Bad Posture

B

bevo_daddy

500+ Posts
I know I have bad posture and try to keep straight as much as i can but sitting in a chair all day makes it hard and ill find myself always slumping down in it. What are some ways to help with this? I've been thinking about those posture helpers that you strap on for when i work but what do you guys think?
 
In my late (very late) 20s, and bad posture is already catching up with me. I'm interested to see if anyone has any suggestions. Here's what I've found:

Things I have found that help:

1. Stretching every morning. I lay on a big yoga ball for a minute or two until I'm less hunched over. Sometimes do neck/shoulder stuff too. It feels great. The effects go away after a while. I would do this once an hour if I had a ball in my office. Still, it's nice to at least start the day off right.

2. Don't sit for too long. Get up and walk around regularly. Probably good for the eyes as well.

Things I try, but I'm not sure if they do anything:

1. Exercises. I've tried all kinds of back and core stuff. If it helps, it's long-term.

2. Chair adjustments. Haven't found any particular position that is much better than others. My body would find a way to have bad posture in any chair. I think it might help to change it up regularly. At least make sure your chair isn't the problem.
 
I may be wrong, but I always heard that the number one cause of bad posture and back pain was weak abdominal mucles. I used to have bad lower back pain and started doing lots of ab excercises and dont have a problem any more
 
You are correct sir. Without muscles in the front, all of your weight is being supported just by your spine and putting pressure on your discs. I'm 30 and started having low back pain at 28. My field requires me to be on my feet all day long and bending, lifting, pulling...I could tell my back was telling me nuh-uh. I would get so much pressure and I had to bend over to release the pressure, but it was popping the back. Luckily for me I do MRIs so I slid in there real quick and saw that I was losing fluid in my L5 disc, which is the last vertebrae of your lumbar spine and the beginning of your sacrum. First thing I did was toss my Nike's away and get New Balance. Those shoes are the ****. I immediately felt a difference right away. Second, I started stretching. The best one is laying flat on your stomach and reaching your arms and legs as far as you can. Then raise your right arm and left leg...then switch it. Do this for a while and then finish up with stretching. Third is crunches. Hurt like hell to do those, but it really is helping. I haven't had bad back pain in a while. Hopefully it stays that way for some time.
 
i don't know. i have pretty strong abs, but i also have horrible posture and have had lower back problems. i'm not sure what to do. i wish a had a shock collar that would shock me every time i slump in my chair. i am going to be the hunched over old man on a cane. seriously.
 
This won't help at the office, but one of the best tips I ever got from a physical therapist was to adjust the rear view mirror in my car so that I have to sit with correct posture to use the mirror.
 
It just takes practice and to be conscious of when you start to slump. Your body naturally wants to slump, it takes work to sit with good posture.
 
I read an article from MSN men's health a few weeks ago that stated the main function of your core muscles is to keep your body/core stable, and because of this movement based exercises, such as crunches, aren't the best core exercises to do. Also, crunches only work your abs, while your core is a much broader group of muscles.

Good exercises to do are plank, which is the upward position of a pushup, and side plank. These are static exercises that target the core's main function of keeping your body stable. At the same time, they work the entirity of your core not just your abs.

I'll try and find a link to the article and post it later.

Yoga is also real good. Also, don't do forward bends, even though they feel good, since these tend to dump everything onto your lower back. (My PT told me this last summer when I was dealing with back pain.) Gentle back bends are good.
 
b_d The best thing I have found for an unconscious posture-fixer is to sit at you desk on one of those inflatable exercise balls. They come in all different sizes so you can get one that is the right size for you at your desk. yeah, it looks silly, but it really does work. You can't help but sit on one with perfect posture. It's tiring at first because you're using stabilizer muscles that are used to relaxing when you're at your desk... but those are the very muscles you need to strengthen to improve your posture. i bet you'll get people in your office commenting that they do the same thing.

They aren't that expensive and you can pick 'em up just about anywhere...Target, Wal-Mart, etc...

Also, make sure that you're "correcting" your posture in a positive way. Just standing up straight often doesn't address that you may need to bring your chin down/up or shoulders back and ribs up...it may also help to tilt/tuck your pelvis...all in all...any pilates instructor worth the money will help you to create a baseline to work from...even if you don't intend to take pilates, meet with someone who can talk to you about Laban or Alexander Technique...both are fantastic places to start...and you may avoid going from one bad posture to another.

Hope that helps. I, too, have lower back issues and sit on an exercise ball at the station sometimes...
hookem.gif
 
This thread is weird deja vu. I've seen all of this discussion in the past month...playing Wii Fit.

Seriously, it pushes you to do yoga to improve your posture, lectures you when it notices you're not putting your weight equally on both feet, suggests improving your core muscles doing planks and side planks....
 
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