TIP: Remember to check if you can get a glimpse of your feet with your peripheral vision. If you are then you are slouching so adjust accordingly.
Slouch: Posture panic in modern America
51–60 of 63 posts
Re: Slouch: Posture panic in modern America
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
Get a long monitor arm and pull the monitor out from the desk. Mine sits almost flush with the desk, with my arms going underneath to the keyboard/mouse. This helped me remain sitting upright without leaning forward.
Have you been to an optician recently? I was finding myself leaning in, then had a test earlier this year and, well, now I have a (very mild) prescription.
Yes 20/20 and 20/40 uncorrected.
Re: Slouch: Posture panic in modern America
#53Almost had to get neck surgery from a BJJ injury + sitting on a computer all day. This was after BJJ training 3 times a week + lifting twice a week. Would wake up with numb pinkies and would experience shooting pains up and down my neck as I was sitting at my computer. The thing that prevented a surgery for me was simply fixing my posture, by strengthening the upper back and neck muscles. The most effective exercise…
If you feel like expanding this post with more tips, I'd love it.
Re: Slouch: Posture panic in modern America
#54I'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.
15 minutes of Pilates a day and your posture will be as good as a ballerina's. You don't even need weights.
Re: Slouch: Posture panic in modern America
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
Gaining reliable access to the equipment can also be tricky depending on your budget, schedule and floorplan. I personally couldn't really get a good habit going until I could purchase the equipment and make it available from home. Prior to that I was intermittently going to a gym but Covid really drilled into me how transient that access can be. Considering how far you can go with just a few gallons of water, would…
I've never had space to store the bar itself, but if I had a home gym I'd be okay with a couple of stands like this: https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/mp/york/york-squat-stands/_/R-... You have to learn how to bail, but (depending on low vs high bar) you can get pretty confident at it
Yeah, I have a bar and weights but no racks so I'm limited to front squats and only what I can power clean. I feel though that this has forced me to work on the power clean which is a very satisfying exercise to do well. I've been power cleaning/squatting about once per week for a year and think this is a pretty good approach since it is almost impossible for me to try and lift too much so injury risk is low. The downside is perhaps slower development than if I could easily overload, but I'm in no hurry.
Re: Slouch: Posture panic in modern America
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've never had space to store the bar itself, but if I had a home gym I'd be okay with a couple of stands like this: https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/mp/york/york-squat-stands/_/R-... You have to learn how to bail, but (depending on low vs high bar) you can get pretty confident at it
Yeah, I have a bar and weights but no racks so I'm limited to front squats and only what I can power clean. I feel though that this has forced me to work on the power clean which is a very satisfying exercise to do well. I've been power cleaning/squatting about once per week for a year and think this is a pretty good approach since it is almost impossible for me to try and lift too much so injury risk is low. The dow…
Be careful now, you're veering dangerously close to trying out olympic weightlifting.
Re: Slouch: Posture panic in modern America
#57Since eating more protein I finally find it easy to sit straight with little effort. What a great feeling this is actually! Even though I did strength training before that (for many years), it was the diet that finally did the trick.
Re: Slouch: Posture panic in modern America
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
Have you been to an optician recently? I was finding myself leaning in, then had a test earlier this year and, well, now I have a (very mild) prescription.
I've have been prescribed +.5 a long time ago, more than 15 years ago I think. Was warned that once you go forward you cannot go back. I am still not wearing glasses though my vision for small fonts has took a serious hit lately. Back then I had excruciating headaches but Flux fixed that so I chose to forego the prescription.
That's interesting. If I wear & don't wear too much in a day I do get a headache, but I think if I don't at all then (until I do) it's fine so far.
The main thing that would stop me now is the reminder of what everything should look like - the world was very slightly blurred so gradually that I didn't notice, but now I put my glasses on and it's like switching to 4k.
Re: Slouch: Posture panic in modern America
#59Alexander Technique can have benefits if one puts in the effort and to some extent believes in it. FM Alexander referred to his method as "the work."
But, it takes time and a certain mindset to integrate it into daily life without becoming self-conscious. That's where it came apart for me since I overthink everything. I think others on HN may be the same. As soon as you start to doubt, it stops. Now, I am in the coffin-corner of going through the Alexander steps because they are "in my head" while getting nothing out of them.
Additionally, it is not a way to learn new things and avoid bad habits "by design." It seems to work when people (artists, musicians, dancers, etc. who are the chief customers of Alexander) have trained themselves to do certain things but who have pain from doing those things less than optimally. Reeducating themselves to do things differently may work. I tried to apply it to new movements and failed utterly.
Re: Slouch: Posture panic in modern America
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
Get a long monitor arm and pull the monitor out from the desk. Mine sits almost flush with the desk, with my arms going underneath to the keyboard/mouse. This helped me remain sitting upright without leaning forward.
I'm legally blind (I'm very nearsighted, to the point where I need to be within an inch of the screen to see it), and this is basically how I use my computer comfortably. I have my monitor arm mounted to the front of the desk, to the left of my monitor. This allows me to have the monitor slightly out from the front of the desk but still put my hands under it to the keyboard. This does create some awkward situations though, like using a webcam is challenging because I'd need to push my monitor back but then I can't see it! I usually put the camera off to the side on the rare occasions that I need to be on video.