The Posture Playbook for Busy Men (and the companies they run)
A quick note before you listen
Olivier is a good friend—someone I trust with my own health. He’s an ergonomist, occupational health expert, and author of The Posture Manual. We’ve spent years swapping ideas on how to reduce pain and raise performance at work and at home. This episode distils his most practical advice. Below are the key takeaways and the exact 10-day experiment I’m running with my clients and team.
Sitting isn’t the enemy. Sameness is.
Eight hours in one shape is a tax on your spine, your focus, and—quietly—your performance.
The lived truth
If your neck throbs by 3 p.m. and your patience is gone by bath time, you’re not broken—you’re predictable. Phones pull your head forward, laptops round your shoulders, and meetings lock your hips. Do that on repeat and your “roof” (neck) pays for the “foundation” (hips/low back) being stuck. Olivier calls neck pain the disease of the century—and he’s right to sound the alarm.
The science frame (why this matters beyond aches)
Longevity isn’t just how long you live—it’s how well you live. That’s healthspan. And it’s earned by proactive choices, not by waiting for a diagnosis. Think Medicine 3.0: act early, personalise, manage risk. Exercise is still the highest-ROI “drug” we have for preserving physical and cognitive function—nothing else comes close.
Work is a multiplier—good or bad
Pain isn’t a private issue; it’s a performance drag. Global engagement slipped from 23% to 21%, with manager engagement dropping from 30% to 27%. Lost productivity last year alone? US$438B. And remember: 70% of team engagement traces back to the manager. When managers are depleted, everyone pays.
What to do today: Olivier’s 3-part system you’ll actually keep
1) Vary your working style
Desk, standing, sofa edge, kitchen counter, phone-walks. Treat postures like sets in the gym—change them. Walking 1:1s aren’t fluff; they pump blood, oxygen and ideas.
2) The Upper-Body Reset (30 seconds, 8–10×/day)
Olivier’s quickest ROI move: shake out wrists → unlock elbows → roll/open shoulders → gentle neck nods/turns → finish with a slow forward fold to decompress the low back.
Key isn’t perfection—it’s frequency. Missed a round? Do the next one. Some beats none.
3) Compensate for desk consequences
Two priorities:
Decompress the lower back (flexion “snacks”, knee-to-chest on the floor after calls).
Re-open the thoracic cage (pec doorway stretch, hands-behind-back lift, three deep nasal breaths into the ribs).
These undo rounded shoulders and forward head from screens.
The 10-day experiment (make it real)
Calendar a Reset micro-alarm every 45–60 minutes.
Stack it to existing habits: every coffee, every Zoom end, every toilet break.
Track pain AM/PM on a 0–10 scale. The goal isn’t zero; it’s a downward trend and fewer flare-ups.
For leaders: turn wellness into strategy (not swag)
Measure what matters. Run a 4–5 minute musculoskeletal survey: pain in last 12 months/last week, max intensity, impact on work/sleep, link to working conditions. Watch the % reporting pain ≥7/10—that’s your early warning for absence and disrupted continuity.
Train managers, then coach them. Cutting extreme manager disengagement in half and teaching coaching skills boosts manager performance 20–28% and lifts team engagement for months after training.
Deploy the dual structure. Pair individual behaviours (the Reset, variation, walking meetings) with environment changes (screens at eye level, sit-stand options, 1:1s on foot). Start small, let the snowball roll—no compliance theatre, just visible wins that spread.
Why this works
You’re treating pain and performance like compounding interest. You’re acting early (Medicine 3.0), focusing on healthspan, and using movement as your primary lever. That’s how you avoid the “glass overflow” of cumulative strain.
A 2-minute habit to keep
At the top of each hour: stand, reset, breathe → wrists → elbows → shoulders → neck → slow fold → three rib-expanding breaths. That’s 120 seconds that pays you back all afternoon.
— Diego
Share this post