Thanks, Olivier. Your videos are incredibly helpful, and just knowing the little trick of putting one's hands under the bottom to check if you're sitting on the right part of the bone is a great tip, that helped me in giving me a starting point to sort out my back issues, from sitting incorrectly. Much appreciated, and I thank you on behalf of my back.
Finally someone actually talking about what these cushions do, and why and how they work and what they’re good for. Geeze Louise THANK you for making this video. You’re the first and only person I’ve seen so far actually break it down. I’m tall (over 6ft)and looking for a car one* because I find my self leaning forward to my right side and my shoulders leaving the back rest. But as an Uber driver I’m looking for something to keep my back in the chair or soften the transitive pressure from my right hip and leg. So I don’t sacrifice my shoulder 😢
This is the best explanation as to what to look at and how to evaluate your seating position, and to choose a lumbar cousion. Nicely done and THANK YOU !!
Waoh, Victor Ernesto! This is such a heart-warming comment! If you find this channel useful, can I ask you help in letting your friends, family and colleagues know about it? It's time for us all to help our beloved ones understand their body better... I'm on a mission, and you can truly help 😅!
My office chair was indeed too deep, the edge of the seat would be pressing against the back of my knees If I wanted to have my back supported by the back rest. So far, I am fairly happy with both cushions. I don't feel any buttock or back pain since I started using them. The seat cushion is horizontal, and I'm able to maintain my position. The lumbar cushion makes my back feel sooo confortable and supported while giving my legs extra space. The first two days were kinda weird, I felt that I had to learn how to seat properly :) 100% worth it!
@@oscarafonso3593 good choice, dear!! I'm glaod that you found your solution! On the lumbar cushion, just make sure that you don't stick your shoulder blades to the cushion, though: only your belt needs to be strongly supported. You're also 100% right on the fact that there is always some time until you feel comfortable. There are 2 reasons for that: 1) the brains need a reset: you habits is what's usual, not necessarily what's natural / neutral 2) you use muscles that would prefer to remain lazy, and force other muscles to lengthen whereas they'd prefer to stay shortened. This is why so many people fall back: if you want to feel good on the long run, you need to accept some discomfort on the short term. Thanks for sharing your experience on this channel, other viewers and myself appreciate it!!
Excellent explanation! What about foot rests/stools, do they help or unnecessarily tilt the pelvis? I remember there was one in my old, very sedentary, job. We'd lean all the way back in a generic office chair and keep our feet on the foot rest.
Thank you dear! I speak about footrests in this other video: th-cam.com/video/Du0VU0hOvlQ/w-d-xo.html, at 8'53''. Basically, they are useful only if you can't sit with your feet on the ground... but they shouldn't be far forward, otherwise you slouch. The simple rule is that everything which makes you move backwards brings you further away from your keyboard. To compensate, you'll have to extend your arms, which will be a violation of posture rule #2 (th-cam.com/video/4PVI9cnMJo8/w-d-xo.html, around 10'11''). Makes sense :-) ?
Whats even more incredible why do manufacturers of 99% chairs make the seat cushion slightly reclined (even the most expensive ones like Herman Miller, i dont get it. It trains bad habits through our lives. Its really hard to find a chair that is truly "ergonomic" and supports good sitting posture
Hi Oliver, your videos are the best and you have cleared lot of my doubts that other professionals didn’t pick it up. Not sure if I can contact you via this but I will try. My question is I have never had a lumbar support in my car. I am recovering from lower back pain. I drive for living. I am currently using lumbar support but every time I get out of the car I feel like bending forwards to stretch instead I should be bending backwards. My questions are: am I possibly over arching my back ? My lumbar support is not thick and it feels good. But I am not sure why I am stiff after half n hour of driving? Secondly because I never had lumbar support before this back pain does it mean I should always need a lumbar support? I feel as if, I have recovered fully but because I am still using the lumbar support I might be causing the stiffness? Thank u
Hi Sumit! Thank you for the kind message, I appreciate it a lot. Honestly, I don't see the problem of bending forward after driving: so do I. But it's true that drivers have another issue, which is shortening of the iliopsoas. I have summarized all these exercises for drivers in an older video that you can find here: th-cam.com/video/293iH_0fwps/w-d-xo.html. Reg. the stiffness, I think it's really linked to the amount of time you sit in a row. The ideal would be to get out of your seat every 30 min. I know you cannot, but can you try to increase the frequency of your standing breaks, be it for 1 min?
first of all, thank you very much for ur videos, are lifesavers I have one query, I have watched ur other video's n I remember u saying the boney part in the lumbar area should be supported against cushions but the market has a lot of lumbar cushions made of memory foam but I doubt those memory foam cushions will provide any support? so should I buy firm lumbar cushions, right?
