Posture &Sitting
The best posture for standing, sitting or even lying is one that maintains the natural curves in your spinal column. The key to achieving the healthiest posture for your back has as much to do with your legs as it
does your spine. The spine is naturally segmented in such a way that if one spinal curve is changed the others change too. This is because your head needs upright support to keep your eyes level and pointed ahead. Sitting the wrong way is bad for your whole spine, not just your lower back. When you sit with your knees more-or-less level with your hips (as with conventional seating), it instantly flattens the normal curve of your lower back. This pushes your upper back forward, which makes the muscles behind your neck work harder than they should. This is not a new discovery – orthopaedic surgeon and researcher J.J. Keegan arrived at the conclusion in 1955 that the best way to sit is to open your hip to a 135-degree angle, not 90-100 degrees as chairs are usually made. Saddle seats are a relatively newcomer to the market and are becoming more popular with those who sit at a desk for long periods. They are based on a much older design idea, the saddle for horses, hence the name. Saddle seats offer comfortable seating with the 135-degree hip angle, looking after your posture. Those who use them are at an advantage when it comes to looking after the spine. A 135-degree angle between thigh and spine gives you the strongest and most sustainable support for your lower back. Posture &DrivingMen tend to have different driving styles to women. One of the most obvious is the way they sit in the driver’s seat,perhaps in admiration of Formula One and Indy Car drivers.
Women, on the other hand, almost always sit more bolt upright with their butt pulled right back into the seat against the backrest. This way of sitting in a car is way more posture-friendly to the lower back. It is OK for racing drivers to be almost lying flat in their cars because that is how their seats are designed in order to accommodate the low center of gravity for high-speed cornering. For the rest of us, the seat needs to be close enough to the dash to easily reach the pedals properly, with your butt pulled right back into the seat as far as it can go. Otherwise, it will diminish the natural curve and strength of your spine. Gentlemen, it is time to pull that seat forward to a point that you can reach the firewall flat footed, while keeping your butt as far back into the seat as it can go… and don’t forget to adjust the mirrors when you do this. |
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