If you need to work your core muscles, then sitting on a swiss ball might help - but you'll get the weird looks that most people try to avoid. If you don't fancy the pilates, then you might want to invest in a slendertone system abs belt.
Of course taking a frequent break will really help. Develop a caffeine addiction to get you moving about (only joking).
Edit: just noticed the muscles/lower back bit - I doubt strengthening your stomach but not the back will help much...
Herman Miller Aeron, can't go wrong with it. Note it comes in 3 sizes. The lumbar support thing it has is rather obtrusive though, I tend to move it all the way down, to support my pelvis, otherwise it pushes into my lower back too much. This chair has helped my back a lot!
I would love to discover this (see vid) in a shop in the states to at least try out for a day. That would actually be an awesome service. Office furniture showroom/demo room w/ wifi. Try out a setup for a day while actually working.
omg i'd never heard of the obutto cockpits before. my friend has the seat that specifically pairs with the DF2 and GT5, but i'd never seen a general computing version. WANT!!
I realize that you mentioned you are in good shape, mkawa, and have a regular exercise routine, so this info probably won't be helpful for you but is relevant for others. Also I doubt you want an obutto cockpit, again, relevant to the ergo discussion.
You did Gymnastics? What and how much? Sorry, it's just so rare I see others that have dabbled even a little in Gymnastics.friend convinced me to try. loved it. small build, masochist, just happened. i mostly focus on conditioning though because i get very dizzy doing most beginner skills
my dad had two herniated discs at 30 something (i'm sure having three kids didn't help)
aaaaaahhh hate supermans so so much :(In my time as a gymnast, I came to recognize waking up, barely able to stand (let alone walk), with every muscle as sore as possible as the natural order of things. Now, I enjoy the soreness I get after a good workout the day before. Eventually, I thought I might become addicted to working out (I feel the endorphin release very strongly) so I had to quit. Now I'm slowly working my way back into it.
omg i'd never heard of the obutto cockpits before. my friend has the seat that specifically pairs with the DF2 and GT5, but i'd never seen a general computing version. WANT!!
I realize that you mentioned you are in good shape, mkawa, and have a regular exercise routine, so this info probably won't be helpful for you but is relevant for others. Also I doubt you want an obutto cockpit, again, relevant to the ergo discussion.
it sounds like i do need to modify my routine even more to do the lower back, glut and leg stabs workouts that i've been half-assing. i've gone from cycling -> running + cycling -> (achilles tendonitis) running -> cycling + running + gymnastics -> (runner's knee) -> gymnastics + swimming -> :(
yea you ppl with good cores (core strength, someone could explain more or just google core strength) could stand more abuse lol cuz you got muscle holding you up.I don't know much about ergonomics, but I will contribute what I can in the areas I do know. Directly, to respond to Lanx, IT 's true! I would rate core strength as the most important muscle group. I was a gymnast for 9 years, and my coach was a physical therapist (which basically meant that she knew everything). When we worked on our "core" muscles, it normally included: Abdominals, Obliques (On the side), and Latisimus dorsi (lats). Sometimes we'd also do the hip-flexor muscles, (right below the abs, and related to raising the legs up) but I consider them to be more lags than core.
Right now the thing that I am liking the most is the adjustable height desk with soft-roll front lip (gently rounded instead of square w/ a small quarter round).
Let's think outside of the box.As a gymnast, we did squats with no extra weight. Several hundred at a time. It is a very good exercise, especially if you can set up a pillow or something to make sure you go down far enough. Focusing on form, it can be an excellent exercise. That said, I don't think it'll do much for mkawa's upper back, or core. Sure, any balancing exercise like a squat will work out core a little, but squats are much more legs (and back, if you do them wrong).
mkawa, do you have a gym membership? If you do, and if you read the description of how to do squats on fitocracy and watch some youtube videos, maybe you can alleviate your problems for the cost of gym membership and a little time & sweat? (as little as 15 minutes a session)
EDIT: Just kidding, didn't see dorkvader's post re: working on your body to alleviate problems. But yes, I recommend starting squats. My back is now more than 5x stronger than when I first started. I think it will definitely help with your back pain.
like dv said, my problem is that i do too many squats and not enough superman holds/lifts. not my fault! I HATE THEM. seriously, when i first started it was the only thing that had ever made me want to pukeWeightlifting will wear out the cushioning between your bones and make the pain worse, especially later in life when your muscles start atrophying and can no longer redistribute loads as effectively.
That "ergo" chart can't be right. I seem to recall the new recommendations to be wider angles all around. I know I can't have all my joints at 90s and be comfortable.
