Slouch: Posture panic in modern America

Post by Aeolun » Mon, Nov 25, 2024, 9:49 AM UTC

sdrothrock wrote: post #29

Aeolun wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tall man living in Japan. I know how that feels. It sorta gets ingrained to always do it to some extend because if you mess up once you bang your head on the doorpost. Of course my own house doesn’t have that issue (you’d think), but the one toilet on the second floor… so even at home you can’t relax the vigilance.

the showers here especially have always made me slouch and I'm not especially tall at 175 cm! It was only after getting a shower where I could stand straight that I realized how much I'd been slouching over the last 17 years due to low shower heads.

Post by potato3732842 » Mon, Nov 25, 2024, 2:12 PM UTC

rapjr9 wrote: post #37

This is an area that appears to need some serious research. It seems entirely possible that "good posture" is an idea that comes from our monkey heritage where standing tall was a way to threaten other monkeys and gain status. Also standing up straight may be inherently unnatural, monkeys don't usually do it, and it might actually be the cause of lower back pain for all anyone knows. In other words, a posture fad may…

Post by spott » Mon, Nov 25, 2024, 4:22 PM UTC

rootusrootus wrote: post #32

vhcr wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

200lb means a BMI of 25 if you're 6'3", which is like 3-4% of the male population in the US, unless you're taller than that it would probably be a better idea to lower your weight first.

Yes, Americans are fat, the average adult male is 200lb and the average height is 5'9 [0]. They'd be less so if everyone could squat their own weight, especially if that was in addition to the bar itself. Europeans are a bit lighter, about 10 pounds on average [1]. Sounds like we could all stand to lose weight before taking up lifting. [0] https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/body-measurements.htm [1] https://en.wikipedi…

Post by leoqa » Mon, Nov 25, 2024, 5:18 PM UTC

someguy101010 wrote: post #31

naming_the_user wrote: post #2

I'll admit to not reading the entire article here but I think that mostly people mistake posture issues for lack of exercise / being sedentary in general. If you work out a minimal amount and build some core strength / back muscles etc then you'll find that your posture naturally corrects itself whilst walking, that sitting in a chair for extended periods isn't as rough, etc.

I'll just provide a quick counter to this based on my own experience. A few years ago I had been in my best shape (daily exercise, cardio and weight lifting) and started experiencing some forearm pain. I thought it was just from over use from typing but i finally went to a physical therapist and found that the pain came from me hunching over on my computer and putting a lot of strain on my fore arms. The posture I to…

Post by tartoran » Mon, Nov 25, 2024, 6:14 PM UTC

A_D_E_P_T wrote: post #25

naming_the_user wrote: post #2

I'll admit to not reading the entire article here but I think that mostly people mistake posture issues for lack of exercise / being sedentary in general. If you work out a minimal amount and build some core strength / back muscles etc then you'll find that your posture naturally corrects itself whilst walking, that sitting in a chair for extended periods isn't as rough, etc.

Lifting weights can certainly help, though people who focus on the bench press and neglect their upper back muscles may find that their posture actually gets worse, rather than improves. (Yet it's interesting, though hardly relevant for most of the population, that bulky upper back muscles can also look like bad posture. In extreme cases, a very well-developed upper back can even result in a mild hunchbacked appearan…