How often do you find that a person with a low body-fat ratio with negative effects caused by bad posture? The people who I've seen with obvious problems caused by poor posture, like a hump or sore back or joints, are usually moderately to highly overweight. Kind of like how women with large breasts can have problems with soreness or neck humps. I suspect that it's not so much about good posture as it is about having a variety of postures throughout the day and not having bodyweight stressing one's joints. Granted, I have no scientific evidence for this. It's just from my own observations(and my own experience of being a former fat guy).
We have an epidemic of bad posture
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Re: We have an epidemic of bad posture
#32100% agree with this article - I also don't know how more people aren't in the chiropractor's office weekly. I went through a particularly intense period of working on my laptop and it resulted in a neck spasm so sever it was like daggers trying to move my neck. The doctor prescribed Vicodin it was that bad. But only when I went in for a series of chiropractic sessions did I improve my neck at the source. Thankfully…
> I also don't know how more people aren't in the chiropractor's office weekly
Maybe because there are no evidence that it's effective.
https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/reference/chiropractic/
Re: We have an epidemic of bad posture
#33All the ergo adjustments in the world won't help you if you sit in one position all day long with one small set of muscles engaged while the rest are disengaged and slowly atrophying. The best solution is touched on in the article, but it can't be overstated that actual exercise is the best preventative.
Switching to a sit-stand desk is by far the best thing I've done: http://jakeseliger.com/2015/01/24/geekdesk-max-sit-stand-des... .
It sounds great but I'm wondering, would this be accepted in any company?
Re: We have an epidemic of bad posture
#34It's probably not great for my wrists, but I particularly like the location of the built-in trackpad on my MacBook.
So instead of raising the laptop in a stand and getting an external keyboard and mouse, I use an external display (24" 4K) at an ergonomic height/distance and keep the built-in monitor as a secondary screen (for example, running the iOS simulator on the MacBook screen and Xcode full screen on the external display).
I arrange the screens so the built-in display is below the external one (i.e. the same arrangement as they are physically) and keep my dock on the left of the main display.
Re: We have an epidemic of bad posture
#35How often do you find that a person with a low body-fat ratio with negative effects caused by bad posture? The people who I've seen with obvious problems caused by poor posture, like a hump or sore back or joints, are usually moderately to highly overweight. Kind of like how women with large breasts can have problems with soreness or neck humps. I suspect that it's not so much about good posture as it is about having…
I'll second this; after losing 50lbs, many health issues just went away. Adding in the the strength training (Rippetoe's SS:BBT), has just made me feel that much better.
Re: We have an epidemic of bad posture
#36> Make sure [the mouse is] wireless.
I disagree there — wireless mice & keyboards are terribly insecure.
Other than that, seems like some good advice here.
Re: We have an epidemic of bad posture
#37Lifting weights can help, but it can also cause more harm when your routine isn't properly balanced. Doing only bench press and military press lifts for upper body is going to be a chest/tricep push heavy routine. If you're not balancing these pushes with pulls (chinups, pullups, rows, etc), it can promote issues like rolled shoulders, forward neck, weak traps, weak rhomboids or similar postural issues to those the a…
Do you have any specific beginner's routines you'd recommend? I was doing 5x5, which has pulls in the form of barbell rows and deadlifts; I don't know if that's sufficient.
You can always supplement the 5x5 routine with 3x8-10 (typically) accessory exercises with dumbbells.
In some cases dumbbells will give you a better range of motion and help develop smaller muscles.
Another common addition to 5x5 I've seen is adding a dedicated core day (weighted ab crunches, hanging leg raises, planks) Core is the 2nd most important part of doing pull exercises (after back)
Re: We have an epidemic of bad posture
#38> Make sure [the mouse is] wireless. I disagree there — wireless mice & keyboards are terribly insecure. Other than that, seems like some good advice here.
Ergonomics and security are different concerns; the best mechanism for addressing one, considered on its own, may be suboptimal from the perspective of the other.
Re: We have an epidemic of bad posture
#39Does anyone have an idea why, according to the author, a mouse being wireless is so essential?
Yeah, it bothered me that the author didn't even give a rationale for it, just mentioned it and brushed it aside, much like his other recommendations that are "industry standard." I agree with the main point of the article, and good solutions are touched upon lightly, but it feels really shallow and very much single anecdote.
Re: We have an epidemic of bad posture
#40I had pretty bad RSI some years ago, to the point where I thought I wouldn't be able to program anymore. However, I got through it, and I don't have any pains today. The key thing for me was starting to use a break program on my computer. Every 5 minutes I take a 10 seconds micro-break (let go of the mouse and keyboard). Every 45 minutes I take a 5 minute stretching break, and do 3 or 4 stretches. That, together with…
Forced break programs saved my wrists. I use AntiRSI on the Mac and WorkRave on anything else.
Rocking a GoldTouch split foldable keyboard, Apple Trackpad, and the Roost that levels mentioned in his post