Your eyes should be about even with the top of your screen to help prevent eye/neck strain. :cool:Show Image(http://i.imgur.com/AsHK3.jpg)
I picked up a leather humanscale freedom chair for a steal about 2 months ago, and what little lower back pain I was experiencing after extended seating disappeared, the task chair I was using previously did not have a headrest so that may have had something to do with it. Ergonomic corrections to your existing layout are well worth the effort in the mid-long run and I am happy I splurged on the chair and made the smaller ergo adjustments where possible. I would recommend 2nd hand for higher end, there are some great deals out there.
Your eyes should be about even with the top of your screen to help prevent eye/neck strain. :cool:
That thing is nuts, glod. Looks like it is straight out of a sci-fi film.
I watched as much as I could of the adjustment tutorial vids. Can't believe after 2 years that none of the knobs and levers have given out.
one of the problems with "try before you buy" is that you really need to use a workstation for a good few weeks to get a good idea of how it's going to work in the long term.
When you buy from SmartFurniture.com, if you are not 100% satisfied with your purchase, we will be happy to accept a return for a full refund for up to 365 days from your date of purchase -- we will even pay the cost of shipping the product back to us if you return the product within 30 days after it is delivered.*
They didn't know he was going to buy on-line and perhaps if they didn't treat him that way he would have bought from them?
lol, the sales staff could probably tell if you are a customer or you are just there to try out stuff and basically take advantage of the fact that the store has stuff out there for ppl to try. I was in sales for 4 years, i could tell with 90% accuracy if a person was.
a buyer
a browser
an abuser
lol, the sales staff could probably tell if you are a customer or you are just there to try out stuff and basically take advantage of the fact that the store has stuff out there for ppl to try. I was in sales for 4 years, i could tell with 90% accuracy if a person was.
a buyer
a browser
an abuser
lol, the sales staff could probably tell if you are a customer or you are just there to try out stuff and basically take advantage of the fact that the store has stuff out there for ppl to try. I was in sales for 4 years, i could tell with 90% accuracy if a person was.
a buyer
a browser
an abuser
Could you explain? I'm actually pretty curious about this.
guy comes in, wants a chair, you help him and show him this chair, that chair, oh you want this dot com era chairs? or the chairs from 24? sure here they are, 1 hour later he says thanks, i'll go buy it online, and now you've potentially lost 20bucks or how much you would have made in that hour if you had customer that bought from you, a salesman on commission doesn't think that "oh well that's a lost sale" no a salesman on commission thinks, "that customer STOLE, 20bucks from me" because in the end, what do you have in your pockets? nothing, exactly what you got from that. Of course someone can come in with BS, like it's your job to help ppl, or it comes with the territory, or crap like that, those ppl if they are salesmen themselves just suc, they are the lowest common denominator as a salesman, and these kinds of salesman can't tell the difference between...
I foresee a lot of retail stuff moving toward brand sponsored showrooms (no salesman) and on-line sales.I think that is the missing element of online sales. Do you think these showrooms would only display 1 brand or combine with there competitors. For example would Steelcase, HM, Humanscale, etc. display at the same showroom or would a brand have its own proprietary showroom? Another alternative might be renting display space from an office chain like Office Max or Staples. Unfortunately I think the economics of 50 showrooms dedicated to one brand conveniently scattered across the land that doesn't sell but just displays may not pencil out as well as simply offering a 30 day return policy.
for long periods of sitting, i can't think of a single chair i've used under 400$ or so that has not ended up causing some kind of pain, and i've gone through quite a few. in retrospect, if i'd thrown down on a proper ergo chair 10 years ago, i'd have spent the same amount of money total and saved myself a lot of soft tissue pain.
photographers often say the same thing about tripods, and i'm sure there are tons of other examples in the world of mechanical engineering. there's a certain amount of hard reality that the laws of (bio!)physics provide.
for long periods of sitting, i can't think of a single chair i've used under 400$ or so that has not ended up causing some kind of pain, and i've gone through quite a few. in retrospect, if i'd thrown down on a proper ergo chair 10 years ago, i'd have spent the same amount of money total and saved myself a lot of soft tissue pain.
photographers often say the same thing about tripods, and i'm sure there are tons of other examples in the world of mechanical engineering. there's a certain amount of hard reality that the laws of (bio!)physics provide.
Has anyone had any experience with instylemodern? They have a pretty big selection of refurb chairs, at a very good price, and free shipping, 30 day returns. It seems like they have their own retail stores and recently opened up their online store in June according to Yahoo.
Really tempted to buy off of them, but just unsure of their reputation.
http://news.yahoo.com/style-modern-furnishings-launches-official-website-225220530.html
http://www.instylemodern.com/category-s/65.htm
1. Herman Miller Embody Chair or Aeron Chair (adjustable backs and arm rests). There's a good reason these chairs cost so much - cheap knock offs will leave you suffering still.
Great start; there's not many good guides to ergonomic chairs around.
I wonder, would you be able to do a "best chair under $X" guide (e.g. $200, $300)? It would be really helpful to me to know what's the best bang-for-your-buck at lower price points.