Sorry for my late reply!! The thing with memory foam is that they get soft when they become warm. Hence, the support gets less. So my advice is indeed to buy a rather firm cushion, unless you have pain upon pressure in your back: in this case, memory foam could be more comfortable until you feel better, but you really need to get up often (i.e. every 30 min max) to make sure that the cushion cools down regularly. Honestly, I have wasted a lot of money on trials and errors, whereas this is my specialty. So be ready for some uncertainty ;)
I'm a painter and I work several hours at day at a vertical easel, switching between standing and sitting. When I sit I tend to lean forward and not use the backrest, would an angled cushion combined with a lumbar cushion be useful in this case? Or I need to buy a chair in particular? Thank you
Hi Silvio! As a painter, you indeed need to be rather forward. The thing if you buy a normal chair + a cushion is that it will hollow your back without taking your knees out of the way. It would start with this issue, which we also have among dentists. To come closer to your painting, the idea is that you sit higer, whilst keeping the feet on the ground. There are 2 solutions for this, which you could test: the HAG Capisco or a saddle seat, pref. with a lumbar support (th-cam.com/video/2WBdt3HDyoU/w-d-xo.html: just activate the English subtitles). Does this make sense?
@@OlivierGirard I appreciate the advice. In the past few weeks I was looking for a saddle chair but I didn't find much informations about this particular usage. Artist seems not to be very interested in this particular topic. The problem is that the original Hag Capisco is a bit out of my budget. So I was looking for the Hag Capisco Puls (8010 or 8020 that has a fully padded seat pan). I noticed that the shape of the seat it's pretty different between a conventional saddle chair and the one on the Capisco. Could you recommend me a saddle seat in particular around this price range? I was looking also for kneeling chair, because I noticed that, just like the saddle, open up the angle between trunk and thighs. I watched a lot of videos on your channel and I know your opinion about this type of chair, but for a forward leaning task like painting (for a max of 4 hours at day, switching between sitting and standing) can be useful? Thank you in advance.
That's a super great question. The thing with memory foam is that it's super comfortable but it softens when warm (typically after 30 min), and thereby looses its function. Hence, it's rather firm if you want to have a great posture. However, many people with severe back pain love one that I sell here in Switzerland, made of memory foam, because too firm worsens their pain. So I'd say if you feel severe pain, start with soft and then you can switch to firm later on...
@@OlivierGirard thank you very much sir I'm not suffering any major pain for now so will go for firm foam & I can't thank you enough with God's grace i found ur channel ,ur few rare gems on internet who has such clarity With ur guidance over TH-camvideos and book I'm sure I won't suffer pain any in future
Hello Olivier, thanks for this very informative video. I saw that they sell special chair that works with the leverage effect to support the waist. 2 Manufacturer made them, Curble chair and Roichen. I havent saw a lot of review and i would like to know what you think about them ? Thanks in advance.
Not necessarily... but it increases the risk that you do. It needs to be very precisely adjusted, and it requires you to know how to sit well (th-cam.com/video/TOd_e5iZ9tM/w-d-xo.html). So I find it a bit too "aggressive" for most of us...
I must be the only one listening, that after an almost 7 min. video, still don't understand what you said or what point you were trying to make. I have listened to a number of your videos specifically related to car seats. I could have sworn that some of those you indicated there may be a need for angled cushion on seat. did I misunderstand? can you show me specific videos that relate to car seat wedge cushions (or is wedge cushion same thang as angled cushions????)?
