Sitting is the Devil
 

Hello Fellow Pilotos,

Sitting all day long is the devil. Your hip flexors & psoas tighten and shorten over a lifetime of excessive sitting. This pulls you hips out of whack and anterior pelvic tilt means a lower back that is chronically out of alignment. I am about to re-enter commercial flying after retiring from the military which means excessive sitting (I currently have a standup desk at my work place and it's gold).

Anybody have any good recommendations for an easy to carry-easy to pack lumbar support device for augmenting the cockpit seat?

Thanks in Advance!
G

Sitting is the Devil
 

I used a self-inflating lower back support pillow from Relax the Back for years flying the RJ. It rolls up into a relatively small footprint for storage in most flight deck bags.

I pretty much cured the back issues by resuming my old mil ab routine (modified for back-safety, which the original regime was definitely not). That and trying not to slouch in the seat has worked miracles.

I also stretch comprehensively on most layovers, breaks the muscle-tension cycle.

Anybody have any luck with those inversion jobbies?

Good for stretching, but there are simpler ways to do that.

The key is to build and maintain the various core muscles. Stretching alone won't do that, although it should be part of maintenance if you sit for hours on end. I prefer dynamic exercises, but you can do it with static exercise like planks.

Don’t over use the armrest and get up for a couple of min every hour.
Drink enough fluids so you’re forced to take bathroom breaks.
Even though you may feel like a prison rat in a wheel use the hotel gyms for cardio.
If the FAA ever got serious about BMI about 40% of you would need a serious lifestyle change or loose your medical.
Maybe we should go to Chinese or Japanese style astronaut medicals.
Pilot shortage back again....yea..!

I think they should use this Japanese technique for Memory Item Exams at Orals:

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7ikpl

I’ve had a Teeter for years.
It’s money!
My back was ruined for a long time, now it isn’t. Lots of good stretching and ab exercises you can do on it while either partially or fully inverted.

Stay in shape, stay flexible, don’t eat like a teenager. You’ll be fine.

For your mental health on day three, put your arm rests halfway up and let your chair give you a hug.