My Shitty Old Chair
In the 16 years of my career of sitting behind the computer for 8+ hrs a day, I’ve met quite a lot of people that have problems with their lower back, their neck, their wrist etc. I was one of them, and had problems with all of those, too. Sometimes all at once. And throughout, I sat like a slouch in my shitty 10+ year old Ikea Markus chair. Back or neck pain from sitting wrong and for too long is a professional dysfunction and you’d be surprised to know how many people believe that it’s unavoidable, and simply comes with the job. For most, the pain is a manifestation of a lack of movement outside of sitting behind the screen. The answer on how to fight this problem is pretty apparent, so why do so many people do nothing still?
It’s hard to break a habit, even if it’s an unhealthy one. Sitting like a slouch just feels fitting to the job, I guess. We’re prone to trying different things that would get us closer to the results faster. Workouts that we then don’t want to do. Chairs that we don’t really want to sit in. Tables that we need to stand behind. For me, the way to finally circumvent the problem was simple - daily exercise that has a strong emphasis on core strength. Every day, 10-15 minutes. That’s it. Now, after 5+ years of doing the exercises, I don’t need to think about how I sit anymore, I can slouch all that I want (although I probably don’t as much). I generally feel better and stronger. And I haven’t had problems with sitting in my shitty 10+ year old Ikea Markus chair ever since I just added one new good habit to battle my unhealthy one. And I still love my shitty old chair.