My issue is with the bucket seat in my husbands Ford Explorer. The seat is not horizontal, it is lower at the backrest than at the front of the seat. I’ve tried an angled cushion to correct this problem but that tends to make me sit too high and makes the upper back, neck area of the chair quite uncomfortable, especially for long rides. I have actually resorted to riding in the backseat because the chair is horizontal and smaller so it fits me better with a small lumbar cushion. Hopefully as I recuperate I can ride in the front again! Thank you for the excellent video! Do you have an idea to make the bucket seat work better?
Hi Oliver, I don't if this is has to do anything from chairs or like this, usually I don't feel back pain but when I do a 30 minute , I start having it again , some people say it's my height cause i am 6 feet and weigh 89kgs
Tall people tend to have slumped postures... because they need to speak to small people like me 😂! Seriously now... step 1 is to make sure that you are super well supported by your lumbar support: are you?
This is a tough one, dear... when the sofa is too saggy, step #1 should be to try and make it firmer. Either by changing the cushions, or try to add a rigid layer (e.g. a plank) on which you place the cushion. But honestly, a too saggy seat is difficult to save...
I guess you could find, yes... or stitch it yourself. The question is more: why? I mean: some people have had the same request to compensate for a couch that's way too soft. In practice, putting a firm cushion on messed up foundations is not very likely to help. Also, be careful that extra firm does not mean hard like wood: you want your sit bones to be protected from excessive pressure.
Thanks, Olivier. Your videos are incredibly helpful, and just knowing the little trick of putting one's hands under the bottom to check if you're sitting on the right part of the bone is a great tip, that helped me in giving me a starting point to sort out my back issues, from sitting incorrectly. Much appreciated, and I thank you on behalf of my back.
Please tell your back that it was my great pleasure 😄!!
Finally someone actually talking about what these cushions do, and why and how they work and what they’re good for. Geeze Louise THANK you for making this video. You’re the first and only person I’ve seen so far actually break it down. I’m tall (over 6ft)and looking for a car one* because I find my self leaning forward to my right side and my shoulders leaving the back rest. But as an Uber driver I’m looking for something to keep my back in the chair or soften the transitive pressure from my right hip and leg. So I don’t sacrifice my shoulder 😢
This is the best explanation as to what to look at and how to evaluate your seating position, and to choose a lumbar cousion. Nicely done and THANK YOU !!
One of the best videos I have ever seen.
Guru indeed.
Thanks for the super nice feedback!! Help me spread the word if you like this stuff 🔥🔥!!!
today i found your channel. is like finding god. so much help! my back is always in pain!
Waoh, Victor Ernesto! This is such a heart-warming comment! If you find this channel useful, can I ask you help in letting your friends, family and colleagues know about it? It's time for us all to help our beloved ones understand their body better... I'm on a mission, and you can truly help 😅!
You are passing excellent knowledge on for us here. Thank you very much sir!
Thanks a lot, my friend!!
Good graphics. Thanks. Drawings really help!
Thanks for the feedback! They are the illustrations of my book THE POSTURE MANUAL (www.theposturemanual.com): I have nearly 150 of them!
Always enjoy your videos!
Thank you so much, dear!! Anything you need, just ask ok? :)
My office chair was indeed too deep, the edge of the seat would be pressing against the back of my knees If I wanted to have my back supported by the back rest. So far, I am fairly happy with both cushions. I don't feel any buttock or back pain since I started using them. The seat cushion is horizontal, and I'm able to maintain my position. The lumbar cushion makes my back feel sooo confortable and supported while giving my legs extra space. The first two days were kinda weird, I felt that I had to learn how to seat properly :) 100% worth it!
These are the cushions I bought
www.amazon.es/gp/product/B07ZNCFT8X/
www.amazon.es/gp/product/B077FPJD8X/
@@oscarafonso3593 good choice, dear!! I'm glaod that you found your solution! On the lumbar cushion, just make sure that you don't stick your shoulder blades to the cushion, though: only your belt needs to be strongly supported.
You're also 100% right on the fact that there is always some time until you feel comfortable. There are 2 reasons for that: 1) the brains need a reset: you habits is what's usual, not necessarily what's natural / neutral 2) you use muscles that would prefer to remain lazy, and force other muscles to lengthen whereas they'd prefer to stay shortened. This is why so many people fall back: if you want to feel good on the long run, you need to accept some discomfort on the short term.
