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Steno Body Posture

Anna Mae Tedley

"Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs." Henry Ford

Posture is very important in stenography. Sit comfortably. Put both feet on the floor. Let your arms hang to the side. Try not to use the back of the chair. Instead, sit as "tall" as you can. Relax just a little.

Hold your head and neck normally. Rock back and forth until you find the balance point. You may be able to feel your back muscles relax as you hit the correct position. This position should feel very good. It's as close to relaxation as the back can get without support. In this position, your shoulders and head are centered directly over the hips.

Too bad that this position doesn't work for stenography. You want to stay as close to this comfortable position as you can, but stenography requires that you extend your arms and hold them in front of your body. To do that, you must change your posture, and that will inevitably increase the tension in your back.

To help your hands reach the keys of your machine, you will probably lean forward and reach out with the arms. This will put tension into your entire back. The upper back has to support the neck, head, shoulders and arms. The lower back has to support everything, including the upper back. Lean forward as little as possible. Extend the arms as little as possible.

Experiment with the correct position. Lean forward a few inches more. You may feel a great increase in tension. The back now has to work harder to keep you erect. Many people choose this position because they can now reach the keys without stretching their arms forward. This is very hard on the back. You only need to lean forward slightly to get into the correct position.

There is a great benefit to leaning forward slightly. This tiny bit of movement will also move the hands forward. They are now in a much better position to reach the keys.

Compare this position with your totally balanced position. The tension is much greater. A little is okay, but keep it under control.

It is time to look at your elbow.

Drop your arm to your side. In this position, your elbow (and your entire arm) is directly below your shoulder. That is the easiest way for your shoulder to support the weight of your arm because all of the weight is directly under the shoulder.

Raise your forearm again until it is horizontal. This shifts the center of weight. Rock your arm gently back and forth until you find the most relaxed position. When you find this position, your shoulder will not be holding your arm in a particular position. Your arm will merely be hanging from the shoulder.

Look at your elbow. If you have found the correct position, then your elbow will be a bit to the rear of the shoulder. To support your forearm, the easiest way is to center the load. The body does this by moving the elbow to the rear.

Look at your elbow again. Move it forward so that it is directly under your shoulder. Do you feel the tension? You should feel it in your arm, your upper back, and your lower back. Keep your forearm horizontal and let the upper arm relax again. The tension went away as soon as the elbow moved to the rear, didn't it?

Overextending your arms causes several problems. It puts unnecessary strain on your lower back. It is the major source of upper back pain. It forces your upper arms to tense up. Many, many bad things can happen by overextending your arms.

This article is about posture, but leaning forward too much is also detrimental to your ability to stroke. It will hamper your writing in two significant ways. You will find it harder to stroke the upper keys and especially the number bar. As your arms tire, you will lose the ability to keep your fingers on the home keys. Instead, your hands will move back and forth involuntarily as you fight to maintain your position.

Most people who overextend their arms are also leaning forward too much. Once they lean back a little, their arms seem to naturally come back to a more correct position.

Every inch that you stretch your arms out to your machine is a burden to your back. The farther you stretch, the more your lower back has to strain to keep you erect.

Here is the final exercise. Get your body in the correct position. Align the spine. Lean forward slightly. Let your arms hang. Put your hands in your lap. Keep your hands close to your body and raise your forearms to the horizontal position. Look at your elbows. Move them forward until they are directly under your shoulders.

Look at your hands.

You now have plenty of room to stroke. Your hands are well away from your body. This is how you should sit. It won't feel comfortable at first because it is not the normal way that you sit, but it is the correct way.

Practice getting into this position without a machine. After you can do that, set up your machine and adjust it to what you feel will be correct. Now get into the proper position again. Ignore the machine. Just get into the proper position.

Is the machine too high? Too low? Too close? Too far away?

Adjust your machine and try again. Concentrate on the proper position. Make your machine adapt to you, rather than the other way around.

Find the correct position. It will make it much easier to write. You will have less stress and strain. Your fingers will be in a better position to stroke.

Let me close with this caveat. Nobody can hold their body in one position forever. You will become fatigued eventually. Fight back by stretching when you have a chance. Roll your neck. Shrug your shoulders. Twist your torso. Get the blood moving. It will make it a lot easier to maintain the correct position while drilling.