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Comment by diegocg | Hacker News Reader

The worst potential consequence of laying down is that your back muscles would become weaker. This is one of the reasons why sitting harms your back, and with laying down it would be even worse. Unless it's combined with some exercise it could be a really bad idea.

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I use a backless chair, called “The swooper”, imo it’s the best of both worlds. Sitting and standing.

You can bounce aroundd on it which is fun too as the seat is mounted on a spring like a pogo stick.

Apparently this bouncing helps keep the joints lubricated.

Do you mean 'Swopper', the stool with a single astable leg?

(Just for the benefit of anyone interested and trying to search for it :))

Sorry, I have this one: http://www.swopperusa.com/swopper-classic-high/

How long are you using it for every day? I also own that chair, but i find it uncomfortable for longer periods of time and tend switch to a chair with a backrest after ~1h

Hello,

Some days I actually sit on it for 8-10 hours (I hate to admit it).

I do take breaks and it can become fatiguing so occasionally, I feel like having a slouch so I go lie on the floor or use a regular chair (with decent posture) for a break.

Probably what this chair has done for me the most is make sitting with bad posture feel noticeably strange and unnatural.

There must also be something to be said for the fact that there is a “ramp up” time. I don’t think I have a stronger back from using this chair alone, although I guess I do have a less damaged and atrophied one. I do remember a time when it felt like certain muscles were getting stronger. I vaguely remember it taking a few months to become comfortable.

It’s worth mentioning that I do a fair bit of weight training too and that I’ve had the chair for about 8 years.

I can confirm. I've mostly been working from my bed during these Covid times, and once I started going to the gym I was astonished by just how weak my back was, as opposed to my upper body or legs. But thankfully, it's building back up nicely.

Are there good exercises for your back to offset sitting? Body weight exercises would be ideal.

These names are Physical Therapy exercises.

Forearm plank, side bridge, bird-dog, dead bug.

This video is a meta-analysis of the best rehab exercises for the glute muscles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgWSsaC3UJk

This page has pictures of the above mentioned PT exercises: https://mikereinold.com/5-common-core-exercise-mistakes-and-...

+1.

I recently did PT for lower back stuff mostly related to sitting for long periods.

I went from constant “3-4” level pain to “0-1” pain. I’m still working on strengthening, and re-injured my back moving something heavy, but PT was a game changer.

A lot of stretching like the above video shows, as well as working on posture, sleeping position, as well as just overall education on how my muscles work and what to do when I feel them tighten up or feel an area swelling up.

It’s mostly simple stuff but requires habit changes and can be time consuming so you have to fit it into regular routines. Stretching before/after bed, while you brush teeth, etc.

You look weird randomly stretching on a stair while you stir your tea, but it can make a big difference.

Not body weight, but deadlifts are a good counteraction. Glutes, lower back and upper back all come into play.

Yup. It's sort of astonishing how neatly doing reasonably heavy deadlifts 1-2x a week just fixes basically all the usual lower back problems common to middle age and a lifestyle with a ton of sitting.

Heavy deads fixed my back. Took a while to work up, but it was the best thing I have ever done.

Same here. It's unfortunately something a doctor is unlikely to recommend, even though it's very effective.

Same, deadlifts help a lot.

Can confirm the same for me!

Along with the other good replies, I think almost any strength exercise that has any connection to the back will probably do fine, especially if you're not doing anything at all right now.

Among the many other things I had hammered into me about health when I was a kid in the late 1980s and 1990s that I've come to reject is the incessant hammerbeat about aerobics, aerobics, aerobics. I think the evidence is that the average person is better off with a lot more strength training, which will incidentally train you on some aerobics, and if you feel like occasionally folding some aerobics in, hey, go for it. They're not bad or anything. But they ought to be considered a specialist training, like working out legs specifically for biking, not a default that everybody do. Strength training is a default everybody should work on. Strength training isn't so you can lift 300 pounds when you help your friend move... it because it makes everything work better. You sleep better. Your back hurts less. You fall less. You build a better base for aging.

not an expert, but I talked to my physical trainer about this. he said sitting all day is not necessarily that bad for you if you sit with a good upright posture that engages the core. of course, almost no one does this. most people will tend to slouch forward, which has a couple consequences.

your shoulders will shrug and round forwards, which will limit your range of motion over time. any stretch that retracts the scapula should help; also if you do any exercise like a row, make sure to focus on really pinching your scapula together.

your core muscles will weaken, leaving your spine more vulnerable to injury. "hunched forward" will become your default posture which exacerbates this further. your spine is actually really strong when it is aligned properly, but you need good core strength to do this. doing a "hollow body" pose and your basic plank are good ways to strengthen these muscles (overarching your spine in either direction is a problem).

A swivel-less hard chair forces one to find the right position to sit up IMO. Chair height, distance to keyboard, desk height, they all play a role too. But comfy chairs are not good in the long run

I found they impact your legs..

Locust pose from yoga is phenomenal for back strength.

Edit: You probably also should focus on core work too. Try some forearm planks to start.

Did you mean Lotus position?

Nope, Padmasana isn’t a back strengthening pose, although a strong core is necessary to maintain it for a typical meditation session. Salabhasana (locust pose) is great for the entire back side of the body.

The McGill big 3 are a good place to start.

not an expert, but a gymrat.

I'd say anything that engages the core (superman, plank variations) and activates the upper back (YTWL's) would be good choices, ideally substituted with some stretches or mobility work

I would like some sort of setup like this when I throw my back out. I usually can’t do anything except lay in bed for 2-3 days and am pretty much useless. But I could at least do some work while I’m not sleeping.

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