The importance of sitting properly..

[PR36]

I came back from a 3 hour drive the other day and my neck and shoulders were killing me. It doesn't help that my little cayman is quite loud and so i got out very uncomfortable and irritable. Having a chronic back injury I'm quite sensitive to seating position at work and so i set about seeing if i could improve my posture in car. So i chanced upon this video on youtube from the 'Human Performance Centre' at Porsche. It gives a rundown on how to set your seat and by following the guidance i was surprised how i had my steering wheel set way to far out from my shoulders which couldn't have helped my neck/shoulders. I also learned that its quite important to have your head in contact with the headrest which can significantly reduce injury in a crash especially if there is an impact from behind. So here it is for anyone thats interested:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72qpgA7Cr_4

[Alpinestars]

Thanks for posting.

[sidicks]

PR36 said:

I came back from a 3 hour drive the other day and my neck and shoulders were killing me. It doesn't help that my little cayman is quite loud and so i got out very uncomfortable and irritable. Having a chronic back injury I'm quite sensitive to seating position at work and so i set about seeing if i could improve my posture in car. So i chanced upon this video on youtube from the 'Human Performance Centre' at Porsche. It gives a rundown on how to set your seat and by following the guidance i was surprised how i had my steering wheel set way to far out from my shoulders which couldn't have helped my neck/shoulders. I also learned that its quite important to have your head in contact with the headrest which can significantly reduce injury in a crash especially if there is an impact from behind. So here it is for anyone thats interested:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72qpgA7Cr_4

I'm very sceptical about the highlighted point - look at the video at around the 46 second mark - the shoulders are fully supported (as per the audio explanation) but there is a large gap between head and headrest.

Unless they are implying that you should try and move your head back into the headrest if you sense a crash, in which case it makes perfect sense!!

[WindyMiller67]

PR36 said:

I came back from a 3 hour drive the other day and my neck and shoulders were killing me.

Hey OP sorry to hear of your pain and your previous back injury. I don't suppose you had your air con blowing quite hard did you? I know mine gives me a stiff neck and shoulders if I do. And I know it's this because I once drove a convertible 3-series for 2 hours with the top down along the M25 and M40 at 9C and when I stopped for a break I couldn't move any part of my head or neck!
Just a thought and thanks for posting the vid.

[PR36]

sidicks said:

PR36 said:

I came back from a 3 hour drive the other day and my neck and shoulders were killing me. It doesn't help that my little cayman is quite loud and so i got out very uncomfortable and irritable. Having a chronic back injury I'm quite sensitive to seating position at work and so i set about seeing if i could improve my posture in car. So i chanced upon this video on youtube from the 'Human Performance Centre' at Porsche. It gives a rundown on how to set your seat and by following the guidance i was surprised how i had my steering wheel set way to far out from my shoulders which couldn't have helped my neck/shoulders. I also learned that its quite important to have your head in contact with the headrest which can significantly reduce injury in a crash especially if there is an impact from behind. So here it is for anyone thats interested:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72qpgA7Cr_4

I'm very sceptical about the highlighted point - look at the video at around the 46 second mark - the shoulders are fully supported (as per the audio explanation) but there is a large gap between head and headrest.

Unless they are implying that you should try and move your head back into the headrest if you sense a crash, in which case it makes perfect sense!!

I remember seeing this on a programme some time ago about accidents and how the head needs to be supported when you get hit from behind which from memory was mentioned as a common type of accident. I can't remember the programme but for fear of getting myself into trouble for breaching elf n safety here is it said by the people of ROSPA:

http://www.rospa.com/road-safety/advice/vehicles/h...

[BertBert]

That's just daft. The headrest has nothing to keep in in place in the fore/aft direction. So if you move it forward to touch the back of your head and you have a rear impact, your head and the headrest will shoot back as if the headrest were in its rearmost position.

[PR36]

BertBert said:

That's just daft. The headrest has nothing to keep in in place in the fore/aft direction. So if you move it forward to touch the back of your head and you have a rear impact, your head and the headrest will shoot back as if the headrest were in its rearmost position.

Bert its about the principle of supporting your head and neck in concert with the rest of your body. Rather than say its daft why not have a read up of some of the info on the net to understand the principle better?

[thegoose]

BertBert said:

That's just daft. The headrest has nothing to keep in in place in the fore/aft direction. So if you move it forward to touch the back of your head and you have a rear impact, your head and the headrest will shoot back as if the headrest were in its rearmost position.

I know what you mean but some cars do indeed have a headrest that pulls forward and is then fixed that far forward until you press a button on the side of it to allow it to retract (effectively it works like a ratchet). I have a 2008 BMW X3 at the moment (original model, which was first launched 11 years ago) that has this feature.

[STiG911]

The wording used is the problem. Car seats have Head Restraints, NOT Head Rests.
The idea is that the head is Restrained during an impact as inertia forces the body back into the seat.
There's no practical way for a driver to drive with their head resting on the Restraint, particularly if you're seated correctly in your car in the first place - which the vast majority of drivers aren't. Driving with your head resting on the restraint would actually contribute to soreness anyway.

[sidicks]

STiG911 said:

The wording used is the problem. Car seats have Head Restraints, NOT Head Rests.
The idea is that the head is Restrained during an impact as inertia forces the body back into the seat.
There's no practical way for a driver to drive with their head resting on the Restraint, particularly if you're seated correctly in your car in the first place - which the vast majority of drivers aren't. Driving with your head resting on the restraint would actually contribute to soreness anyway.