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So this is a subject near and dear to my heart and I wanted to post something of a PSA to the community of wargaming at large. Dr. Kelly Starrett is the author of a number of books
(probably the most well known being "Becoming a Supple Leopard") and he just released a new one, Deskbound: Standing up to a Sitting World.

http://www.amazon.com/Deskbound-Standing-Up-Sitting-World/dp/1628600586?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00

I originally heard of Starrett during my time working with Navy Special Warfare, as he has been an adviser to that community (amongst other military groups) and we learned a lot of cool stuff
that went beyond "make sure you stretch". I was/am an ultrarunner and marathon runner, but in the past few years of being stationed in an office environment I've had repeated injuries that
have all pretty much stemmed from the huge amount of sitting I do. Running an hour a day or training in the gym is nothing compared to sitting 10-12 hours at work or at home painting.

The new book focuses on the average modern worker, who spends a good chunk of their life sitting. And we as wargamers are even more guilty, as we sit and paint or assemble for
hours on end. Since my last injury (a stress fracture) I've paid increasing attention to pelvic alignment, and when I go to the game store to play basically everyone I see has hip issues.
Thats a lot of back injuries/tweaks just waiting to happen.

Anyway, its been something thats had a huge effect on my life/career, so I thought I'd at least get the discussion out there. None of us honestly play Warhammer or whatever thinking
that its in any way a danger to our health (maybe the bad BO at tournaments), but my wargaming/painting does greatly contribute to the amount of chair time I get, and its something
I have to really work on. Our backs shouldnt hurt when we stand to play for three hours, after all.

Any thoughts/stories/ideas on the subject?

A lot of us suffer from a sedentary lifestyle in the home and office. The cure is to get outside and get some healthy exercise.

Personally I enjoy rowing which ironically is done sitting down, of course, but it works the whole body and to get good you have to learn good posture and engage your pelvis correctly and so on.

The downside is there tends to be a fair bit of drinking involved.

I usually game standing up, but I rarely play. so maybe I should play more.

I can't paint for long stretches of time so not worried about sitting to long from that.

It's the sitting in front of the TV or on the computer that is killing me. So clearly the solution is I need to game more.

Most of my work these days is on a computer, 10 hours a day. It does start to screw up your wrist, elbows and shoulders after a while, doing repetitive tasks. You can end up in some serious pain, I've been there and it really sucks having useless arms.

I'd love to play computer games, but I can't justify sitting for another 2-4 hrs on a computer on a work night. I do game on weekends.

Sitting while painting I generally find therapeutic to my repetitive strain injuries. Because although it is indeed more sitting, I'm doing something different with my arms. Different posture and motions. Sometimes my hand cramps up from airbrushing, though.

This year I've made a conscious effort to really get into winter sports, mostly snowshoeing and snow hiking. I've hiked almost every single weekend this year so far at least once, sometimes every day of the weekend. In the summer, its mountain biking every weekend and a few times during the work week.

None of this can really help you outrun your calorie intake and sedentary hours, however. Some people at my work have gotten standing desks, but I don't know if they really work all that well, they're just extensions you place onto your existing desk.

The best standing desks have a motor to raise it to whatever level you desire, but those models range from $1000-2000. Cheaper than the medical costs treating sedentary lifestyle problems, I'd wager.

Basically, using a computer all day sucks, and some people will get repetitive strain injuries and end up hurting from it, and others can spend 10+ hrs on a computer at work then play computer games all night and seem to suffer no ill consequences.

When I started office work, I was gaining weight from being sat down all day, often ill due to being couped up with proud colleagues insisting on coming in to work no matter how ill and infectious they were. It was also affecting my state of mind, especially due to the lack of natural sunlight I would get.

In the end I resolved to only work where I got lots of standing time, plenty of space and preferably either outdoors, or with hours that allowed me to get some daylight hours to myself. I am much healthier and happier now.

I usually game standing up (I play infinity, you don't really get a chance to just sit down and remove your models unlike some other Igo-Ugo games).

That said, I also cycle (My knees are stuffed, and running is for chumps :p) to get my exercise - or I walk. 2-4km walks daily.

I also play standing. (Very few people I know can sit while playing.)

But I do have a host of knee/hip/back problems, so I try to exercise on a regular basis. Sitting to paint or assemble is indeed hell on my back.

You can get standing desks, which are great for doing hobby.

I cycle or hit the gym about 5 days a week and watch what I eat simply due to the health risks that come along with the classic office job in front of a computer. I try to schedule long painting sessions immediately after particularly brutal workouts so that I'm too sore to move anyways and therefore don't feel guilty. It works both ways, meaning that long painting sessions are a source of motivation to add a few extra miles or reps. Painting is done on a drafting table so I can alternate between sitting or standing and I take breaks every hour or so to get up and move. Since I mostly paint 10mm, my eyes need it as much as the body does anyway.

As far as gaming is concerned, we all stand the whole time and since my group are all newbies at the game (DzC) even a 1000 point game can take several hours. So long as I'm wearing my favorite comfy boots, there is no pain.

A bloke called Kelly? Pffft! can't be right?

Bacon sandwich anyone?

