Fucked Up Posture due to Desk Job. Is there a solution?

[nicoletta]

@withwonderingawe if you wanna fix your posture its a conscious decision all the time and not bc of one thing or another. its a lot of work and not easy but at the same time most of the reasons for bad posture don’t change so its not bc of something specifically, its bc “i want better posture and need help working with what i got situationally wise”, not tryna attack or come at you but thats what has helped me … youte posture isn’t terrible either, i can get better but lord knows i could he way worse

 

[kiptoo]

@withwonderingawe Get a good office chair. Herman Miller is the best if you can afford it.

 

[withwonderingawe]

@kiptoo I have an embody chair, but I don't think it's worth it

 

[serreal]

@withwonderingawe Check out Functional Patterns.

 

[amanda10271]

@withwonderingawe Had bad posture-related issues that resulted in neck and back pain. After visiting tons of doctors, PT’s, etc. I found the best solution is just strengthening commonly weak/overused muscles.

These are typically upper/mid back, and core. Neck exercises are good, but you’ll get the most bang for your buck strengthening the parts that your head sits on top of.

You’ve got a pretty solid list of exercises. If you need any additional exercises, I actually built posturefix.io to help myself and others out.

 

[cam]

@withwonderingawe Look up YouTube videos for fixing “nerd neck.”

Here’s one:

 

[homer27]

@withwonderingawe I plank everyday 45 second intervals with 30 second rest for 3/4 sets, posture improved and everything, simple exercise with great benefits, but need to be done right

 

[withwonderingawe]

@homer27 What's the best resource to learn it right?

 

[homer27]

@withwonderingawe Probably youtube, what helped me was, when i am in plank position, i push my heels out as if i am stretching my legs, then i tense my glutes and tense my stomach while imagining i am pulling my belly button towards my head. Its more so feel once you do enough of them, but once you get it, its amazing full body workout, shoulders, neck, abs, lower back, legs

 

[thefoxwife]

@withwonderingawe Grab some of Kelly Starrets books. Becoming a Supple Leopard is a classic for a good reason, but it is a chunky read. Ready to Run is a shorter book that also goes into posture a lot.

The books take a somewhat different approach than the book you suggested, by instead suggesting exercises that'll let the user 'find' a good posture rather than develop one through muscle based exercises.

Personally I've used both methods, and both methods work. However, I still personally favor Starrets approach, because I am hypermobile and noticed there was a risk of doing the muscle training exercises incorrectly.

 

[withwonderingawe]

@thefoxwife Thanks will add to my reading list.

 

[michaelo5]

@withwonderingawe I'd say do hangs. Go to the local park's pull up bar or if you have a pull up bar at home, just do straight body hangs off it for roughly 2 minutes at a time for around 5 times a day. Should help your back straighten out and release tension. Besides it'll help your grip strength too while you're at it.

 

[withwonderingawe]

@michaelo5 I do it regularly, I have a bar at home. I will try to increase the duration

 

[quest38]

@withwonderingawe You need a better sitting posture and desk arrangement. Shoulders back, anterior pelvic tilt, knees below beltline, hands low to keyboard wrists flat. Try a pillow.

Also frequent breaks and stretching.

All this will improve your productivity as well.

 

[haziyu]

@withwonderingawe If working the inner back remember your other more stable and stronger muscles will try take over. Focus on the muscles you're targeting. This goes for any others.

The jaw is a great place to relieve tension and it can get extremely tight. Increases blood flow, changes the shape of face, makes breathing easier, opens airways. It can sometimes just be quite intense. Following this the front of your chin and your jaw obviously is top and bottom, both relieve tightness in lower and upper back of the neck respectively.

 

[tytere]

@withwonderingawe Get a job in the woods.

 

[kathyharville]

@withwonderingawe This is going to hurt but in this case pain means improvement.

Do not underestimate the power of wall angels and bird dog. I couldn't get my arms up last year when I first tried wall angels coupled with chin tucks were good for a few months. Chin tucks did leave me in pain, but I've had bad posture for years but it definitely did its job. After mastering wall angels I tried building my glutes because i read that in some cases, strengthening glutes help. Weak glutes were not my problem, it took months to figure that out. Started stretching my hamstrings and hip flexors, (found a yoga routine on youtube) and did some spinal flexibility stretches.
After a month of those I found this video10 minute daily stretch routine on YouTube .
It's good. Ignore the thumbnail, but it did help me get get better fairly quickly. I should mention throughout the whole process that I was also working on strengthening my core.

Now I'm focused on strengthening my rear deltoids, upper back muscles and stretching my pecs. I still incorporate all the stretches and exercises I did before I figured out that the final piece to achieving excellent posture is those two. After a workout, I definitely stand like I never had posture issues and just being mindful throughout the day to correct my posture, then it'll become second nature. I can never imagine myself going back to always 1 before chin tucks it was a painful few days. Standing taller feels great & breathing feels so much better.

Is my posture perfect now? Nah, but it's getting there. I have been doing this for a little over a year.

Short version: chin tucks, wall angels, linked video, strengthen back muscles & rear delts, stretch hamstrings, hip flexors, & chest.

 

[withwonderingawe]

@kathyharville I will start incorporating some of the routines from the video.

 

[waqar]

@withwonderingawe Two things you can do at home that will really help with sitting related pain are band dislocates (for upper back) and forward folds (for lower back), or some other type of hamstring stretch.

Band dislocates are my favourite because I can sneak in a quick set almost anytime when working from home. Meeting with no camera? Do a set. Waiting for something to happen? Do a set. I try to get in a few sets throughout the day and this has made a massive difference for me. I'm sure strength training has helped, but before I started doing the dislocates I would start getting upper back pain pretty quickly after missing a couple lifting sessions. I recommend to do a few bands pull-aparts first to get muscles warmed up.

Forward folds are slightly trickier to get in because i find the best warm up to be glute bridges, which means laying down for a minute. But still will worth it. Again, I almost never have lower back pain anymore, even if I can't make it to the gym to do deadlifts.

 

[ashleydominique]

@withwonderingawe Hi Im currently recovering from back surgery, so its good to take steps before you get bad

I walk multiple times a day. I started small and slow, and worked my way up. I now walk around 8 miles a day, broken up of course.

I also do some backwards walking. I found doing it on a treadmill is 1,000% safer

Many yoga poses stretch the back reallllllllllly good. I think range of motion is what you are after but find what works for you