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Comment by ozim | Hacker News Reader

I am 36 and I subscribe to notion that no desk or ergonomic chair will help.

Only thing that helps is excercise.

I go to the gym at least 2x a week.

When gyms were closed during lockdowns I did not excercise or had much of movement anyway. Then I got my back hurting and other stuff.

Now I am back at the gym and all issues went away. Also I don’t lift super heavy but moderately like I don’t bench press 100kg so I finish at 70kg usually. So it more important to move than lift heavy. All gym bros will tell you to put on more weights but you don’t have to if it is not your goal. My goal is to be healthy.

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Also timers; reminding to constantly switch up positioning. Standing, sitting (especially with legs up), now and then lie down position even (e.g. for when reading specs/documentation).

Switching chairs is another one for me. I do have a HAG Capisco at my fully ergonomic standing desk setup but also work from the couch or kitchen table in between.

But yes, exercise is the main pillar; and AFAIR ergonomics basically means no repetitive or same posture or movement over longer stretches of time; body wants to change position and move about.

Lastly, breaking habit of overwork if current work phase allows (always questioning if the case / if working efficiently).

Exercise helps a lot. Sitting at a desk long-term will destroy your body after decades. Taking breaks and moving your body is important. Things like walking meetings and doing squats and bodyweight exercises are a good investment in your physiology and health.

Rowing is fantastic for this. There is a good balance between cardio workout and strength. If your day job involves sitting in a chair for eight hours a day then the all over effect finds those muscles that you don't use very often and tones them up.

I benefited greatly from an ergonomic chair. The biggest benefit to it is the max height was maybe 3 inches higher than my prior chair, which was enough to change my forearm from being angled upwards to being angled downwards.

Ergonomics are a reasonably complex topic that’s its own speciality and there’s not much in the way of one size fits all solutions.

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