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How do you solve the problem of sitting in a chair 8-16 hours per day?

10 points by andre ↗ HN
Most of are at our computers, and in a chair, 8 to 16 hours a day. Be it at the office, home or coffee shops. It' supposedly not that good for you. How do you deal with it? Here's some of what I do:

- Change chairs every few weeks, just to switch it up. I've used everything from office chairs, to wooden "kitchen" chairs, to stools. Now I have a HM chair.

- Getting up and stretching, although this is hard to do especially once I'm in the "zone" and don't want to be interrupted.

- Pills. Pain killers stop the small aches and pains.

I'd like to have the option of standing when I'm doing something that's trivial, like email/facebooking, but haven't figured out a way to do that in an easy way, either at the office or home.

Please add what you do.

18 comments

[ 10.2 ms ] story [ 83.5 ms ] thread
RBerenguel
My girlfriend (and myself, but only at home) use a gym ball as chair. Of course I can't recommend it to everyone, and long stretches sitting on it can be really tiresome. I wrote a blog post at my blog, you can check it at http://www.mostlymaths.net/2010/08/gym-ball-as-office-chair-...

It has worked wonders for small back pains in the lower parts, and also for some head aches related to spine problems, for me.

Give it a try, a gym ball is inexpensive.

parbo
Save the money you spend on pills and buy a motorized standing desk.
andre
that would take a long time, advil and aleve are pretty cheap. but long term, I think it's inevitable to buy such a desk.
igrekel
It exists?

I've seen standing desks but not motorized standing desks.

trampsymphony
Pills relieve the symptom, but a standup desk avoids the injury altogether. Get a motorized desk and split your time between sitting & standing.
maxawaytoolong
At work, I rotate between a swopper chair, regular chair, and exercise ball. I try to get up and go for a walk around the block every couple of hours.

At home I have a tall workbench instead of a desk. In the near future I am going to buy a motorized desk and do my work in a home office / workshop.

chrisclark1729
I commute on a bike, go to the gym every day and try and get up every time i'm NOT in "the zone."
dgroves
I stand. I have a standing desk at work that nobody used - I knew exactly what to do with it. Several people have asked why I stand and do not sit with the rest of the team. I tell them about the health issues of sitting all day - and to be honest the standing desk area has become quite crowded now. ;-) Funny, I was seriously just talking with my wife about this.
spiffage
I'm a huge fan of the motorized standing desk. I probably only actually stand up about 25% of the time, but it's an important 25%.
Towle_
Any time you've got something that can be done with a notepad and a pen, grab 'em both and walk around while you think and write. If nothing else, having a different environment for thinking while you jot down ideas can have a measurable effect on what comes to mind and how you think about it.
malandrew
Barcalounger or Laz-e-boy are good options.

I would also consider getting an iPad and using Instapaper to save all your reading for one big chunk of reading time. When reading time comes around get out of the office and go sit on a park bench or in a coffee shop. You can also deal with emails once a day the same way.

sirwitti
i´d try to avoid pills. if you have pain, your body tries to tells you something - so don´t ignore it.

i got exactly the some problem as you - and no solution that i stick with.

some months ago i read a lot about this topic. one of the things i learned was that one thing is bad for our body: being in one position for long times. so getting up for something to drink or a short talk is super. small exercises would be even better, but try that at your office,...

i also read that the solution with the exercise balls is not too good because your spine has to hold the complete weight of the body the whole day, which is too much for it. so something with armrests is better.

anybody got THE solution? is there a solution?

adient
You say you have a HM chair but if you didn't try the embody then you might be missing out. Reduced fatigue when sitting in the chair for 12+ hours means more productivity -- this chair has already paid for itself.

http://www.hermanmiller.com/Products/Embody-Chairs

Also, depending on the source of your pain, you may want to consult a chiropractor. Not sure what the views of this profession are on HN but it works wonders for me.