One of the most amazing books I've read about simple ways to correct the muscular imbalances that result from too much sitting is Pete Egoscue's Pain Free at Your PC [1]. His other book, Pain Free [2] is also extremely effective and informative.
The first part of Pain Free explains how muscular imbalances form and, most insightful to me, how every human body has the same design range of motion (with a few exceptions due to birth defects or disease), that is every human body is designed to have the same range of motion but muscular imbalances formed as the result of specific repeated activities (or lack of activity) impede that design range of motion. All of the exercises in the Egoscue Method require no special equipment, only simple things like a chair or a wall (which further convinced me that it's not a fad out to sell something). Highly recommend reading these books if you're interested in this topic.
Isn't this obviously false? First, humans weren't designed at all. Second, the range of motion is often determined by bone structure, which no amount of muscle imbalance can affect. Check out squatting positions and how they're affected by the variety of hip joint shapes people have. Like this page: https://squatuniversity.com/2016/03/25/how-hip-anatomy-affec...
The problem with articles like this is they're too long. I understand the problem (prolonged sitting is bad for me), and I don't want to read entire books. I, like most people, just need to know a single exercise. If you start telling me about a second one I could do, I just won't do anything.
Also, describing exercises in words or even static pictures is a bad idea. Just make a short (30 sec max) video, so I can just watch that and do it from now on.
Great suggestions -- the fire hydrant is a great exercise.
More simple exercises are one leg squats -- if you use a desk to keep your balance, they're not that difficult to do and a great exercise you can do anywhere. Also, you can drop down and do 5, 10, 20 pushups anywhere. While on the phone you could put it on speakerphone and drop down and try to hold the plank position for the length of the call -- I've seen some Scrum meetings have everyone do the plank (shortens the meeting much more than just standing up).
I call this Office Calisthenics. It really throws people off. Nothing bad, but they're confused. I've tried to convince some that it's fun. Even did it with a tie on. Didn't get any takers.
I'm all for the desk excercises and fitness in general, but if anyone ever suggested we all plank during scrum I would immediately quit.
It seems like they would also be looking at a massive discrimination suit as soon as they had an employee with any kind of injury, and potentially a lesser one simply because there would be otherwise healthy employees who felt uncomfortable about it.
its important to hold the posture during the plank or it will have no effect or even the opposit effect. A good goal is 3 to 6 seconds. When you get stronger make it harder by lifting one leg, put the support leg on a ball, and do it sideways.
Ditto qigong, tai chi, pilates, isometric exercises, physical therapy. I've even done goofy looking breathing exercises that rebalance your diaphragm.
I also know that yoga, chiro, gyms hurts people. Gonzo attitude, ignorance, and bad instruction.
The trick is to find the therapists and teachers who understand the body, your body, and help you mend. Everyone needs something a little different.
Source: I had a lumbar fusion and some other stuff. I've spent a lot of time just remaining functional, managing pain.
Advice: By 30, everyone should be hitting the gym. By 40, everyone should get regular PT tune ups; you'll be surprised how much function you (unknowingly) lost. Like now I can stand on one foot and put on the other shoe, two years ago I couldn't do that.
I've heard* that the discs in your back cannot repair themselves -- they have no blood flow. So strengthen your "core", because if you squeeze those discs (thru bad posture) year after year, eventually they deteriorate. Then your nerves get pinched, and the pain can be insane.
They self heal, slowly, as long as they can. In order for them to self heal, they have to stop getting squished at all, for long periods of time.
I never knew the importance of core exercise until I squished some discs and experienced pinched nerves. Core exercises build up the muscles around the discs and can help prevent them from getting squished. But you have to also find out which activity is squishing them, and stop that too. Exercise alone won't do it.
Pain is the first part of what happens. Pain nerves run along the outside of the spinal column. Motor control nerves run inside the spinal column, so the second part is the pain goes away and your muscles stop working properly. That's the really scary part. Even though the pain can be bad, as long as you feel pain, you're closer to healing than after the pain goes away and you develop a funny walk or can't do pushups anymore.
I did physical therapy for lower back pain & sciatica. I was told the disc do have blood flow, just not much, but they will heal after being squished. It takes months for my back to heal if I screw it up, so maybe that's what's going on.
