Posts by gentlepuma76

restlesspanther1 said:I don't really get why you'd want to sit without back support—using a chair with a backrest is just more practical for hip positioning
your hips stay "closed" when sitting on something elevated, so having back support is useful

Why do people sit on stability balls? From what I've gathered, I assume it's because sitting in a chair with a backrest causes its own back issues, and the ball helps mitigate that. The alternative is buying a high-end office chair for maybe $400 or $500. Well, between $33 a stability ball and a few hundred dollars for a decent chair, I'll take the ball. That's one reason—not the only one, but it's a significant one.

restlesspanther1 said:for sitting without a backrest, ideally you'd be sitting on the floor with open hips
but that's a different way of sitting entirely

With that kind of posture, I feel like I'm falling apart after just a few minutes. When I used to go to yoga, the meditation part where we sat cross-legged was especially rough because my body just felt like it was collapsing.

restlesspanther1 said:if you hit the gym five times a week and train the right muscle groups, your spine will definitely have some extra support from them

I don't go to the gym five times a week, nor do I plan to. Plus, there's the question of which specific muscles we're talking about—and whether standard gym exercises or machines even target those areas effectively. And the main thing for me is figuring out what kind of program (which exercises, how often) would actually prep my body to sit without a backrest.

restlesspanther1 said:it would also be good to stand up every hour or so for a minute, walk around a bit, stretch, and loosen up your back and shoulders
nothing intense, just a few movements🤷

Yeah, I'm sort of already doing that—mostly because sitting is uncomfortable.

restlesspanther1 said:2. strengthen the back muscles (upper and lower), shoulders, neck, and core

How do I actually pull that off? I guess—does just sitting upright without using a backrest actually build those muscles over time? Also, what kind of recovery window should I be looking at between strengthening sessions?
And is strength alone enough? For instance—someone else (not me, obviously) who hits the gym five days a week is probably going to have pretty strong muscles. Does that mean they could just sit without a backrest all day?

Casey Palmer5 said:Whether you use a backrest, skip it entirely, or sit on an exercise ball... the reality is you'll hurt less if you just don't sit as much. There isn't some magic formula that lets you sit for 8 hours straight without your back acting up.

Whether I sit or not is pretty much dictated by my job—and it’s not something I can just change on a whim, even if I wanted to. Plus, I actually love what I do, so I'm not looking to switch careers.

So, you're saying it's impossible to sit for 8 hours without pain? Even if that's true (which I'm pretty skeptical about, honestly), my question still stands: "How can we manage to sit for longer periods without pain—and how do we gradually increase that duration over time?"

Yeah, even though the title pretty much says it all, I should probably mention that I’m not really interested in those ergonomic chairs with the massive headrests—I've already scrolled through the threads on this forum covering that. After reading through them, I decided I’d rather look into what options are out there for sitting WITHOUT a backrest. Hopefully, I can dig up some info that might be useful for me and maybe some of you too.

What I'm trying to figure out is how to actually sit on a chair without a backrest—and stay there for hours—without my back killing me.
I know about the stability ball—but after sitting on one for maybe thirty minutes, my back started aching.
I know kneeling chairs exist—though I haven't had the chance to try one yet.
And I know standard chairs exist, which also start making my back hurt after about half an hour.
Maybe there’s some other alternative style of seating I just don't know about.

Specifically, I'm wondering:
1. If I go with a stability ball as my "chair"—how do I stop the back pain?
a) Just push through the pain every day until my back eventually learns how to handle it?
b) Gradually increase the time I spend on it—like, maybe 20 minutes a day for the first week, then 30 minutes the next, and so on, until I hit roughly 8 hours for a full workday?
c) Do specific back exercises? If so, are we talking yoga, stretching, mobility work, or gym stuff (strength training)? Should I focus on strengthening my back muscles or my core as well? Why the core? My logic is that the abdominal muscles help hold the body up—so if they're too weak, the back muscles have to pick up the slack.

If I view sitting without a backrest as working muscles I haven't used before (since I've always relied on a backrest), then logically, those muscles would need adequate rest to recover. Does that logic hold up for sitting without a backrest? If it does, what should the ratio be between sitting unsupported and letting those back muscles recover?
And what counts as "recovery" for the back? Sitting in a chair with a backrest, stretching, yoga, or something else entirely?

I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on this.