What is the best position to sit and to place your hands while you program?

Question

Hi! Recently I've been more concerned about the way I sit while I code, I don't think I have any kind of injury yet but one of my coworkers had to take a couple of days off because of his column and I began to worry about this. So, how do you sit? how do you place your hands? Do you recommend any keyboard in special? any chair? I have been looking into a new keyboard and maybe I' ll ask for it at work. Also my chair isn't top-notch so any budget oriented option? Thanks, Joaquin.

related: keyboard for programmers , what is the best keyboard mouse for ergonomics or to prevent wrist pain? , What is the best physical operating environment for a developer?

Answer 1

A wrist-rest for your mouse as well as your keyboard is a budget friendly solution and you should feel the difference immediately. A good screen setup is also important. The top of your screen should be at the height of your eyes. When using a laptop, use a laptop stand and an external keyboard.

Everything else (legs, upper body) should be positioned in 90° corners.

Since I'm a tall person, it's also very important for me to have everything set up at the right size. I have a special chair and my desk is put on blocks (so that I can rest my arms on the desk at 90°). I also have arm rests on my chair, which also helps to relax your forearms.

Answer 2

I am currently sitting on a chair that does not have a back, but instead you put your knees on these knee pads and you are basically kneeling while sitting. It keeps my posture straight and thus my back straight.

Also, I have on of the Apple thin keyboards and as such my hands do not have to be raised upwards at a weird angle to reach the keys, which is more comfortable and has led to faster typing and having less pain in my wrists from long hours of programming.

The other thing I have is a desk that is at the right height for my arms to be sitting at just about 90%, so my elbow is not feeling strained, and since my arms feel comfortable at my side I don't have my elbows all pushed up attempting to keep my arms flat on my table to be able to type on the keyboard.

A good mousepad and mouse will also go a long way. Get something you are comfortable with and make sure that if you use your mouse a lot that you have the settings set up in such a way that you feel comfortable with the way it fly's across the screen. My mouse personally has to be able to go from one screen to the next within just a short second or so, which means I have less movement to go through.

Also, learn how to use the shortcuts that your OS offers and whatever IDE you are using. They will help in the long term in that you will have to move your mouse hand less to the mouse since you can now hit a button combination to do the same thing. Not only that, but it will increase the speed and effectiveness of everything you have to get done since keyboard short cuts are much faster than moving the mouse to some context menu and then to the option you want.

Best of all, every hour or so, get up, walk around, shake your arms and legs out and roll your neck. If you start to feel tired or numbing sensations make sure to just switch positions or move around for a bit, if you start to feel pain switch it up.

Answer 3

I'm big into ergonomics myself. I would like to point out that I had some numbness in my right hand that was actually caused by using a wrist rest with my mouse. I went to see a specialist and he asked if anything was pressing on a certain spot on my wrist. After a few seconds, I realized the mouse wrist rest was the only thing pressing there.

Something to keep in mind if you ever have that problem. I was having some problems with my wrists until I switched to the MS Natural 4000. Having the back of your hand above your fingers takes a lot of stress of your wrist. I just wish the keys had better tactile feedback and the 6 was on the correct side.

Answer 4

Learn to meditate. It'll teach you the correct posture that lets you sit for hours without getting sore --- and actually feeling good. Well, as far as your butt/back/neck/head goes, anyway. I'm not convinced about the leg positions. The 'operator chairs' (I think that's what they're called) that X-Istence is talking about seem to build on that same kind of back posture -- sitting naturally upright so your weight flows down your spine, rather than leaning back against a rest (which must surely push lateral forces against your spine).

Apart from that, lower arms should be relatively parallel to the desk. Eyes should be level with the top of your monitor screen. A monitor arm is really good for being able to reposition your monitor easily, to get the perfect adjustment, and also just to move if if you get (physically) tired of one position, need desk space to write/draw, etc.

If you're using linux, there's a great program called Workrave, which sits in your system tray, and reminds you to take breaks (of different types) every so often, including showing you animated exercises to do. There should be something similar for most other systems too.

Answer 5

Pretty sure I'm doing it waaay wrong as well - but w/e. I just sit the way I feel comfortable, meaning my bottom is often on the very edge of the seat, with my back relaxing on the chair. Come to think of it, I sit the exact way as I do when Im driving a car. Really depends on the mood - sometimes you feel slick and laid back and other times you feel fast-paced and aggressive.

I'm still young, and some day this poor posture will prolly come back to bite me, but till then I sit the way I feel like :)

Answer 6

Sit upright in a chair without armrests. Adjust the height so that the knees form a 90 degree angle. Put the keyboard on lap and place it so that the home row keys are right in the middle. Place hands on the keyboard so that the elbows form a 90 degree angle, and the wrists straight (not pulling the back of your hand up or your pinky fingers to the outside-- this is where an ergonomic keyboard will help). Adjust the monitor and maybe chair height a little so that the back and neck are upright and straight.

This is how I set myself up when working, and it works well enough across different environments (as long as I'm not using the mouse much.)

Answer 7

I suggest looking at the posture of a well trained pianist. Note the straight back,the relaxed arms, and the fact that the keyboard is below the right angle off your elbow.

Answer 8

Note the wikipedia description about RSI:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repetitive_strain_injury

Answer 9

just put your right hand to a,s,d,f

and space bar and put your left

• hand to space bar,j,k,land:

Answer 10

Regardless how "healthy" your chair claims to be, it is not enough to compensate for a whole work day in a position we simply aren't made for.

What works for me best is going to the gym, with focus on the muscles in my back, arms and shoulders. If you have enough of these, it will help you a lot. It seems that pulling weights also helps to avoid problems with the wrists.

For the work itself: Have enough breaks, use them to stretch, don't type too fast, use shortcuts as much as possible and allow the backrest of your chair to move. Some colleagues are really convinced of trackballs (but I'm fine with my mouse).