8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0979303605

This book fixed my posture. After reading it, I understood for the first time what it actually means to have good posture.

The book "8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back" talks all about it and has a long-term plan on how to address it for you.

https://www.amazon.com/Steps-Pain-Free-Back-Solutions-Should...

Backing this up, here's my personal journey: I had back pain for a few years that has been basically gone for six months. A combination of these helped:

* daily inversion (Teeter Gravity Boots on a pull-up bar—I actually pull down on the door frame while inverted for extra decompression)

* daily yoga (at home, from YouTube videos)

* using a standing desk most of the time

* Rolfing about once every eight weeks (type of massage focused on aligning fascia. It's pricey and a little pseudoscience-y but actually works really well)

* occasional targeted sports massage (if I'm crying, I know it's good)

If there's one thing of all those that's made the most difference, it's inversion. I feel so tall now. Seriously, invest in an inversion table or inversion boots if it's safe for you to do this exercise.

My posture is still not where I want it to be, but it's much better than it used to be. I still get tight in the neck (likely due to poor sleep posture). I had chronic pain in my left foot (likely plantar fasciitis) that disappears but comes back about once every two weeks. Both have gotten much better with some targeted yoga exercises, but it's a journey.

I'm slowly going through the book 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back by Esther Gokhale (https://www.amazon.com/Steps-Pain-Free-Back-Solutions-Should...). The author studied posture in industrial vs. non-industrial societies, and she concluded that most pain is not inevitable. We have just forgotten about the importance of posture in industrialized societies. The book gives you eight sessions to practice primal posture for sleeping, standing, and sitting. I'm thinking about investing $400 in the Gokhale Method in-person course.

I now prioritize flexibility over strength. 20-40 minutes of yoga per day is a large commitment, but it's worth it. I'm still basically as strong as I was when I did CrossFit, even though my "exercise" is limited to yoga, basic bodyweight exercises like pull-ups and inverted sit-ups, and long, meditative walks.

Finally, I make some lifestyle choices around posture. For example, always getting an aisle seat for flights longer than 3 hours, so I can easily get up to stretch and walk around. Choosing a more-supportive chair at a restaurant over a slouchy booth. Not reading in bed often.

If you have back pain, maybe something here will be worth trying to you. Keep at it!

I recommend Gokhale method (https://www.amazon.com/Steps-Pain-Free-Back-Solutions-Should...) which helped me fix my back pain and allow to sit for long periods of time without any problem. This book will teach you how to sit correctly and few other things about your back.

+1 on that book. It's by Esther Gokhale:

http://www.amazon.com/Steps-Pain-Free-Back-Solutions-Shoulde...

PS: Also learn good posture from a good yoga or martial arts instructor.

Read books like this: http://www.amazon.com/Steps-Pain-Free-Back-Solutions-Shoulde...

No, you don't need expensive chairs for coding, you don't need to "sit down well" because it is not possible or good for you. Do sit for hours in a "correct" posture and you will discover that your body tries to move constantly from it (blood circulation needs your pressure points to change constantly or bruises will appear).

Instead of buying expensive things go buy experts book on the area of posture, or better, go talk with expert people in the field. Books like this helped me in the past(I had pain in my back years ago) : http://www.amazon.com/Steps-Pain-Free-Back-Solutions-Shoulde...

But I assert you that in the area you live there is already lots of good people that could help you. In my area I found a martial arts expert(that won Olympic gold medals when young) that could identify wrong postures from an eye shot.

PS: I code mostly standing up and with a high stool.

This excellent book explains many of the same ideas.

http://www.amazon.com/Steps-Pain-Free-Back-Solutions-Shoulde...

For those interested, there's a book on this topic that is excellent and provides 8 postures improvements (complete with pictures) that will help keep pain away. http://www.amazon.com/Steps-Pain-Free-Back-Solutions-Shoulde... - there's also an Authors@Google talk by the author on Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yYJ4hEYudE) if you want a taste before buying the book.