As someone dealing with an extruding disc right now I hope they heal.
In all seriousness, my research and speaking with specialists is that bulging or extruding disc do have blood flow and they will eventually reabsorb. Even sequestered discs with no blood flow will reabsorb. The tricky part is dealing with the symptoms while not worsening the issue.
Even after an epidural steroid injection, I've been told it could be months before my very large extrusion is gone. So it is a very slow process. The good news is that some research shows that your body can actually be better at absorbing the larger extrusions.
Nothing fixes my desk-related back issues like being regular at my gym, doing deep squats and deadlifts. When I can't manage my priorities, it's only a question of time before the old back starts complaining.
An office job is basically 40+ hours a week of practicing disengagement of the posterior chain (via sitting, likely with poor posture). Deadlifts are such a good treatment.
He's right about taking it easy if you're tight or sore. I've hurt myself from cranking into stretches or exercise without a gradual warm-up. Want more stretch + pace ideas? Do like the Japanese: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnZJINpzhs8
it would be awesome if you could walk and program. back pain can come from static hand posture. and swinging your arms is good for the back. i imagine parks full of programmers that time to time bump into each others because they are in deep focus.
I tried. The problem is standing without moving seems to be just as bad as sitting. As you tire you will start shifting weight to one leg and locking the hips to one side.
I then tried a half-reclined chair which was a bit better. Then I switched to a flat hard chair without back support. That was tough initially (more so than standing desk) but seems to be the best option so far. Other than moving, of course.
I tried standing, but discovered I have to walk. When standing my feet start to hurt within 5-10 minutes, and it gets unbearable after 20.
Lots of people I know use them though, and report loving them. Most people have a thick mat to stand on, and say they shift their weight a lot. Some of them don't end up standing for long periods because they're in and out of their office so much.
It's also a lot less expensive and lot less bulky to try a standing desk setup than a treadmill, so either way I'd recommend standing first. You can even use a bunch of boxes to prop up your keyboard & monitor -- or bricks under the desk legs -- before you invest in any other equipment.
Yes, I have an IKEA bar table that I bought second hand and I stand at that for 8-12 hours a day, 6 or 7 days a week. It was kind of exhausting for the first 6 months or so but now it actually feels really weird to sit at a table and work. I really like how standing for long periods of time forces me to want to move. I find that I walk away from the computer and go outside for short walks a lot more frequently than when I used to sit. When sitting, I found that several hours could pass before I realized how long I was sitting. Now that I've been standing and working for so long (over 2 years now) sitting feels like an absolute luxury and I've started to associate standing with working and sitting with relaxing.
I do. And it definitely helps. Initially I felt tired at end of day but more alert while working at standing desk. No struggle with trying to stay awake.
Half day sitting down and half standing up seems best.
[+] [-] raamdev|9 years ago|reply
The first part of Pain Free explains how muscular imbalances form and, most insightful to me, how every human body has the same design range of motion (with a few exceptions due to birth defects or disease), that is every human body is designed to have the same range of motion but muscular imbalances formed as the result of specific repeated activities (or lack of activity) impede that design range of motion. All of the exercises in the Egoscue Method require no special equipment, only simple things like a chair or a wall (which further convinced me that it's not a fad out to sell something). Highly recommend reading these books if you're interested in this topic.
1. https://www.amazon.com/Pain-Free-Revolutionary-Stopping-Chro...
2. https://www.amazon.com/Pain-Free-Your-PC-Computer/dp/0553380...
[+] [-] tgb|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] p1esk|9 years ago|reply
Also, describing exercises in words or even static pictures is a bad idea. Just make a short (30 sec max) video, so I can just watch that and do it from now on.
[+] [-] theprop|9 years ago|reply
More simple exercises are one leg squats -- if you use a desk to keep your balance, they're not that difficult to do and a great exercise you can do anywhere. Also, you can drop down and do 5, 10, 20 pushups anywhere. While on the phone you could put it on speakerphone and drop down and try to hold the plank position for the length of the call -- I've seen some Scrum meetings have everyone do the plank (shortens the meeting much more than just standing up).
