Posture?

StephenVyas

Once upon a time, there was a guy who sat in this comfy living room working tirelessly away on his computer. And everyday, he'd spend entirely too much of his time in just this one position. Until one day, he looked in the mirror and realized he was starting to LOOK like his Chair

Because of this.. unflattering chair-like body i've created, I'm testing out the idea of standing at my workstation
Has anyone tried this? Did it help?


Any tips & tricks to help posture? -My back will THANK YOU!

Firecracker197

Standing up might help, but when your body gets tired it tends to compensate in other ways. If you stand for a long time you might tend to lock your knees to support your weight or shift your weight causing your spine to come out of alignment.

If you really want to correct your posture there's nothing better than exercise. If you take time to strengthen your muscles they will be able to support your body for extended periods of time in any position.

DrunkShaman

Good workout will help ease your back

JDinges

Yes, working out will help strengthen your back and relieve a lot of the monotonous strain you put on it.

disanski

and swimming.... it makes wonders with your back and not only... i am so sad i cant practice it now

HAL

what disanski said,

Also workouts, especially for the back/shoulder area and your abdominal muscles will work wonders.
Jogging's pretty good, too.

roosterMAP

"I'm told I have very bad posture. But my mom says its cuz I have a HUGE cock."
-Daniel Tosh


Just buy a more expensive chair, and move your chair closer to your desk so that your chest is almost touching the edge. You'll see that you will always be leaning back with a strait spine.

StephenVyas

The common consensus seems to be ... "Get off your lazy duff, and exercise!"

Who am I to argue
I don't think I can wiggle my way out of some of this advise. You guys are right. Thanks for the tips, much appreciated!

cholden

I'm a big fan of the exercising, and get the posture question a lot.

Sitting in a chair all day is a lovely combination of physical destruction. Because of the natural forward focus of the body, most of the muscles in the front of your torso tighten. All the back muscles, lay waste in atrophy from lack of use.

This nasty duo leaves your body not strong enough to hold your bones in the right places. So calculate how many hours a day you're sitting at your desk (at work and at home), and this is how much of the day your destroying your posture. Hopefully, knowing this can inspire you to want to work to correct it.

Stretches, Yoga, Foam Roller, one of those stretchy exercise bands. You don't have to pick up heavy weights and spend a lot of time in the gym, but it helps. If you get the right stretches, bodyweight exercises and be consciously active about correcting your posture throughout the day, you'd be could not-so-quasimodo in no-time.

Here's some articles that have more info than you need:

deconstructing_computer_guy
http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/deconstructing_computer_guy
http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/deconstructing_computer_guy_the_other_23_hours


neanderthal_no_more_part
http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_repair/neanderthal_no_more_part_i
http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_repair/neanderthal_no_more_part_ii
http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_repair/neanderthal_no_more_iii
http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_repair/neanderthal_no_more_part_iv

Firecracker197

if you have an iPhone I find that the "100 push ups" line of apps are easy to do and motivating, along with a good healthy dose of yoga.

seforin

I got awesome posture!

moof

I've tried the standing thing. You can't do it all day every day. I actually think it's awesome the first couple of days, then gets hard on your knees after the second week, and just uncomfortable after that.


It does give you focus, energy, and a sense of authority while working.
I think a combo of a barstool, and a standup station, and switching back and forth would be the best setup ever.

You need to get a pad for your feet, as well as the station and stool though, just fyi.


Also, exercise will do you wonders.

StephenVyas

@cholden - That was an epic post! Great read overall- I learned quite a bit of new stuff

@Firecracker - It's funny that you should mention that app. I started http://hundredpushups.com/index.html just 5 days ago! Seems they also have 200squats/25pullups/200situp programs as well. That sure will keep me going

@Seforin - No comment... haha

@Moof- Ahh it's good to hear someone who's tried the standing thing! Good tips about the floor pad and stool. I'm feeling like that's going to be a necessity if I continue doing this.
I'm noticing that it's allowing more focus and energy, but I can see it's going to take awhile for my body to be conditioned to the idea

Autocon

Some of the guys at Bungie had desks that would raise up so they could stand. Most would only stand for like an hour or two at a time and only do it one of two times a day.

Two Listen

Personally I really like the loud drawn out cracking noise my back makes when I stand and give it a good stretch.

Makes me feel manly.

kodde

I have one of those office desks with a motor so you can raise/lower it in matter of seconds. The trick in my opinion is to never stay still in one position for too long whatever position (sitting/standing) it might be.

I've had it for about 4 months now and I'm happy with it. I think it works. I shift maybe 2-4 times a day depending on when I remember too and how much time I'm spending at my workspace or at other parts of the office.

kanga

Wow! Who would have thought so much good advice in one place!
Pretty much agree with it all. I use a plain ol' dining room chair. It's not conducive to sitting back so when working I tend to sit up with no contact cept th butt. Maybe that would help.

Alex_J

I find that i work best when i am comfy. and i am comfy when i slouch back like a fat fuck.

so i just get up like every hour and run around, go up and down the stairs, go outside water the plants or w/e. I don't think there is any way to sit that works for like hours on end. Gotta make the blood move around. No way in hell i can do computer work standing up. Then all my mind is focused on is the fact that I'm not perfectly comfy.

Ruz

I used to airbrush standing up mainly, but don't feel the need to do it for computer work. I have a standard dining room chair and

never have any back problems, weird

Mark Dygert

Yeah, take breaks and move around. Being active in other parts of your life will help.

A standing desk is nice especially if it transitions from standing to seated. A few people at work have them and they're up and down all through out the day. They say its a good way to give your body a stretch and still keep working. Personally I'd rather stretch my legs by going for a walk outside or run some stairs. It's better for my eyes to go out and focus on other things besides a monitor. If it's used through out the day and you still take actual breaks great, but I wouldn't use it as a replacement.

JohnnyRaptor

We got motorised desks at work that transition to any height  and i alternate between sitting and standing. Its great to have the option. My only advice is that standing isn't the solution to all posture problems. You are as likely to have a bad posture standing as you are having sitting. And if you are standing, your feet are under stress. We all have special standing matts that relieves stress from your feet and back, and you should look at getting something like that as well.

Skinpop

i work from home and a while back I decided to leverage that and start doing mini workouts every 60-90 minutes. One of these workouts take about 5 minutes and is usually some combination of kettlebell swings, pull ups and body rows on rings, push ups, hollow body hold and so on. I do about eight of these every day. I don't keep a strict schedule but anytime I move around(to get lunch, grab a coffee or use the bathroom) I do one.

 It's a great way to stay active throughout the day and break up long sitting sessions. Positives are that 5 minutes is rarely enough to break a sweat and I spend less time waiting around(resting) compared to a single large block of workout, also psychologically very easy to sustain since I don't feel any resistance to doing a few minutes of workout. Negatives, well none for me but this is probably only doable if you work from home. I highly recommend trying this out.