Stand up straight, soldier!

[Tzippi Longstockings]

Hey. I'm putting in a lot of desk hours, and my posture is just horrible. I work or read a bit, only to find my chin is 45 degrees lower than it should be.

 

A lot of the stuff I've found about improving posture seems to be "just try harder and do better", which, as Steve says, isn't really all that helpful.   

 

I try to be mindful, but when I get engrossed in something, it's hard to keep an eye on my alignment. I don't have much back pain yet, but I can see it looming, not to mention I don't want to shrink into a tiny question mark as I age, like my great-aunts.

 

any advice?

[Hit]

Same boat here - my tip is to not use the back rest as "support" as much as i can. Whenever I catch myself leaning back, i correct to pull my posture up. I find wearing big belts helps with this (because the second you start to lose form you'll notice the belt pushing in a little), but if you have a strict office dress code this probably wont work for you. Or if you're a guy, and don't wear belts around your waist...

[RedPandaOne]

No tips, just subbing because I find myself hunched over the desk way too often. I fix myself when I notice, but I don't think about it when I'm caught up in my proofs and some sets can take up to 2-3 hours to work on.

[Tzippi Longstockings]

Same boat here - my tip is to not use the back rest as "support" as much as i can. Whenever I catch myself leaning back, i correct to pull my posture up. I find wearing big belts helps with this (because the second you start to lose form you'll notice the belt pushing in a little), but if you have a strict office dress code this probably wont work for you. Or if you're a guy, and don't wear belts around your waist...

 

I'm a lady. and an erstwhile member of the SCA, so I even have some experiences with corsets, which help with alignment, but don't help you strengthen that much (since you can kind of 'lean' into your corset a bit.)

[Nefiros]

Not a desk jockey myself but I do tend to do the same thing in my forklift seat. So I'm also subbing for some tips to keep myself on the straight and narrow

[Eleanorsbee]

I spend most of the day at work in a chair ...... and to be honest, I slouch, badly, to a side, backwards ... and I cant stop doing it, its more comfortable and I enjoy it.

 

I also :had: very rolled shoulders and a bent spine.

 

 

However ..... this has now gone ...... daily pull-ups, rows, pushups, dips and yoga ... and 30 trips to the toilet a day from drinking too much water .... and in 5 months  its  gone 

 

seemingly using and building muscle evenly around the back, chest and shoulders has pulled everything back in line !

[Dradis]

Hey. I'm putting in a lot of desk hours, and my posture is just horrible. I work or read a bit, only to find my chin is 45 degrees lower than it should be.

 

A lot of the stuff I've found about improving posture seems to be "just try harder and do better", which, as Steve says, isn't really all that helpful.   

 

I try to be mindful, but when I get engrossed in something, it's hard to keep an eye on my alignment. I don't have much back pain yet, but I can see it looming, not to mention I don't want to shrink into a tiny question mark as I age, like my great-aunts.

 

any advice?

 

I've currently having some professional sessions on fixing my desk jockey posture as i keep getting niggling injuries from it. This info is all from that rather than from me.

Rather than spending a lot of effort trying to sit, walk, stand correctly you want to fix the imbalances in your body so your body naturally sits/stand/walks correctly. The 2 most common problems for desk jockeys are rolled forward shoulders and tight hip flexors.

 

Rolled shoulders

=================

To test for this hang you arms completely relaxed by your sides. Imagine you are (or actually) hold a pencil in your hand (across your palm). In the relaxed position the pencil should be facing forward. If your shoulders are rolled they will be pointing across your body to some degree.

To fix:

More horizontal pull exercises. Aim for a 2:1 ratio of pulls to push.

Regularly stretch out your pec muscles as these will pull your shoulders forward.

Regularly stretch out your bicep muscles for the same reason.

Ditto for your lats (dead hangs are good for this, and grip strength)

 

Hip flexors

=================

Not sure about the test for this. The PT told me i had them. If you are thin but still have a belly pooch you probably have tight hip flexors pulling your pelvis out of whack and making your belly protrude

To fix:

Stretch those bad boys.

Train the opposite muscles - thats your glutes/hammies people

 

 

 

 

When doing your horizontal pull movements keep your chin up so the focus stays more on the rhomboids and middle/lower traps rather than transferring to the upper traps. Chin coming down recruits upper traps and you may find yourself doing it because the others have become too fatigued.

 

 

Hope that is of some help to my fellow desk jockeys. 

[Evicious]

Here's a good site with lots of information, exercises and examples for stretching: http://www.stretching-exercises-guide.com/

 

At massage therapy school, we learned proprioception neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) to help clients correct postural imbalances.

[Dradis]

Here's a good site with lots of information, exercises and examples for stretching: http://www.stretching-exercises-guide.com/

 

At massage therapy school, we learned proprioception neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) to help clients correct postural imbalances.

 

Hold-relax stretches were what i did. Specifically i was told to do them as i was training the opposite side. Eg, stretch the pecs then train the back. The hold-relax was meant to "turn-off" the muscle involved so you felt it in the muscle being targeted more. It sounded a bit broscience but it does sort of work.

[insanity]

I've found that standing at my desk helps as well, I have a "barstool" style chair, and I adjusted the desk up so that it's more comfortable to work on while standing and I just go back and forth from the chair to standing as my legs determine. At the same time, since I started the gym, and the 5x5 program I've noticed I stand a bit straighter as well.