It certainly doesn't help. I myself am 31 and suffer from hand and finger pains already, most likely from a lifetime of sitting down and doing video gaming and computing for many hours a day. Since I work on a computer all day I've actually stopped playing video games entirely to try and keep myself as pain-free as possible. Painting is fine for my hands and quite relaxing, but yeah it's even MORE sitting down.

I'm also extremely stiff, to the point where I can't do a deadlift at the gym because I can't lift the bar while holding my back straight. I have short and weak hamstrings, a weak core, weak and inflexible hips, inflexible... calves??? (basically I can't bend my foot upwards very far) and so on.

I would love it if any of you (Zach?) could give me some tips on how to regain mobility and be able to work out properly at the gym (at the moment I'm doing straight deadlifts instead of regular ones). I tried doing yoga for a year or so but I failed so miserably at all the "bend over, back straight" stuff that I felt quite dejected and stopped. Any tips (books, apps, training programs) for mobility training would be VERY much appreciated.

 Mymearan wrote:
It certainly doesn't help. I myself am 31 and suffer from hand and finger pains already, most likely from a lifetime of sitting down and doing video gaming and computing for many hours a day. Since I work on a computer all day I've actually stopped playing video games entirely to try and keep myself as pain-free as possible. Painting is fine for my hands and quite relaxing, but yeah it's even MORE sitting down.

I'm also extremely stiff, to the point where I can't do a deadlift at the gym because I can't lift the bar while holding my back straight. I have short and weak hamstrings, a weak core, weak and inflexible hips, inflexible... calves??? (basically I can't bend my foot upwards very far) and so on.

I would love it if any of you (Zach?) could give me some tips on how to regain mobility and be able to work out properly at the gym (at the moment I'm doing straight deadlifts instead of regular ones). I tried doing yoga for a year or so but I failed so miserably at all the "bend over, back straight" stuff that I felt quite dejected and stopped. Any tips (books, apps, training programs) for mobility training would be VERY much appreciated.

Go and see a physiotherapist first and do the exercises they tell you to increase your range of movement and strengthen the right muscles!

 Mymearan wrote:


I would love it if any of you (Zach?) could give me some tips on how to regain mobility and be able to work out properly at the gym (at the moment I'm doing straight deadlifts instead of regular ones). I tried doing yoga for a year or so but I failed so miserably at all the "bend over, back straight" stuff that I felt quite dejected and stopped. Any tips (books, apps, training programs) for mobility training would be VERY much appreciated.

So the book I posted combines a lot of the mobility stuff from his previous book into 'prescriptions' for areas that you feel pain in. And there are TONS of options covered in it, I dont want to sound like Im peddling his book but Im extremely enthusiastic about the new one. And if its worth anything, for the two different sports therapists Ive seen the
past year, BOTH had his "Becoming a Supple Leopard" book on their desks. But this guy has tons of free videos online, and you can definitely get started today with mobility work, starting with your hips/trunk.

My issues stem from the way I train and then office work/sitting. I obviously do a lot of running, but also a ton of squatting and deadlifting (at 155lbs my squat is 325 and deadlift 395) which is great and all for stability, but follow that up with sitting for prolonged periods on your hamstrings and matting down all of that tissue. Then the real trouble of shortening your
hip flexors and tightening your quads up, and suddenly my calves are constantly flared up when running and Im forced to cut my mileage because easy jogs suddenly hurt. Basically all of that extra tension led to my stress fracture in my medial tibia last year, and Im still dealing with fixing the overall issue: sitting too much.

I would love it if any of you (Zach?) could give me some tips on how to regain mobility and be able to work out properly at the gym (at the moment I'm doing straight deadlifts instead of regular ones). I tried doing yoga for a year or so but I failed so miserably at all the "bend over, back straight" stuff that I felt quite dejected and stopped. Any tips (books, apps, training programs) for mobility training would be VERY much appreciated.

Try Pilates. I was/am in the same boat, where I get seriously crampy/achey but found regular pilates (even on the bedroom floor) helps immensley. For short term relief any anti inflammatories help too, as they take the edge of the cramps and allow you do more "difficult" pilates.
However neither are a very quick fix, it takes regular work and effort to get a regime going but the long term is great.
And a good bed mattress helps wonders too!

What about a chair made for sitting? Gaming chair are designed to be comfortable and less painful.

Its the compromised position of sitting itself that is the issue, not the quality of the sitting device. Its one of those things where we werent designed to sit, we were designed to lay/squat/stand.

Better an early death than to be one of those people that is constantly fidgeting, leaping, exclaiming and otherwise moving about eratically on the other side of the tabletop

I still do free weights, but I've had some aches and pains. I'm in my mid 30s. On the weekends I usually tackle a house or car DIY project, which wears me out. I went back to school because I knew I couldn't do 30 more years of working with my hands doing labor type work. I usually walk to work to save money, but the movement helps keep me thin as a nice side effect.

My job keeps me standing almost all day long. I'll say, it's not all roses on my side of the fence either. I don't do weights, I need functional sports, rock climbing is my thing. The falls do hurt, but I rarely injure myself, as I am not pushing way outside the limit. I used to run marathons, but as I near 40, I'm content with shorter distances. I can't be away from work for a full day anyway.