Despite generally good health, for decades I treated my body as little more than a vehicle for getting my brain to meetings (to quote Terry Eagleton), but now, after 18 months in physical therapy for a range of postural issues including 2 herniated disks and SI joint pain, I have slowly realized two things:
(1) one's butt is not just a handy cushion to make office chairs more comfortable; it's full of muscles critical to posture and locomotion.
(2) PT can be only the beginning of a solution that requires a lifelong change of daily habits.
I was meaning to write up an article about it, but this one did a nice job.
Posture stuff, for sure it is a noticeable problem. Just standing isn’t really a big help as noted. Standing still is not really a natural thing to do, right? People typically move. The only thing that has worked for me is standing desk+dance music on my headphones. Only when working from home… although maybe that can be used to stave off return to office.
Most worried about heart disease though, since it is the #1 killer of Americans I guess a job that typically involves sitting for long stretches can’t be good (maybe? In some Bayesian sense, I mean, increasing the chances of what is already your highest risk can’t be good, right? I haven’t done the math).
Hoping augmented reality becomes a widespread thing. Imagine a campus that is mostly made of secluded wooded walking paths.
I've found that walking is good for thinking, and you can also have small walking meetings. AR could plausibly make larger walking meetings possible. But I need to be stationary for the actual work, because you can't just walk around without paying attention. Especially in the woods.
I am 40 and have been doing computer stuff since I was 13. I have always had lower back pain, and moderate carpal-tunnel-ish wrist pain.
The last 2 years however, I've been suffering some insane "migraines", often but not always after an intense work session (even just a few hours sometimes). My neck and head kills, I feel nauseous, sensitive to light and sound, and generally shitty.
I still haven't had a proper diagnosis, but I think it might be "cervicogenic" headaches, basically a headache starting with neck nerves.
Working on neck retraction excercises a few times a day to hopefully help. But as I get older and will likely keep working for a long time, this stuff is so important to sort out.
Very similar situation for me. I've been diagnosed with chronic migraine. I always had it to some degree, but the last few years have been worse. The most consistent trigger is working more than about 6 hours in a day.
The lower back and other posture issues are definetely real, but back issues are a first wave of the consequences.
In the long term, the concerns mentioned below for heart disease, resulting from a lifetime of sitting for a living, are definitely an issue.
Believe it or not, the actual sitting, having your butt supporting your weight all day, for decades, can also contribute to prostate issues in men, with prostate cancer also being a significant killer.
The illustrations in the article are of a female computer user, so she wouldn't have to worry about the prostate injury...
People talk up resistance training these days and it's indisputably great for you, but other practices like pilates, yoga, acrobatics, dance, alexander technique / feldonkreis, rolfing, etc are the ones that aim straight at these occupational hazards.
The athletic ones also have a high skill ceiling that can be very fun to pursue and is akin to chasing PR's in quantized practices like lifting or running.
Being physically active certainly improves your overall health. Also choosing the correct hardware, good chairs, desks with appropriate hight and such.
Anyone at Substack around to shut down this blog?