Posture

up:: Health & Fitness
sources:: Deskbound - Kelly Starrett

The Problem

Modern humans, that work office jobs, suck at posture. We're hunched down on our chairs, which causes:

• Slumped shoulders
• Compressed bowels and lungs
  • We can't breathe well
  • We can't digest well
• Back that constantly switches between overextension and slouching

Correct Posture

• Stand up straight
• Flex your butt
• Flex your abs
• Let go of flexing your but, keep abs at 20%
• Feet pointing forward and screwing in the ground (external rotation of the hips)
• Shoulders
  • Arms to the side
  • Palms pointed up
  • Arms back down, palms back in, while keeping the shoulders in the same external rotation

A good cue for standing tall: there's a string on top / back of your head pulling you up. (Your head should not be looking "up", in fact it should be slightly looking down. We've unlearned this because we slouch at our desk and then have to look "up.")

Sitting

External rotation of the hips is key. This is why lotus position is so good: when the hips are positioned well, the lower back is in the right position (just like when you flex your butt when standing up).

Manspreading is a good posture for damage control if you need to sit on a chair. See Kelly on Mansplaining Manspreading.

A good cue for sitting well is this: push your tailbone back into the chair. You'll feel you sit a bit higher up as well.

Desk Posture

Main principle: keep moving.

You can't just switch to a standing desk and have everything fixed. Standing up should make you move around more.

Have:

• A high stool with hard edges so you can sit on it, but it's not comfortable to stay a long time
• Something to elevate your feet
• Breaks every 30 minutes where you move and stretch a bit