It's a sad reality: 7 out of 10 Americans will suffer from recurring back pain by the time they reach the age of 50.

Research also shows that the vast majority of back problems are not caused by sudden trauma or any other identifiable event. The doctors and scientists who study these things now believe that many back problems that suddenly manifest themselves are actually culminations of long-term damage.

According to these researchers, those of us who sit for long periods at work run a very high risk of lower back injury — second only to people who lift heavy weights all day.

Sittin' & Shiftin' - We Can't Seem to Sit Still

The engineers at Herman Miller recently studied a large group of office workers and discovered that we spend 93% of our time sitting down. That's 9 hours and 18 minutes out of a 10 hour day!

They also found that we're constantly shifting our posture...on average 53 times per hour. The problem is that most of the time we're sitting in positions that do more harm than good.

So how can we avoid joining the Suffering Majority?

Here are five ideas:

1. Spend a few seconds stretching your neck, shoulders and lower back each time you stand up and just before you sit down. Make a little ritual of it.

2. Be mindful of sitting positions that are especially problematic, such as the deep slouch and sitting on one foot. We get so absorbed in our work that we lose track of how much time we spend in contorted positions.

3. Do you keep your wallet in your back pocket? The thicker the billfold, the more out of alignment your lower back is going to be.

4. When's the last time you adjusted your chair? I wrote an article about how to do this in my April newsletter. You can click here to read it.

5. Is your chair the right size for you? Most people overlook this critical aspect of fit and comfort. If you're not sure, you can give us a call toll-free at 1-877-696-3342 and have one of our experts assist you. They're happy to help any way they can.

Given how much time we spend sitting at work, we owe it to ourselves to protect ourselves from long-term back ailments.