The Neck Based Cell Phone Holder
New Year's resolutions are silly, no? Even so, I've got something I need to work on and maybe you do too. I'm a sloucher. I spent years working on computers and not nearly enough time working out or climbing ropes. And the last few years with the cell phone, things have only gotten worse. I've always told my students that the first step in solving any problem is recognizing that one exists. So, a few months ago I began attacking my problem with a whole array of weapons. And some of those weapons came from Amazon.com, of course!
I'm so excited about one of my more recent anti-slouch gizmos that I have to write about it first. Strangely, it's not even high tech. It's simply a
neck and shoulder cell phone holder. It's a bit on the heavy side, but that's part of its charm. It will keep your phone reliably in place at the exact angle you desire. Also, it could be used as a self-defense weapon if necessary!
The phone clamp part of the holder can lock the phone in either portrait (vertical) or landscape (horizontal) orientation. For most of us, we are able to read things below our shoulders by looking down without having to bend the neck forward. So, any lift at all can easy phone neck quite a bit. This holder gives you the ability to raise the phone up to a very comfortable read position. The clamp is nice and tight so if you place the phone in it properly, it will be very secure. On the other hand, you have to play around with getting the phone into and out of the clamp in order to get the phone in and out easily.
Lumo Lift
This little device is kind of pricey, but I've used it to catch me slouching when I am unaware. You clip it to any shirt you are wearing with a magnet. It's best if it's attached near your collarbone. It's a pretty cool concept. Different people slouch different amounts at different times. And there are times where we lean forward, but aren't actually slouching. So how does Lumo Lift know the difference? Well, you teach it. After you have attached the Lumo Lift to your clothing, you press the button and you set the position that you consider to be upright with good posture. So, you tell the device what angle of leaning is good posture and that can change throughout the day.
The way the Lumo Lift helps you with slouching is that it reminds you not to slouch by vibrating. And it's tolerant enough that it doesn't vibrate every time you slouch for a few seconds. You can set the tolerance level by setting the Posture Feedback Delay in the Lumo Lift app settings. The default is 15 seconds which is a pretty good setting.
The app itself offers some other benefits by allowing you to track how well you did with your posture throughout the day. It will tell you how many hours you had good posture. Also, it keeps track of the number of steps you take while wearing it. So, it's a pretty cool fitness monitoring device.
Adjustable Posture Corrector
Back to low tech. Another device I've tried is a little more active in posture control and a lot less money. But it doesn't have an app. You simply slide the posture corrector over your shoulders and adjust the straps. When you put this on, it helps pull your shoulders back. I was concerned that the device was just a crutch and would never allow me to improve my posture without the device, but after using it, I think it's fine for improving posture. When I am wearing it, I tend to automatically pull my shoulders back and if I start to slouch, the pressure I feel from the straps reminds me to watch the posture. Thankfully, the device is also pretty comfortable to wear even if it's on bare skin with a shirt over the top.
The Stand Up Desk
I spent some time looking at a number of stand up desk options. I was seriously considering just getting one of those desktop lifts that let's you raise your monitor and keyboard off the desk. But I realized that I really needed something that I could move around. So, I opted for this standup computing desk. At $125, it's less than many of the desktop lifts. You can lift the monitor and keyboard holder up and down, but, unfortunately, you cannot adjust the keyboard holder separately from the monitor platform. I ended up using a barstool to sit at this desk so that I can sit or stand (by moving the barstool away). It is so comfortable to sit there and compute!
Free Monitor Lifts
I use computers at home and at work and I realized that my monitors were too low with regard to my head. So, I used some old books to raise all my monitors up to the point where my eyes (when looking straight forward) are looking directly into the middle of the monitor. And speaking of monitors, I have a suggestion there also. This is not necessarily slouch advice, but if you are spending time in front of a computer, having a nice wide monitor can increase productivity quite a bit. So,
here is a 24 inch wide monitor that I use that works well for me and is soooo cheap.
Smoothing Out the Lumps
I have become a fan of the foam roller. Because I'm taller (about 6'1" when I'm not slouching), I decided that if I'm getting a foam roller, I need a nice long one. So, I went for the 36 incher. My first experience with foam rollers was one of those shiny black ones. But those are so hard! Only recently did I realize that you can buy softer models. This
white one does a great job of popping the vertebrate in my spine like popcorn, yet it's a lot easier on the body than the rock hard black ones. I strongly recommend daily use of one of these babies to loosen up the old spine.
Read the Manual
If you want a system that puts some everything together into one nice program, this book is pretty good. It's got stretches and exercises and some good common sense advice. It's not over the top- do hundreds of exercises all of the time, but it is comprehensive. And it has some good ideas for what to do when you don't have a lot of options like at work or at your desk.
