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美国国家公共电台 NPR Can't Get Comfortable In Your Chair? Here's What You Can Do

时间:2018-09-26 07:46:33

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

We're going to spend the next several minutes talking about an object that you spend a lot of time with - your chair. Why are so many chairs so bad for people's backs? NPR's Michaeleen Doucleff investigated, and she's written us to say that this story will have you on the edge of your seat.

MICHAELEEN DOUCLEFF, BYLINE1: For thousands of years, most chairs were made of wood. When upholstery came along, it was mainly for rich people, but most people sat on wooden stools, benches and simple chairs. And in general, they were firm and flat. Then about 70 years ago, everything started changing. Designers had access to new materials like steel, plastic and foam2 rubber. Galen Cranz studies chair design at the University of California, Berkeley.

GALEN CRANZ: The whole 20th century is all about experimenting with a new technology.

DOUCLEFF: Designers realized they could make chairs in any shape they wanted, and their creativity exploded.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

DOUCLEFF: Take for example the Barcelona chair.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DANIELLA OHAD: Considered one of the best designed chairs of all times.

DOUCLEFF: That's design historian Daniella Ohad in her video devoted3 to the chair. It was made by the German designers Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich in 1929 for the king and queen of Spain to sit in. It hit the mass market in the '50s.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

OHAD: It became the most popular chair in Americans' lobbies, reception rooms and office spaces.

DOUCLEFF: You've probably seen it in furniture stores. It looks like two giant chocolate bars set at right angles and floating atop steel poles. It's lovely.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

OHAD: The chair embodies4 the Mies principle that anything less than perfection is unacceptable.

DOUCLEFF: But Cranz says there's just one problem with the Barcelona chair and many famous midcentury modern chairs. They are really bad for your back. They can make your posture5 worse.

CRANZ: Yeah. They make it much worse.

DOUCLEFF: But those are, like, in museums and, like...

CRANZ: Yes.

DOUCLEFF: ...Honored as these great designs.

CRANZ: Yes. All these chairs are in the Museum of Modern Art, and every chair collection has them. They're at the lobbies of our most prominent corporations on Sixth Avenue or in New York City. But they're not good for us.

DOUCLEFF: Cranz says many chair designers have forgotten about the human body and what it needs to sit in a healthy way. As a result, we've ended up with living rooms, offices and restaurants filled with chairs that hurt our backs.

CRANZ: It's shocking to realize that they're poorly designed for our bodies. I mean, I didn't believe myself for a while. It was like, how can this be? Well, it is.

DOUCLEFF: Almost all chairs have one of two problems. Some of them have both. First off, they're too deep. The backrest is too far away from the edge of the seat, so your legs stick out straight like a little kid. Second, they're too soft - way too soft.

STU MCGILL: Comfort does not come from sitting in a soft and very plush kind of couch or chair. It's actually the opposite - very firm seat pan with a good amount of lumbar support.

DOUCLEFF: That's Stu McGill, who has studied spine6 mechanics for 30 years at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. He says the problem with soft chairs and ones that are too deep is they cause people to slouch or slump7. And when you slouch, you do something bad to your spine. You bend it into C shape.

MCGILL: That puts more stress on the spinal8 discs.

DOUCLEFF: Those little rings of collagen that help hold your spine together. McGill says they're a bit sensitive to bending.

MCGILL: That's not an issue over the short term. But if you prolonged expose it to bending, it will become pain-sensitive in most people.

DOUCLEFF: You also run the risk of damaging the discs, which can be excruciatingly painful. So what can you do? It's probably not feasible to throw out all your soft and deep chairs and start over. And Jean Couch says it's actually not necessary.

JEAN COUCH: We have techniques or, you know, props9 we can use that will help us.

DOUCLEFF: Couch has been teaching people how to sit with a healthy posture in Palo Alto for about 25 years, and she says there are two tricks you can use for basically any chair. Number one - sit on the edge.

COUCH: I find the frame and sit on the hard part of the chair.

DOUCLEFF: In the front part.

COUCH: Yeah. And now I'm so much more comfortable.

DOUCLEFF: In other words, forget about the backrest and use the wooden frame of the chairs as a firm support. That makes it easier to keep your back straight and not slump. And Couch says, be very careful about how you position your legs, especially your knees.

COUCH: The big trick is the knee is below the hip10 socket11.

DOUCLEFF: When you're sitting, take a look at your knees and where they are in relationship to your hips12. You'll be a lot more comfortable and less likely to slump if your knees are below your hips.

Actually, this is what happens to your legs when you're floating in space. NASA calls it the neutral body posture because it's when the muscles are the most relaxed. And there's another way to help get this posture when you're sitting. Couch says build a perch13.

