You’ve got your gel padded keyboard and mouse.
You’ve got your fancy chair.
Maybe you’ve even got a standing desk. 💁‍♂️

These ergonomic solutions are pretty awesome. They definitely help, and I have no business bashing an engineers attempts at making their job more comfortable. Rather, I applaud that kind of thinking, because it shows foresight and a level of health awareness.

However, there’s a certain amount of respect I can’t help but give to a man or women who works their ass off through pain. You know? The kind of person who just grits their teeth and drives through it. They who ignore the pain and just keep on keeping on.

I can relate to it, and I respect the hell out of it. I just can’t help but wonder… what would these highly impressive go-getters be capable of sans pain. What would they accomplish without the constant distraction of pain and discomfort?

Ergonomics Can Only Get You So Far

I’ve heard a saying once that stuck with me:

“The best way to deal with pain is to ignore it”

If I’m not mistaken, it was an older fella who told me that. I was young then, asking him how he handled being in so much pain all the time. And I respected the hell out of that, back then. I still do, really, but now I see things a little differently.

That older lad, who no doubt lived a long life of hard work and struggle, earning that hobble and full-body chronic pain, probably didn’t have the help of much of the newer ergonomic technology. But if I'm being honest with you…

Even with all the ergonomic technology in the world, the body is guaranteed to fall out of balance with years of repetitive motion.

Kyphosis and Osteoarthritis

Two scary conditions, typically considered “terminal” or life-long upon diagnosis.

Kyphosis being a severely hunched back, where the spine rounds at greater than 50° due to continued poor posture. And osteoarthritis being the degeneration of joints from overuse and misuse of ones joint(s) or spine.

Did you know that the leading causes of Kyphosis and Osteoarthritis stem from sedentary lifestyles?

Sitting and typing; that's the modern poison. And frankly, it doesn't take an Oracle's prophecy to see the trend of our modern civilization leading us to increased doses of sitting and typing.

Think for a moment, on all the ways osteoarthritis and kyphosis can creep into your life as an engineer at a desk:

• Typing causes arthritis in the hands, wrist, and fingers (elbows and shoulders too, but less so)

• Sitting forces an unnatural level of anterior pelvic tilt, shortening and weakening muscles causing hip and knee arthritis

• Sitting reduces blood flow from low muscle activation, leading to nutrient deprivation and causing arthritis to hips, knees, ankles, and toes

• Using multiple monitors or looking at odd angles can lead to neck imbalances and cause arthritis overtime

• An improperly raised or shortened desk can lead to hunching forward or leaning back causing their own slew of back, neck, and shoulder issues

• Standing desks misaligned for ones height can lead to serious degradation of ones posture, let alone the negative effects standing still can have on a person's ankles and knees

• Standard mouse and keyboard use can quickly flare up arthritis in the hands and fingers even in the best cases.

That's just to name a few paths in which sitting and working at a desk can lead to problems down the line.

The Solution

There are so many clear solutions to the above listed problems and the health risks associated. It's tricky to list them all here without first seeing the workspace in question.

But here's two sayings that always strike true:

• Motion is lotion.

  And

• Use it or lose it.

You could have the least ergonomic set-up of all time in your workspace. You could sit staring 90 degrees at a monitor to your left, death gripping your mouse and keyboard like they threatened your family. You could sit with one leg tied behind your back. All of this would be fine and dandy if you just followed one rule:

Targeted Exercises Are the Key to Longevity and Pain-Free Living.

You truly could counteract all the above silly exaggerations of poor posture and work habits with targeted exercise. But that's the extreme case. In reality, most people are already using ergonomic tech or other methods to try and stave off “the inevitable”.

Well, what if I told you arthritis, poor mobility, pain, and kyphosis are all completely preventable, and in fact treatable. What if I told you that with one short video of your workspace and how you use it, I could audit posture and habits, and I could hand out life-changing targeted exercises like they're candy?

What if I told you I’m doing all of this for free for the next 2 weeks?

What's the catch?

Good question Iguado. (Seinfeld reference)

I'm looking to bank-up these videos I'm sent with the intention of creating useful content. I think it would be super valuable for other people in the sitting and typing industry to hear what guidance I can give through use of targeted exercises and other advice based on the content of the videos provided.

I also intend to started charging $250 for these office and workspace Audits, so it’s great to flex the muscles and help out with my expertise for free, first!

Interested in what insights I can provide for your workspace? Here's what I'm looking for in these short videos (and I'll have a reference video available on my LinkedIn page):

• Set up your phone camera such that the bulk of your workspace is in frame

• Sit or stand at your work station and give me a few minutes look into what real work looks like. Don't fake it with rigid military posture. The realer the better

• Send off the video, or a link to the video if it's too large to send, via the DM'S on LinkedIn or Instagram

• And I'll get back to you with some high value expert advice and targeted exercises to prevent mobility loss and pain

Oh! And bonus points if you add into the video any pains you regularly experience while working.

Here are my social media links in question:

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-valiquette-0a4894300?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=android_app

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/parkour.steve.coach/profilecard/?igsh=c3RjdzFweDNmNGp4

Or, book a call and let's chat more in depth!

https://calendly.com/dynamicfreedomfitness/quick-call-w-parkour-steve