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Evolving my ergonomic setup (or, my laptop with extra steps)

ntietz.com

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Re: Evolving my ergonomic setup (or, my laptop with extra steps)

#31

Post by toasterlovin »

maeln wrote: post #6

This does look very cool. But my advise for anyone suffering from pain to their arms, hands, backs, and any other body parts that usually hurt for people working on computer all day: Do modest, but regular mobility and strength exercises. While having an ergonomic (and cool looking at that) setup is important, it wont save you from muscle atrophy. A physical therapist might help you find the right kind of exercises f…

Just jumping on this to say: I had chronic lower back and wrist pain for a long time. Had the whole ergonomic setup. Adjustable desk, Kinesis keyboard, vertical mice, etc. What fixed me was starting to squat. Took like 3 weeks of squatting and I haven't had back or wrist pain since (it's been 10+ years). Now I just use the standard (and very nonergonomic) Apple keyboard and mouse.

Re: Evolving my ergonomic setup (or, my laptop with extra steps)

#32

Post by jdreaver »

toasterlovin wrote: post #31
maeln wrote: post #6

This does look very cool. But my advise for anyone suffering from pain to their arms, hands, backs, and any other body parts that usually hurt for people working on computer all day: Do modest, but regular mobility and strength exercises. While having an ergonomic (and cool looking at that) setup is important, it wont save you from muscle atrophy. A physical therapist might help you find the right kind of exercises f…

Just jumping on this to say: I had chronic lower back and wrist pain for a long time. Had the whole ergonomic setup. Adjustable desk, Kinesis keyboard, vertical mice, etc. What fixed me was starting to squat. Took like 3 weeks of squatting and I haven't had back or wrist pain since (it's been 10+ years). Now I just use the standard (and very nonergonomic) Apple keyboard and mouse.

Huge +1 to this, but I would also add walking _at least_ 8000 steps per day. I still had some minor, nagging pain until I started walking more. Turns out humans are not meant to sit all day!

I can highly recommend a book called _Built to Move_ [0]. It tells you to do a lot of things that many people consider common sense, like walk every day, eat vegetables, sleep 8 hours, etc. However, it also explains _why_ to do these things pretty concisely. The most impactful argument it made to me was you can't counteract sitting for 12 hours a day with any amount of exercise. You have to sit less and move around more.

[0] https://thereadystate.com/built-to-move/

Re: Evolving my ergonomic setup (or, my laptop with extra steps)

#33

Post by Cthulhu_ »

maeln wrote: post #6

This does look very cool. But my advise for anyone suffering from pain to their arms, hands, backs, and any other body parts that usually hurt for people working on computer all day: Do modest, but regular mobility and strength exercises. While having an ergonomic (and cool looking at that) setup is important, it wont save you from muscle atrophy. A physical therapist might help you find the right kind of exercises f…

Yup, can confirm. Had forearm pain for years (started in the wrists when I started using a laptop at school), did the whole round of ergonomic keyboards, joystick-mouse, etc. Eventually went to a personal trainer who had me try pushups, couldn't do them because of wrist pain. He then made me do deadlifts, which were tricky at first because my grip strength wasn't great, but after just a few sessions it improved markedly, and with it, my wrist/forearm pain. Long-term relief, too. I'm only now (seven, eight years later?) starting to feel it again.

Re: Evolving my ergonomic setup (or, my laptop with extra steps)

#34

Post by gigaflop »

elric wrote: post #7

I imagine we'll be seeing more personalized setups as time progresses. Custom keyboards have been pretty feasible and affordable for a good while now, with things like QMK and even custom PCB designers. It can still be a bit fiddly, so it's mostly keyboard nutters such as myself who go down that rabbit hole. Custom trackpads/mice/trackballs haven't gained as much traction, they're not quite as simple as keyboards, an…

>> I think I might like an upright ergonomic mouse that's shaped to my hand

I use a Logitech MX Vertical mouse for work, and actually love it for pretty much all non-gaming/pixel-perfect tasks. It feels like it naturally fits my hand in terms of shape and size, which adds up over 40h weeks.

