Posture for a Healthy Back • Hacker News Board

Re: Posture for a Healthy Back

#31

Post by makmanalp » Tue, Aug 25, 2015, 2:15 PM UTC

vanderZwan wrote: post #10

Something people underestimate (I think) is that having a correct posture requires having strong enough support muscles so that you can maintain said posture without getting tired, or even thinking about it. By far the biggest benefit of going to the gym has been that my core muscles got stronger, which in turn has cured all back pains I had.

Not only back pains - I was very surprised when what I thought was RSI in my wrists was actually because of posture - somehow some nerves were getting pinched. I discovered this when I was doing some weird neck / shoulder stretches and the pain very suddenly receded. Then I started fixing my monitor to be higher and taking care of my posture, and I've had minimal issues since then. I'm guessing I had some early form of something like Thoracic Outlet Syndrome.

Re: Posture for a Healthy Back

#32

Post by jcfrei » Tue, Aug 25, 2015, 2:25 PM UTC

blueprint wrote: post #24

This is a very insufficient article. Almost useless. It doesn't mention anything about hip and sacral alignment, which is absolutely critical to having correct posture. Unfortunately, sitting in a chair, as well as various other modern activities, completely messes up not only the alignment of the hip and sacrum, but conditions the soft tissue in those areas to hold a bad position. That's why it's so hard to have goo…

What really confused me was the following tip: Try to avoid sitting in the same position for more than 30 minutes. So is there a correct sitting position? Or is the correct sitting position "sitting differently" every 30 minutes? Those are two mutually exclusive things.

Re: Posture for a Healthy Back

#33

Post by vanderZwan » Tue, Aug 25, 2015, 2:27 PM UTC

hellbanner wrote: post #17

vanderZwan wrote: post #10

Something people underestimate (I think) is that having a correct posture requires having strong enough support muscles so that you can maintain said posture without getting tired, or even thinking about it. By far the biggest benefit of going to the gym has been that my core muscles got stronger, which in turn has cured all back pains I had.

Thanks for saying this - another reminder to do more core (got down and planked). What exercises did you find most beneficial for strengthening? On a related note -- I periodically do stretches where I stand on one leg and roll my hip & waist out to the side extending it behind me -- that helps alleviate tension in the side. Similar - hanging on my forearms from chairs or those ab machines at the gym. Pain Free (a me…

I can't really say, since I'm not really "into" fitness at all, and everybody is different. Just let a good personal trainer look into it; the whole added value of a personal trainer is that they know what they're doing, so you don't have to know.

Mine let me do a number of test exercises and then created a program to work on the weak points she noticed (while explaining everything clearly), and it worked really effectively.

For example, in my case I needed to work a bit extra on shoulder support muscles because I'm somewhat hypermobile. This helped with all kinds of other exercises, because the shoulder muscles were the weakest link "holding back" the other muscles.

Re: Posture for a Healthy Back

#34

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Aug 25, 2015, 2:32 PM UTC

jcfrei wrote: post #32

blueprint wrote: post #24

This is a very insufficient article. Almost useless. It doesn't mention anything about hip and sacral alignment, which is absolutely critical to having correct posture. Unfortunately, sitting in a chair, as well as various other modern activities, completely messes up not only the alignment of the hip and sacrum, but conditions the soft tissue in those areas to hold a bad position. That's why it's so hard to have goo…

What really confused me was the following tip: Try to avoid sitting in the same position for more than 30 minutes. So is there a correct sitting position? Or is the correct sitting position "sitting differently" every 30 minutes? Those are two mutually exclusive things.

[deleted]

Re: Posture for a Healthy Back

#35

Post by randomsearch » Tue, Aug 25, 2015, 2:35 PM UTC

Went to the physio with RSI and she recommended I take up swimming. Totally worked.

Re: Posture for a Healthy Back

#36

Post by faehnrich » Tue, Aug 25, 2015, 2:37 PM UTC

ef4 wrote: post #19

I remember seeing an electronic gizmo that would supposedly remind you to correct your posture throughout the day. Has anybody tried something like that? I feel like the gentle constant feedback might actually work.

One place I worked, they installed a program that reminded people every few minutes to take breaks and have good posture.

The longer you worked, it showed a different color for how fatigued you were. Taking regular breaks kept you at green, constantly typing made it go toward red.

I found that the program displayed the colors by just displaying different picture files of just that color. I changed those files to pictures of your character from Doom as he takes more damage. The longer I typed without a break, the bloodier the guys face got.

Oh, as for your question, no it didn't work. I just saw it as a distraction so removed the program (which I wasn't supposed to be able to do.)

Re: Posture for a Healthy Back

#37

Post by eevilspock » Tue, Aug 25, 2015, 2:38 PM UTC

mrpoptart wrote: post #8

There's some conflicting data out there about this: http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/06/08/41231470...

This one says sitting straight is bad, that a 35% lean back is ideal: http://mashable.com/2011/05/09/sitting-down-infographic/

I have 2 blown lumbar disks, and for me at least, the 35% lean back, even if it means slouching on the couch, eliminates pain when I do have to sit for extended periods.

Re: Posture for a Healthy Back

#38

Post by faehnrich » Tue, Aug 25, 2015, 2:40 PM UTC

That is an incorrect lifting position because that guy's huge chin makes him top-heavy, he'll just fall over the box.

Re: Posture for a Healthy Back

#39

Post by merpnderp » Tue, Aug 25, 2015, 2:41 PM UTC

I've been wanting a harder mattress for a while. Now I have a great excuse.

Re: Posture for a Healthy Back

#40

Post by vanderZwan » Tue, Aug 25, 2015, 2:41 PM UTC

makmanalp wrote: post #31

vanderZwan wrote: post #10

Something people underestimate (I think) is that having a correct posture requires having strong enough support muscles so that you can maintain said posture without getting tired, or even thinking about it. By far the biggest benefit of going to the gym has been that my core muscles got stronger, which in turn has cured all back pains I had.

Not only back pains - I was very surprised when what I thought was RSI in my wrists was actually because of posture - somehow some nerves were getting pinched. I discovered this when I was doing some weird neck / shoulder stretches and the pain very suddenly receded. Then I started fixing my monitor to be higher and taking care of my posture, and I've had minimal issues since then. I'm guessing I had some early form…

Yeah, tensed up muscles are weird in how they can cause pain elsewhere, no?

I had something similar where neck- and shoulder tension was the cause of headaches. And a friend of mine suffered from what felt like a tooth-ache for weeks, which turned out to be caused by a cramped up jaw muscle (which nobody thought of at first, since they were focussing on where she felt the pain).