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Kettlebell How posture can screw up S&S progress.

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Steve Freides said:
We ought to mention there are alternatives to sitting poorly and standing - sit better. Focus on having a firm, non-rolling chair that you can sit at the front edge of, feet tucked underneath you or flat in front of you. If you don't treat the back of your chair as mould into which you pour your limp spine, sitting won't be as bad for you. And whatever your chair, if you use a lumbar support to correct your passive posture, you'll also be much better off.

-S-
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Indeed. Kelly actually has a part in the book about this kind of sitting (he favors wooden stools or sitting cross legged or semi cross legged on a chair). Personally I find it more difficult to sit correctly than to stand correctly. But I am quite tall (194 cm / 6' 4'') and about 99% of chairs are too low for me to sit in a good position.
 
Useful ideas here. Here are a few more.

I use the pomodoro system to schedule breaks to remind me to move. Standing all day is not the answer either. An adjustable desk is best. When I am writing I often forget otherwise.

I have a dowel in my office to do shoulder dislocations. People would understand this at work I think. I also do the crucifix stretch twice a day: Tip: The Stretch You Should Do Every Day | T Nation

Flexible steel by Jon Engrum has a nice good morning hamstring stretch with a kettlebell behind the back that pulls back the shoulders as well. Untying the 4 Knots: Jon Engum's 4 Weeks to Flexible Steel Program I should do this more often. Weighted stretching feels really good like the armbar does.

Batwings exercise from Dan John. A regular kb may be too heavy. Light dumbells work best.

Eye gaze to the horizon and distance when walking always.

No amount of exercises will help if you are looking down at your phone all day!
 
Just came back from the kine. He adviced me to skip KB work this week: around the left scapula everything was knotted up. I did practice KB this morning, and when I did MP's, the left scapula and shoulder creacked and popped when moving the bell in the press phase. So I will lay off for the remainder of the week. Sleeping with my head a bit higher does help.
 
TravisS said:
I have had a stand up desk at work for nearly a year.
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I've been stand up desking for over a year and really like it. I do wonder if any of you other standers have any thoughts about how you stand while you stand (if that makes sense). I find that I shift my weight to one side and kinda pop out the hip on that side. This doesn't seem like a great way to stand. Thoughts?

I also have a dense cardboard tube that I stand on and roll back and forth on my bare feet, feels wonderful!
 
Zach said:
This doesn't seem like a great way to stand. Thoughts
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It's not, it promotes muscle imbalance through the pelvic girdle and places a lot of shear stress through the pubis symphysis.

A good tactic is to stagger your stance with one leg forward and another back a bit. Switch it up every now and then so you don't always stand with a specific leg forward/backward.
 
Looked into getting stand up desks at work - the objections from staff made it a no go despite me stating there would be matts, foot bars and stools.

Currently thinking of trialing it with just my desk and see if it catches on. Think of your standing all day you need a matt or foot bar to alleviate the pressure on the lowerback - stanfing or sotting the issue I feel is just being in one position too much
 
@rickyw Thanks for confirming. I've been doing this already with my front foot on the tube, and it does seem to help.

Glen said:
Currently thinking of trialing it with just my desk and see if it catches on.
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@Glen This is how it started at my workplace. One long time worker got a varidesk (adjustable up and down), then I just jacked mine up on the cube walls so it's always high (cheaper, and didn't need to ask for anything, just got a stool). Now there are six total who are standing.
 
I have read more than once that standing up all day is actually not that good either. Cashiers have a lot of leg and back problems. Alternating raising a foot is helpful. I suggest an adjustable desk (this is a trend now) where you might work half and half during the day. I think people are confusing standing up with moving. The human body is made to move, not sit or stand all day. Google adjustable desk. Also, kids in some elementary schools are getting desks they can adjust. The results are very positive, especially for boys.
 
I started working in standing position recently, its now about 60% standing and 40% sitting. My boss wanted to buy me standing desk, but they are so expensive! I managed to build an add-on to my desk in form of Ikea table with shelf for my hands. It is quite good and changing from one mode to the other is a question of 30-60s.

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I used ikea tv table that I already had, but its too narrow and the construction isnt really stable, I will switch it to two ikea tables from link below:

A standing desk for $22

One thing that is critcal to standing work, according to Kelly Starret, is to use something that you can stand on with one of your leg, so you can do a pose like Captain Morgan from the well-known rum brand ;) It sets your hips in optimal position and helps standing longer.

I totally agree that its not about standing/sitting but moving/not moving - and standing desk helps a lot and doing squats, dancing to music, walking around drinking coffee, etc, are much easier when you are standing :)
 
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@Zach : Actually, Kelly Starrett says that you need something to elevate your foot. He considers this essential for a standing working station. Like the railings they use at bars, where you can put your feet on. Personally I like to use a lacrosse ball.

Also, you might want to add sitting breaks when your standing form breaks down. Or do some tall sitting by leaning against a tall stool (again, like in a bar).
 
@guardian7 and @Bauer - I totally agree. I have a stool that I sit on for a little while every hour or so. I also use a roughly 4" diameter cardboard tube that I can roll back and forth on either one foot out front, or stand completely on and balance while rolling front to back. In front of that I have a 14" high cupboard type thing that I can raise one foot up on when I need too. I also stand barefoot as much as possible. I notice when I have shoes on I tend to ignore what my posture is doing more due to my weight being absorbed into the shoe, in other words, I tend to not distribute my weight very evenly in shoes.
 
Update: I had an MRI last Sunday, and just got back from the doctor this evening for results. The verdict: four (4!) protruding disks in my neck: C2-C3, C3-C4, C4-C5, C5-C6. The result of my gymnastic days apparently. Nothing life threatening, but he advised me to forgo of overhead lifts. So no presses, snatches or even TGU's. What a bummer! I will stop kettlebelling for a few weeks, and slowly start again after the summer holidays.
 
@Jan thats a pity, hope you recover quickly. So after a few months you´ll be able to do overhead lifts again?
 
@rickyw : Thanks :)
@Oscar : Thanks:) I hope I can start doing overhead lifts again, yes. The doctor said my neck had had a lot to endure, and mending will take time, but I should be fine in the end.
 
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