If you work out a minimal amount and build some core strength / back muscles etc then you'll find that your posture naturally corrects itself whilst walking, that sitting in a chair for extended periods isn't as rough, etc.
Posture muscles are not very well known in the general public. Loss of strength due to aging and sedentary lifestyle makes standing, seating, etc uncomfortable.
I'd say as long as you use all your muscles meaningfully everyday, and don't spend hours in a single position, you're good.
(Yet it's interesting, though hardly relevant for most of the population, that bulky upper back muscles can also look like bad posture. In extreme cases, a very well-developed upper back can even result in a mild hunchbacked appearance.)
More to the point, those posture correction devices actually work. The shoulder straps are okay. The Chinese sell a slim metal device -- I've never seen it in the USA -- that fits around your neck and prevents you from looking down and slouching over. That damn thing is like magic. A few two-hour sessions over a few days can markedly improve your posture.
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256807449805056.html
Considering how far you can go with just a few gallons of water, would be nice if there was more innovation in this space to increase accessibility in a safe way. While the bars and weights are one thing, it's ultimately the lack of a rack that makes squats troublesome imo.
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/mp/york/york-squat-stands/_/R-...
You have to learn how to bail, but (depending on low vs high bar) you can get pretty confident at it
If you just consistently do a little bit of strength training then it never gets hard, you just very slowly tail off in absolute strength which is fine.
The average adult probably also isn’t great at learning for example because they just stop once they finish school.
Europeans are a bit lighter, about 10 pounds on average [1]. Sounds like we could all stand to lose weight before taking up lifting.
People need to set realistic goals, like squatting _no added weight_. Seriously, squat with no bar and get your butt below your knees. That alone is a serious movement, you can get fit with just that.
A few years ago I had been in my best shape (daily exercise, cardio and weight lifting) and started experiencing some forearm pain. I thought it was just from over use from typing but i finally went to a physical therapist and found that the pain came from me hunching over on my computer and putting a lot of strain on my fore arms. The posture I took on was a combination of
1. Just leaning in to my computer because I'd be trying to read text or getting "into" whatever i'm working on
2. My upper back not having the endurance or development that I needed to hold up my upper body.
I had to change my exercise routine to give my muscles more endurance to hold my upper back up while seated.
So yea, exercise is definitely going to help but I wouldn't just say it fixes things automagically for you and you could run into posture issues even when you are doing the right things in life. :)
The CRT monitors were big heavy things that sat on the desk. There effectively wasn't much manoueverabilty in a CRT stand, and only the expensive/later models had them. The CRT was below eye level, so we all tilted our head forward and looked at a downward angle
When flat screen monitors came along, the didn't originally stray far the the height the CRT's were at, but monitor stands slowly started to increase in height over time and things are a bit better now - and the additional options for mounting them in various ways has improved things immensely.
When you're seated or standing at your desk with correct posture, the centre of your monitor should be the same height as your eyes as if you were looking into a mirror. In fact to compensate so many people are looking down at their phone screens we could possibly put the computer monitor even higher to balance things out.
The main thing that would stop me now is the reminder of what everything should look like - the world was very slightly blurred so gradually that I didn't notice, but now I put my glasses on and it's like switching to 4k.
> If you work out a minimal amount and build some core strength / back muscles etc then you'll find that your posture naturally corrects itself [...]
I'm missing something. Doesn't paragraph 2 imply that the assumption made by people (paragraph 1) is not actually a mistake?
In reality I would argue that if you just keep your back, neck etc muscles strong then you will both sit and stand more “properly” without trying (because it will be easier) and also have fewer issues when you don’t.
Recently I decided to find a new hobby and started playing the violin. It was a wakeup call that after just a half hour standing playing the violin with my instructor that my back would basically seize up. It was quite embarrassing! Good thing is I got used to it pretty quick, and thanks to violin practice I stand much more than I used to (and plus I added more back and stretching exercises to my workout). As you say, it really takes a minimal amount to improve your strength.