| Jim_Gunn |
08-17-2008 12:44 AM |
I shoot a lot of hours of camera regularly, but my back rarely hurts. I attribute that to a few things:
1- Most of all, being in good shape. The reason that even many non-overweight people have so many back problems is that their core and back muscles are completely weak from a lack of rigorous use. Get in better shape, and do some back and ab exercises and it will improve your back strength considerable. Also if you have a belly it will throw your balance and center of gravity off which will strain your back even more.
2- Technique- When you are filming camera it helps to position yourself in ways that are reasonably comfortable to get any given shot. As someone else said, there is more than one way to lean or to shift your weight and various ways to crouch that are more comfortable than others. Try not to lean forward unnecessarily or linger too long in positions that strain your back.
3- Posture- This is very overlooked. How you sit for hours each day can help or hurt your back health. When one sits down do not perch on the edge of your chair leaning forward like many men and most women do. Put your back against the back of the chair. It may seem "square" to sit that way but they call it ergonomically preferable for a reason- that reason is your back. And no sitting or laying with a laptop on your back or lap either, ever. That's right, I said it. I know most of you reading do it, but you are only hurting yourself in terms of the awkward position it puts your body under strain and also the lost productivity you incur as a result. I always wonder how people can peck away at their keyboard slow as shit in that weird position with their elbows pinned against their sides like a Tyrannosaurus Rex. It's just dumb, period. Get a chair, sit in it straight with your back against the back of the chair. And put your laptop in a docking station with a real keyboard too if you use it at home, not on a couch or dining room table.
4- Resist the urge for surgery and pills, you don't need them and it will just hurt you. Most people with back problems can cure it themselves. They just aren't in such great shape and their back suffers for it. 99% of people with back problems attribute it to an injury early in life but most of the time that really has nothing to do with their current conditions. It's just simply being overweight, having weak back muscles and being unhealthy overall.
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