COUCH: So I'm perched right now.

DOUCLEFF: Couch has taken a firm pillow and placed it in the center of the chair, and then she sat down on the front of the pillow so she's kind of elevated above the chair. She says you can really use anything to build a perch - a wool blanket, a jacket.

COUCH: I've sat on my wallet. I've sat on a shoe.

DOUCLEFF: (Laughter).

COUCH: But my favorite is - I'm always like with my husband - I'm like, Michael (ph), could I borrow your sweater?

DOUCLEFF: It's so resourceful.

COUCH: You get resourceful.

DOUCLEFF: But Couch does have a favorite pillow that she thinks works the best - a wedge.

COUCH: So it's a wedge-shaped pillow. And it's pretty dense14 foam. So you want it as dense as you can get it.

DOUCLEFF: You can find these pillows online, and Couch says they're great for using in the car where the seats can be really, really hard on your back.

COUCH: And any little thing will help better than nothing.

DOUCLEFF: Because even if you're not having problems now, chances are you might in the future. Eighty percent of Americans experience back pain at some point in their lives. Michaeleen Doucleff, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF MOOG'S "RIVALS")

INSKEEP: If you want a tutorial, see these sitting tips in action and also learn how to deal with painful seats in cars and planes, go to our health blog Shots at npr.org, and you will find the videos.

(SOUNDBITE OF MOOG'S "RIVALS")


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 byline sSXyQ     
n.署名;v.署名
参考例句:
  • His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
  • We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。
2 foam LjOxI     
v./n.泡沫,起泡沫
参考例句:
  • The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
  • The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。
3 devoted xu9zka     
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的
参考例句:
  • He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
  • We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
4 embodies 6b48da551d6920b8da8eb01ebc400297     
v.表现( embody的第三人称单数 );象征;包括;包含
参考例句:
  • The new treaty embodies the aspirations of most nonaligned countries. 新条约体现了大多数不结盟国家的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • This document embodies the concern of the government for the deformity. 这个文件体现了政府对残疾人的关怀。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
5 posture q1gzk     
n.姿势,姿态,心态,态度;v.作出某种姿势
参考例句:
  • The government adopted an uncompromising posture on the issue of independence.政府在独立这一问题上采取了毫不妥协的态度。
  • He tore off his coat and assumed a fighting posture.他脱掉上衣,摆出一副打架的架势。
6 spine lFQzT     
n.脊柱,脊椎;(动植物的)刺;书脊
参考例句:
  • He broke his spine in a fall from a horse.他从马上跌下摔断了脊梁骨。
  • His spine developed a slight curve.他的脊柱有点弯曲。
7 slump 4E8zU     
n.暴跌,意气消沉,(土地)下沉;vi.猛然掉落,坍塌,大幅度下跌
参考例句:
  • She is in a slump in her career.她处在事业的低谷。
  • Economists are forecasting a slump.经济学家们预言将发生经济衰退。
8 spinal KFczS     
adj.针的,尖刺的,尖刺状突起的;adj.脊骨的,脊髓的
参考例句:
  • After three days in Japan,the spinal column becomes extraordinarily flexible.在日本三天,就已经使脊椎骨变得富有弹性了。
  • Your spinal column is made up of 24 movable vertebrae.你的脊柱由24个活动的脊椎骨构成。
9 props 50fe03ab7bf37089a7e88da9b31ffb3b     
小道具; 支柱( prop的名词复数 ); 支持者; 道具; (橄榄球中的)支柱前锋
参考例句:
  • Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
  • The government props up the prices of farm products to support farmers' incomes. 政府保持农产品价格不变以保障农民们的收入。
10 hip 1dOxX     
n.臀部,髋;屋脊
参考例句:
  • The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
  • The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。
11 socket jw9wm     
n.窝,穴,孔,插座,插口
参考例句:
  • He put the electric plug into the socket.他把电插头插入插座。
  • The battery charger plugs into any mains socket.这个电池充电器可以插入任何类型的电源插座。
12 hips f8c80f9a170ee6ab52ed1e87054f32d4     
abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯,耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 );[建筑学]屋脊;臀围(尺寸);臀部…的
参考例句:
  • She stood with her hands on her hips. 她双手叉腰站着。
  • They wiggled their hips to the sound of pop music. 他们随着流行音乐的声音摇晃着臀部。 来自《简明英汉词典》
13 perch 5u1yp     
n.栖木,高位,杆;v.栖息,就位,位于
参考例句:
  • The bird took its perch.鸟停歇在栖木上。
  • Little birds perch themselves on the branches.小鸟儿栖歇在树枝上。
14 dense aONzX     
a.密集的,稠密的,浓密的;密度大的
参考例句:
  • The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
  • The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

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