Thanks for sharing your experience on this channel, other viewers and myself appreciate it!!
@@OlivierGirard my pleasure!
amazing videos! thank you for sharing your knowledge. helped me a lot.
That’s so cool, I’m very happy that I could help!
Excellent explanation!
What about foot rests/stools, do they help or unnecessarily tilt the pelvis?
I remember there was one in my old, very sedentary, job. We'd lean all the way back in a generic office chair and keep our feet on the foot rest.
Thank you dear! I speak about footrests in this other video: th-cam.com/video/Du0VU0hOvlQ/w-d-xo.html, at 8'53''. Basically, they are useful only if you can't sit with your feet on the ground... but they shouldn't be far forward, otherwise you slouch.
The simple rule is that everything which makes you move backwards brings you further away from your keyboard. To compensate, you'll have to extend your arms, which will be a violation of posture rule #2 (th-cam.com/video/4PVI9cnMJo8/w-d-xo.html, around 10'11'').
Makes sense :-) ?
Thank you for another great video!!
You're welcome, dear!
I found, what I was looking for 👍
Whats even more incredible why do manufacturers of 99% chairs make the seat cushion slightly reclined (even the most expensive ones like Herman Miller, i dont get it. It trains bad habits through our lives. Its really hard to find a chair that is truly "ergonomic" and supports good sitting posture
Hi Oliver, your videos are the best and you have cleared lot of my doubts that other professionals didn’t pick it up. Not sure if I can contact you via this but I will try. My question is I have never had a lumbar support in my car. I am recovering from lower back pain. I drive for living. I am currently using lumbar support but every time I get out of the car I feel like bending forwards to stretch instead I should be bending backwards. My questions are: am I possibly over arching my back ? My lumbar support is not thick and it feels good. But I am not sure why I am stiff after half n hour of driving? Secondly because I never had lumbar support before this back pain does it mean I should always need a lumbar support? I feel as if, I have recovered fully but because I am still using the lumbar support I might be causing the stiffness? Thank u
Hi Sumit! Thank you for the kind message, I appreciate it a lot. Honestly, I don't see the problem of bending forward after driving: so do I. But it's true that drivers have another issue, which is shortening of the iliopsoas. I have summarized all these exercises for drivers in an older video that you can find here: th-cam.com/video/293iH_0fwps/w-d-xo.html.
Reg. the stiffness, I think it's really linked to the amount of time you sit in a row. The ideal would be to get out of your seat every 30 min. I know you cannot, but can you try to increase the frequency of your standing breaks, be it for 1 min?
first of all, thank you very much for ur videos, are lifesavers
I have one query, I have watched ur other video's n I remember u saying the boney part in the lumbar area should be supported against cushions but the market has a lot of lumbar cushions made of memory foam but I doubt those memory foam cushions will provide any support? so should I buy firm lumbar cushions, right?
Sorry for my late reply!! The thing with memory foam is that they get soft when they become warm. Hence, the support gets less. So my advice is indeed to buy a rather firm cushion, unless you have pain upon pressure in your back: in this case, memory foam could be more comfortable until you feel better, but you really need to get up often (i.e. every 30 min max) to make sure that the cushion cools down regularly.
Honestly, I have wasted a lot of money on trials and errors, whereas this is my specialty. So be ready for some uncertainty ;)
I'm a painter and I work several hours at day at a vertical easel, switching between standing and sitting. When I sit I tend to lean forward and not use the backrest, would an angled cushion combined with a lumbar cushion be useful in this case? Or I need to buy a chair in particular? Thank you
Hi Silvio! As a painter, you indeed need to be rather forward. The thing if you buy a normal chair + a cushion is that it will hollow your back without taking your knees out of the way. It would start with this issue, which we also have among dentists. To come closer to your painting, the idea is that you sit higer, whilst keeping the feet on the ground. There are 2 solutions for this, which you could test: the HAG Capisco or a saddle seat, pref. with a lumbar support (th-cam.com/video/2WBdt3HDyoU/w-d-xo.html: just activate the English subtitles). Does this make sense?
