This is just a quick example of why it's always good to check the source material.
Cracked ran an article today about several things people are doing wrong, and the number one thing they listed was sitting. According to a an experiment they cite, one researcher tested disk movement for people slouching, sitting up straight, and leaning back at a 135˚ angle. They found that leaning back does the least damage to the spine.
Interested, I clicked on their link which sent me to this article from MSNBC, which among other things, says:
When strain is placed on the spine, the spinal disks start to move and misalign. At a 90-degree sitting position, this movement was most prominent.
With this, I was considered making a lifestyle change to slouching when using the computer, as leaning back isn't usually an option for serious work. But, I still wanted to read more about the experiment.
Unfortunately, they didn't have the link to the actual paper. A bit of googling led me to an article that actually had the experiment's methodology, which says that slouching was actually the worst position!
It maintained that leaning back is best, but according to the results the 90˚ angle isn't that bad, especially since most of the other articles I found were implying that the advice to sit up straight is wrong. Considering that people are usually slouching when the advice is given, sitting up is still an improvement. This is especially true at places like dinner tables, where leaning back as suggested isn't really an option.
Moral of the story: Do research before changing personal habits, regardless of where the information comes from.
Note: Afterwards, I did a bit more googling to see which other news sources carried this story incorrectly. The most prominent misinformation came from a Fox News article, who carried the following headline:
Study: Slouching Better for Back Than Sitting Up Straight
This is based on modest amounts of information and a fair amount of theory. I do NOT recommend using your initial ideas to correct your posture.
I developed back aches when I tried to correct my posture, and a couple of people I know got backaches after years of self-directed posture correction.
Yes, I know, people get backaches, how do I know there was a causal connection?
Here comes the theory-- if you have bad posture, you're probably pretty numb. Your first idea of how to make a correction will be a guess based on ideas from the culture, not an attentive approach based on either detailed knowledge of the human body or sensitivity to your own body.
When you make your correction, you will be able to feel that you've made a change, and I think this can turn into a case of "something must be done, this is something, therefore it must be done".
I recommend Feldenkrais method (I've gotten good results from Somatics (the fifteen minute morning sequence was great for my lower back) and Mindful Sponteneity (the moving while lying on a rolled blanket does more to release deep muscle tension than a lot of massages I've had), Alexander Technique, or careful thought and experimentation.
Part of the problem is that "posture" is a static image, but what people need is a style of sitting, standing and whatever which allows for easy movement.
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