is place the foam roller under your back and roll back and forth.
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Do Yoga at Least Once Per Week
Yoga and video gaming don’t exactly sound like an intuitive match. But the fact is, yoga poses and exercises are a perfect counteraction to the effects of sitting in a gaming chair for extended periods of time.
A yoga routine of even just one 30 minute session per week can help greatly with spine alignment, flexibility, and strengthening back and neck muscles.
How to Sit in a Gaming Chair – Wrap Up
I hope this guide taught you a little bit about how to sit in a gaming chair properly and helps you to live a healthier life! As much as we love video games, they can unfortunately lead to a sedentary lifestyle if you aren’t careful. Follow the tips in this guide and you’ll be thanking yourself 10 years from now.
If you’re on the bigger or taller side, check out our resource on the best gaming chairs for big and tall people next. One of these chairs will surely have the support you need to promote a healthy posture in your chair!
Looking for more ideas for gamers? Check out our post on gift ideas for gamers next.
Last update on 2022-06-14 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API