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Improve Your 'Hunched over the PC' Posture

dumblittleman.com — One of the most neglected aspects of our health is our posture. Amongst all the guidelines on healthy eating and workout methods, this essential facet of our well-being is often overlooked. Here we take a look at six core stretches that will increase your flexibility from head to toe.

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  • fdw2006, on 01/31/2008, -24/+8What about Mac back? Always being left out, sigh
  • mortigon, on 01/31/2008, -0/+47i prefer the 'sunk down into my chair' posture over the 'hunched over the PC' one.
    • ZeDJS, on 01/31/2008, -0/+1lol hell yea
    • DarkPrincess74, on 01/31/2008, -0/+3Hunched over is so 90s, sunk under is the posture of the new century. Sliding down my chair helps me to think better so then in theory I'll work less and be doing something else so there ya go.
    • qwertydvorak, on 01/31/2008, -0/+3i bought a gaming laptop so i could do the "feet up in the recliner posture."
  • dantidote, on 01/31/2008, -0/+21I wish they had some pictures... Put my arms around a stretch band and walk on the ceiling? What are they talking about? You control the stretch.
    • crakbot, on 01/31/2008, -0/+1The descriptions are not that good either. For the hamstring stretch they leave out a critical aspect. YOU HAVE TO BE LAYING DOWN! I would like to see people try that one standing up.
    • DumbLittleMan, on 01/31/2008, -0/+1danidote - I agree with you so I asked the author for some pictures and he just sent them over. I added them to the article about 5 minutes ago. Thanks
  • nitsnipe, on 01/31/2008, -1/+18The woman in the pic is not sitting in front of a PC.
    And judging from her body, what she is wearing, a handbag hanging from the cair, tells me that she does not belong to our species of Geeks, who have long adapted to such a posture, and don't need any strechin'.
    • Dokument, on 01/31/2008, -1/+2laptops are worse for posture than desktops anyway. plus that adds to her non geeky-ness.
      • nullx42, on 01/31/2008, -2/+4...untill you go to her flicker page and see that:
        It's a mac with photoshop [so shes not a stupid limewire/myspace/facebook drone]
        She has a wacom tablet [not a for a facebook application]
        CameraBag [she's prolly a photographer which is geeky in its own way.]

        upon further inspection of her flicker, I give her my geek stamp of approval. Now stfu and go get laid.
    • antiorblkflag9, on 01/31/2008, -0/+1I dunno, my back seems to hurt an awful lot
  • mehss, on 01/31/2008, -0/+3Soon we will evolve into hunchbacks of........
  • valkyries, on 01/31/2008, -0/+21hey leave me alone I'm trying to evolve here, more aerodynamic during the parties(lan of course)
  • Jenadae, on 01/31/2008, -0/+1This involves to much moving... buried
  • raquel9e, on 01/31/2008, -0/+7Ummm, these are stretches. I don't see how that improves posture...
    • tomj88, on 01/31/2008, -0/+2Exactly what I was thinking. Some good tips for improving your posture while using a computer is to try to keep the monitor at eye level so you don't have to look down as much.
    • Croaton, on 01/31/2008, -0/+1Stretching alliviates tensions in the muscles and prevents them from cramping up... sitting hunched over keeps constant stress and strain on the neck, back and shoulders...

      Keeping the monitor -just- below eye level relieves stess on the neck and prevents you from getting the infamous vulture-neck...
  • limezor2, on 01/31/2008, -0/+2What about the 'leaning back, very comfortable' position?
  • baseballbear, on 01/31/2008, -0/+17i'll admit that i was hunched over when i saw this article on the front page
    • MarkTaiwan, on 01/31/2008, -0/+1good to know that i'm not the only one...
  • EmitStop, on 01/31/2008, -2/+5Superman dat ho!
  • johnmatias, on 01/31/2008, -0/+1*psh* and look like everyone else. No thanks, I'll keep my tell-tale posture.

    Buried for being a waste of my time.
  • Pake, on 01/31/2008, -0/+22They'd have a ***** fit if they ever saw how I sit in my chair. Lower back is on the edge, ass in the air, knees next to my mouth, legs crossed at shin, left foot on the keyboard pullout and right foot on the portion above the pullout. 5'9" at 135lbs and I take up about a 2'x2'x1' volume. Basically, I'm in a ball formation while using the computer.
    • dotlizard, on 01/31/2008, -0/+3sounds more like a pretzel formation but yeah. i tend to wad myself up in odd ways too, it's just comfy that way.
    • Ludwig, on 01/31/2008, -0/+3People tend to look at me funny when I sit like that at work.
    • Marijuana, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2I'm just having a ***** fit that Smeagol is commenting on Digg...
  • Sonic84, on 01/31/2008, -0/+3when I read the title I immediately though it was referring to reaching over behind the PC to plug in a device cable.....
  • pyro789x, on 01/31/2008, -0/+5Oh... those are arms... I thought the picture was a giant rabbit sitting hunched on the edge of his bed.
    • ChristianMagic, on 01/31/2008, -2/+1But why would she be wearing a stupid rabbit suit?
  • dedelman912, on 01/31/2008, -0/+6pointless without pictures
  • tibbon, on 01/31/2008, -3/+11I don't have a bad PC posture. I use a Mac.
    • pnmoore, on 01/31/2008, -5/+3PC = Personal Computer, Mac = brand of PC....I guess MacBooks are not laptops (or notebook, whatever you preference) either
      • ifknot, on 01/31/2008, -0/+3are you autistic? it's what's called "humor"
    • rheaume, on 01/31/2008, -1/+9Then this is your posture:

      Hint: you're the girl, Jobs is the guy
      • ifknot, on 01/31/2008, -1/+2Yeah? Well micro$oft is spit roasting you! Only Linux users can walk upright!
  • BlackTye, on 01/31/2008, -0/+5"Reverse Superman"?
    I'm sorry but it sounds like a sex position.
    Hmmmmm. Note to self....
  • Justin6512, on 01/31/2008, -0/+4I had to hunch even more so that I could read the title of this story
  • sonicularulus, on 01/31/2008, -0/+22haha. once i saw the title, i right away sat up straight haha
    • Rocketbird, on 01/31/2008, -0/+1LOL! Me too. Now if only I could maintain this posture for more than 5 minutes.
  • VinnieDaMac, on 01/31/2008, -0/+1Too hard without pictures to demonstrate.
  • xlent, on 01/31/2008, -0/+1i dont believe it w/o pictures
  • GravityExNihilo, on 01/31/2008, -1/+1I use a laptop, I'm usually laying on my back with it on my chest. Sure as hell beats uncomfortable chairs and hunching.
    • VeganG, on 01/31/2008, -0/+3We'll get bad spines, you'll get bed sores. It's all good.
  • rheaume, on 01/31/2008, -0/+3I wouldn't say I'm hunched 'over' the pc, more like, in front of it.

    I'm good!
  • gameradam, on 01/31/2008, -0/+4Buy a decent office chair?
  • MuffinPatrol, on 01/31/2008, -0/+1Just duck tape yourself to the back of your chair and problem solved.
  • discreet, on 01/31/2008, -0/+1I worked at a design studio that gave you your own exercise ball to sit on, supposedly it's been shown to do great things for your posture. The interweb backs that statement up http://walking.about.com/cs/fitnesswalking/a/ballc ...
  • schwab002, on 01/31/2008, -0/+3I don't have a ***** stretch band.
  • munee23, on 01/31/2008, -0/+0A good massage would re-correct your posture more desirably.
  • toohot06, on 01/31/2008, -0/+1and after all of these stretches you will magically sit up straight...
    or hunch over more comfortably
  • leerayIG88, on 01/31/2008, -0/+1Using a chair is good but I just stand. mmm, can you see the spider veins on my legs? Sexy.
  • oo7akbnd, on 01/31/2008, -0/+1phew... I'm glad I control the stretch..
  • fudged71, on 01/31/2008, -0/+1needs pics and cowbell
  • penno, on 01/31/2008, -0/+3can anyone follow these exercises? "Put one leg on floor at a 90 degree angle" what the ***** does that mean?
    • uldreg, on 01/31/2008, -1/+0"put one leg on floor at a 90 degree angle"
      What the ***** is there to not understand. Seriously, consume less crayons through your nose.
  • iguanapunk, on 01/31/2008, -0/+7Pics or it wont happen.
  • hakz, on 01/31/2008, -0/+1So I have to do all that before sitting at a pc? Too much work
  • iota, on 01/31/2008, -1/+1I like the randomly generated icons that the comments on this blog uses, but I feel sorry for the person who was randomly assigned a swastika as their icon.
  • minorthreat, on 01/31/2008, -2/+1buried, I go to the gym, I know how to stretch. It has no effect on how I chose to sit at my PC.
  • jazzboyrules, on 01/31/2008, -2/+1NSFW
  • EdwardsNH, on 01/31/2008, -0/+3Couple of notes:
    - You can use a towel instead of a stretch band
    - Keep your back flat on the floor for exercises three and five
    - You'll want to keep your rear foot on the floor in exercise six if you have bad knees

    General stretching tips:
    - Never stretch a cold muscle, do at least a couple of minutes of warming up
    - Don't push it! If it hurts, back off a bit. Small progress every week will add up
    - If you take the stretch to where you start to feel it, then tense/flex every muscle you can for 10-20 seconds, you will be able to comfortably take the stretch a bit further as you relax. Repeat

    ps - IMHO, this is a great set of core stretches that balance each other nicely
  • ep53, on 01/31/2008, -0/+2I prefer the "Superman" position (involves laying flat on stomach, stretched out(have been in this position for nearly 4 hrs now)
  • supermanred, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1The xbox 360 laid back on the couch position hasnt helped much either for me...
  • JoeG254, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1http://www.t-nation.com/article/performance_traini ...
    http://www.t-nation.com/article/performance_traini ...

    Two good articles on improving PC posture
  • mariecasas, on 07/31/2008, -0/+1Ouch. That headline SCREAMED out to me.
  •  

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