I was born with my spine on the outside. I have felt this way my whole life!
this post was submitted on 05 Jul 2025
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I'm literally scrolling my phone while side stretching because my back hurts just from a4 hour sitting shift rooofl 💀
I started doing pilates a few tears ago. I hate it, but really, 15 minutes a week make a huge difference for my back. All it takes is a yoga mat and some pilates instructor lady on YouTube. Curtains is recommended since even if you get good at it you're gonna look ridiculous.
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me
If I sit on the couch playing vidya games for 2 hours, my back hurts for 2 days.
The gamer in me says to set a timer and stop playing at 1:59.
Am or Pm?
Hopefully PM because also gamer me has no gd idea how to stop gaming at 1:59 am even if I have work in the morning.
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Lol, at 46 my heart said 'nah man, let's just stop'. 🤷
If I ever actually have a heart attack, I'm not sure if I would think it's a heart attack or a panic attack simply because the first time I ever had a debilitating panic attack, it felt like the way everyone I've known to have a heart attack described them (hard to breath, intense chest pains, left srm went numb, etc) and called an ambulance just to find out it was anxiety.
Same thing happened to me recently. Super fun loop.
- Have panic attack
- Symptoms mimic heart attack
- Panic more
- Mimics heart attack harder
- Repeat steps 3 and 4 until EKG, X-ray, and blood test come back clear, and doc gives benzos.
At least now I know it's a panic attack so it doesn't feed itself as aggressively.
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I'm 28 and I feel ancient. I wish I could start over in life, but I can't. I wasted my teens/20s and now, right when the long painful shitty grind until death is about to start, I still don't have shit, have accomplished nothing, never traveled or dated or moved out or got a degree or hit any of the typical milestones and am an unlikeable, crazy, unemployable pathetic loser everyone's forgotten about. Being born as this specific idiot person that I am is the worst thing that has ever happened to me.
You'll always feel old, and you'll always look back at yourself a decade prior and marvel at what a fool you were for feeling old back then when you were really so, so young. This is a universal experience.
I didn't really get going on anything until my mid 30s. I just cleaned floors and answered phones. Ended up meeting another late bloomer. We both graduated from mid college programs at the end of our 30s, and now we're both limping through our "careers" in our 40s.
Yeah it might have been better if we started earlier but we didn't. And I sure as fuck look back at myself at 30 thinking how even with 000 to show for it I was still young and full of future, even if I felt like an ancient loser.
I have stuff, a job, kids, a wife, and all that and i’m still a miserable loser. Enjoying life is a thing you have to chose to do in spite of your circumstances, rather than because of them.
For further reference, see Elon Musk: the dude literally has it all and i catch myself genuinely feeling sorry for how pathetic he is from time to time, that man couldn’t enjoy life even if he had literally everything
Dude has an unlimited supply of ketamine. He probably is actually enjoying life most of the time, unfortunately.
Yoga and strength training help quite a bit, but I always found the biggest help was to sleep well. I found sleeping in a hammock basically got rid of any lower back pain, but I'm sure a good bed will help as well.
The arches of our feet stretch unevenly as we age. For some people, this causes one foot to pronate more than the other, which leads to a functional leg length discrepancy, which causes a knee to turn in, the hips to tilt, the spine to develop a functional scoliosis, one shoulder to drop, causing neck pain, etc. It's called the kinetic chain, and unfortunately it's been hovered up as a chiropractic talking point. But it can often be corrected with custom shoe inserts that can also help with balance. On the flip side, you then become reliant on those things and your back is weaker without em. So ya know, nothing's simple, I guess.
Not medical advice, but I got used to wearing shoes indoors after years of office work, but taking off my shoes when indoors and actually using all my muscles to hold myself upright, has lead to a real reduction in discomfort.
If you're used to shoes all the time, it HURTS at first to go without and you have to take frequent sit/stand breaks. This is GOOD and you should listen to your body and continue moving in ways that make you feel better.
Your point just reminded me that if you're capable, that one of the simplest mediations you can do is work with your muscles to keep yourself straight.
Other comments mentioned squats and deadlifts but the upper back is important too. Pullups and especially dead hangs are great for countering the effects of sitting at a desk.
Once you get your grip strength up you can hang and just let your spine decompress. It feels great. You can also do the opposite and keep your core engaged (AKA hollow hold) to build strength.
I played sports growing up but never had a strong core until I did this in my 30s. It was kind of shocking because I could suddenly do things like V ups with ease which used to make me shake uncontrollably.
I like the shaking aspect, usually a sign you pushed far beyond your limits and your body is going "wtf".
Muscle strength-focused workout. This is the way. Sitting all day is the death of your spine. Work out with weights, stronger muscles will save you
Air squats. Do them.
At least for flexibility and balance. They're a nothing burger for strength, but strength can only come after your body can actually move without hurting itself.