Mogo: the chair of the future?

Stop what you are doing, don't move, and notice your posture. How are you sitting or standing? Then take a minute and look at the people around you and see what their posture looks like. It's a pretty safe bet that most people you see are not exhibiting great posture and maybe you weren't either. It's very common to see people sitting and standing that look like this:

We all know sitting like this can lead to all sorts of health issues and chronic aches and pains. 

The economics industry has been trying to fix peoples poor posture for years using different approaches including fancy ergonomic desk chairs (with lumbar support, headrests, and countless adjustable features) to kneeling chairs and stools, to swiss or balance balls and even taking NASA research about the perfect 135-degree back-thigh sitting posture. But most people who try these ergonomic fixes look like this using them:

The ergonomic fixes didn't really help because the person just went back to their old habits and default muscle memory of bad posture. A person's sitting posture has very little to do with the chair and a lot to do with that person's muscular imbalances. But this hasn't stopped ergonomic manufacturers from constantly trying something new. One new device, designed by Martin Keen of Keen Footwear, is getting a lot of media attention. It's called the Mogo, "the human kickstand," and is a portable lean-on seat that is supposed to help you maintain the healthy neutral S-shaped spinal curve. 

Take a look at the photo below to see how well it's working (note this is an official Mogo company photo):

The two individuals closest to the camera sitting on the Mogo's certainly don't have an S-curve to their spine and are displaying the classic flat lumbar curve, excessively rounded upper back and head forward posture that is all to common today. 

So what are we to do if all the ergonomic advancements of the last 100 years can not help us maintain the natural and neutral S-curved spinal posture? Should we give up hope and just assume that human evolution looks like this?

I don't think so. I believe we need to stop looking for a device outside of ourselves that will fix the problem and start looking inside ourselves for the solution. If we have trained our muscles to hold our bodies in a slouched position for years it is unrealistic to expect some ergonomic device to be able to come in and save the day. I think if we focus our time and energy correcting our muscular imbalances and retraining our body to hold itself in an upright posture we will be able to sit with a perfect S-curve no matter the chair (or lack there of). 

Exercise therapy routines designed specifically for your postural imbalances can create fast and efficient change in your body, in how you feel, and in how you sit. This will allow you to save money on not buying the latest and greatest ergonomic device and enjoy comfortable sitting and standing unassisted - the way nature intended it to be.