Re: Evolving my ergonomic setup (or, my laptop with extra steps)

#35

Post by dammaj »

ntietz wrote: post #21
dammaj wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, I don't the intention is to spend more time using the computer. When your work consists of using the computer, it is "rational" to do whatever is possible to minimize the undesirable effects and any harm. Now, if you are suggesting that OP should change his work (or his hobby) then your I don't think your comment is helpful. Regards.

The OP is a woman who uses she/her pronouns.

Well, sorry if that was offensive, I should have used "they" in case of doubt.

Re: Evolving my ergonomic setup (or, my laptop with extra steps)

#36

Post by worldsayshi »

elric wrote: post #7

I imagine we'll be seeing more personalized setups as time progresses. Custom keyboards have been pretty feasible and affordable for a good while now, with things like QMK and even custom PCB designers. It can still be a bit fiddly, so it's mostly keyboard nutters such as myself who go down that rabbit hole. Custom trackpads/mice/trackballs haven't gained as much traction, they're not quite as simple as keyboards, an…

How far are we with brain control interfaces though? I've seen some people playing games with off-the-shelf-ish non invasive eeg devices. Although there seemed to be some delay and crudeness to it.

If the signal to noise level is acceptable it has to be doable to improve it until you can type with it right?

Re: Evolving my ergonomic setup (or, my laptop with extra steps)

#37

Post by worthless-trash »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #33
maeln wrote: post #6

This does look very cool. But my advise for anyone suffering from pain to their arms, hands, backs, and any other body parts that usually hurt for people working on computer all day: Do modest, but regular mobility and strength exercises. While having an ergonomic (and cool looking at that) setup is important, it wont save you from muscle atrophy. A physical therapist might help you find the right kind of exercises f…

Yup, can confirm. Had forearm pain for years (started in the wrists when I started using a laptop at school), did the whole round of ergonomic keyboards, joystick-mouse, etc. Eventually went to a personal trainer who had me try pushups, couldn't do them because of wrist pain. He then made me do deadlifts, which were tricky at first because my grip strength wasn't great, but after just a few sessions it improved marke…

Are you lifting at the moment ?

Re: Evolving my ergonomic setup (or, my laptop with extra steps)

#38

Post by margalabargala »

akho wrote: post #16

Their arms and neck hurt from computer use, so they develop elaborate setups to be able to use computers more. I just hope the ingenuity will run out before their body reaches an unrecoverable state.

This is a bit unfair.

Their arms and neck hurt from using computers (specifically laptops) in their factory configuration.

They have reconfigured the physical layout to no longer cause pain when used.

Re: Evolving my ergonomic setup (or, my laptop with extra steps)

#39

Post by thisissomething »

nuancebydefault wrote: post #19
thisissomething wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is often not obvious, because the muscle you need to reinforce / train are often not actually the one hurting. As someone who has done physical therapy for different issues, this is spot on. Lower back issues were actually due to weak hamstrings, and ankle issues due to weak calves. Doing daily mobility and strength exercises as part of my mourning routine improved my health as a whole. A couple months in, and…

> mourning routine What doesn't kill you makes you stronger /i

ahahahahh, good catch. small oopsie from a non-native speaker.

Re: Evolving my ergonomic setup (or, my laptop with extra steps)

#40

Post by ntietz »

ndsipa_pomu wrote: post #26
ntietz wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The bearings are sooooo satisfying. I would also love to have a wireless one.

I'm really tempted to get another one for use with my laptop, but I'm currently using a left-handed Elecom trackball that is wireless - it's fine, but not the sheer luxury of a Ploopy.

ooh that's a good idea. I have wanted something wireless to make it more convenient to do supine computing, so that could be just the ticket.

and cheers to another lefty mouse user!

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