@@OlivierGirard I appreciate the advice. In the past few weeks I was looking for a saddle chair but I didn't find much informations about this particular usage. Artist seems not to be very interested in this particular topic. The problem is that the original Hag Capisco is a bit out of my budget. So I was looking for the Hag Capisco Puls (8010 or 8020 that has a fully padded seat pan). I noticed that the shape of the seat it's pretty different between a conventional saddle chair and the one on the Capisco. Could you recommend me a saddle seat in particular around this price range?
I was looking also for kneeling chair, because I noticed that, just like the saddle, open up the angle between trunk and thighs. I watched a lot of videos on your channel and I know your opinion about this type of chair, but for a forward leaning task like painting (for a max of 4 hours at day, switching between sitting and standing) can be useful?
Thank you in advance.
Super explanation!
Thank you Noor :)
Lumbar support should be ?made up of firm or memory foam ?
That's a super great question. The thing with memory foam is that it's super comfortable but it softens when warm (typically after 30 min), and thereby looses its function. Hence, it's rather firm if you want to have a great posture. However, many people with severe back pain love one that I sell here in Switzerland, made of memory foam, because too firm worsens their pain. So I'd say if you feel severe pain, start with soft and then you can switch to firm later on...
@@OlivierGirard thank you very much sir
I'm not suffering any major pain for now so will go for firm foam
& I can't thank you enough
with God's grace i found ur channel ,ur few rare gems on internet who has such clarity
With ur guidance over TH-camvideos and book I'm sure I won't suffer pain any in future
Hello Olivier, thanks for this very informative video. I saw that they sell special chair that works with the leverage effect to support the waist. 2 Manufacturer made them, Curble chair and Roichen. I havent saw a lot of review and i would like to know what you think about them ? Thanks in advance.
excellent video, thank you
thanks for your appreciation, Jin!!
Springs are missing in office furniture. They could be made deeper to accommodate springs.
Does sitting with a McKenzie lumbar roll cause the low back to be hollowed?
Not necessarily... but it increases the risk that you do. It needs to be very precisely adjusted, and it requires you to know how to sit well (th-cam.com/video/TOd_e5iZ9tM/w-d-xo.html). So I find it a bit too "aggressive" for most of us...
I must be the only one listening, that after an almost 7 min. video, still don't understand what you said or what point you were trying to make. I have listened to a number of your videos specifically related to car seats. I could have sworn that some of those you indicated there may be a need for angled cushion on seat. did I misunderstand? can you show me specific videos that relate to car seat wedge cushions (or is wedge cushion same thang as angled cushions????)?
My issue is with the bucket seat in my husbands Ford Explorer. The seat is not horizontal, it is lower at the backrest than at the front of the seat. I’ve tried an angled cushion to correct this problem but that tends to make me sit too high and makes the upper back, neck area of the chair quite uncomfortable, especially for long rides. I have actually resorted to riding in the backseat because the chair is horizontal and smaller so it fits me better with a small lumbar cushion. Hopefully as I recuperate I can ride in the front again! Thank you for the excellent video! Do you have an idea to make the bucket seat work better?
Put spacers in the rear bolts of the seat
Hi Oliver, I don't if this is has to do anything from chairs or like this, usually I don't feel back pain but when I do a 30 minute , I start having it again , some people say it's my height cause i am 6 feet and weigh 89kgs
Tall people tend to have slumped postures... because they need to speak to small people like me 😂! Seriously now... step 1 is to make sure that you are super well supported by your lumbar support: are you?
What if I have a saggy or soft sofa? Is there a type of seat support I can use on it?
This is a tough one, dear... when the sofa is too saggy, step #1 should be to try and make it firmer. Either by changing the cushions, or try to add a rigid layer (e.g. a plank) on which you place the cushion. But honestly, a too saggy seat is difficult to save...
what chair is that one ?
This is a Kinnarps Plus 8
What if I want an extra extra firm cushion? Do they even make those?
I guess you could find, yes... or stitch it yourself. The question is more: why? I mean: some people have had the same request to compensate for a couch that's way too soft. In practice, putting a firm cushion on messed up foundations is not very likely to help. Also, be careful that extra firm does not mean hard like wood: you want your sit bones to be protected from excessive pressure.
Free avabal anything