A few more ideas :-D!
[+] [-] virmundi|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] chrismeller|9 years ago|reply
It seems like they would also be looking at a massive discrimination suit as soon as they had an employee with any kind of injury, and potentially a lesser one simply because there would be otherwise healthy employees who felt uncomfortable about it.
[+] [-] z3t4|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] icc97|9 years ago|reply
I just do the sun salutation [2] a couple of times a day - takes ~5mins, reduces any back pain I get.
[0]: http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/02/20/51567525...
[1]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/01/12/yoga-key-relie...
[2]: http://yogasite.com/sunsalute.htm
[+] [-] specialist|9 years ago|reply
Ditto qigong, tai chi, pilates, isometric exercises, physical therapy. I've even done goofy looking breathing exercises that rebalance your diaphragm.
I also know that yoga, chiro, gyms hurts people. Gonzo attitude, ignorance, and bad instruction.
The trick is to find the therapists and teachers who understand the body, your body, and help you mend. Everyone needs something a little different.
Source: I had a lumbar fusion and some other stuff. I've spent a lot of time just remaining functional, managing pain.
Advice: By 30, everyone should be hitting the gym. By 40, everyone should get regular PT tune ups; you'll be surprised how much function you (unknowingly) lost. Like now I can stand on one foot and put on the other shoe, two years ago I couldn't do that.
[+] [-] Tempest1981|9 years ago|reply
* Not a doctor. Let me know if they self-heal.
[+] [-] dahart|9 years ago|reply
I never knew the importance of core exercise until I squished some discs and experienced pinched nerves. Core exercises build up the muscles around the discs and can help prevent them from getting squished. But you have to also find out which activity is squishing them, and stop that too. Exercise alone won't do it.
Pain is the first part of what happens. Pain nerves run along the outside of the spinal column. Motor control nerves run inside the spinal column, so the second part is the pain goes away and your muscles stop working properly. That's the really scary part. Even though the pain can be bad, as long as you feel pain, you're closer to healing than after the pain goes away and you develop a funny walk or can't do pushups anymore.
[+] [-] madengr|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lllr_finger|9 years ago|reply
In all seriousness, my research and speaking with specialists is that bulging or extruding disc do have blood flow and they will eventually reabsorb. Even sequestered discs with no blood flow will reabsorb. The tricky part is dealing with the symptoms while not worsening the issue.
Even after an epidural steroid injection, I've been told it could be months before my very large extrusion is gone. So it is a very slow process. The good news is that some research shows that your body can actually be better at absorbing the larger extrusions.
[+] [-] sundvor|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tomsthumb|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mr_overalls|9 years ago|reply
I keep a kettlebell under my desk and do a few dozen swings several times during the day.
[+] [-] 0xbadcafebee|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] eevilspock|9 years ago|reply
i.e. Do your thinking while walking, not sitting and hunched over a screen. Your brain and your body will love you for it.
[+] [-] z3t4|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Naushad|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cies|9 years ago|reply
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbYWhdLO43Q
[+] [-] alexval|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] orschiro|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] boris|9 years ago|reply
I then tried a half-reclined chair which was a bit better. Then I switched to a flat hard chair without back support. That was tough initially (more so than standing desk) but seems to be the best option so far. Other than moving, of course.
[+] [-] dahart|9 years ago|reply
Lots of people I know use them though, and report loving them. Most people have a thick mat to stand on, and say they shift their weight a lot. Some of them don't end up standing for long periods because they're in and out of their office so much.
It's also a lot less expensive and lot less bulky to try a standing desk setup than a treadmill, so either way I'd recommend standing first. You can even use a bunch of boxes to prop up your keyboard & monitor -- or bricks under the desk legs -- before you invest in any other equipment.
[+] [-] frik|9 years ago|reply
I saw a video a year ago, looks like a good idea, I am planing to buy a small one
[+] [-] raamdev|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dba7dba|9 years ago|reply
Half day sitting down and half standing up seems best.
[+] [-] laughfactory|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Fire-Dragon-DoL|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rorykoehler|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Vera527|9 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] ihaveahadron|9 years ago|reply
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