Posture For Driving: How To Adjust The Car Driver Seat Like An Expert
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- čas přidán 3. 06. 2024
- How good is your posture for driving?
Do you know how to adjust your car driver seat, steering wheel and mirrors? Is the backrest not too far back, or the steering too far forward? Do you have a good hands position on the steering wheel?
All this bad driving ergonomics causes pain and fatigue, especially after a long drive.
But good news: adjusting the car cockpit like an expert and finding the right driving position can be learned!
On this video, I show you step by step what causes pain when you drive and how to avoid bad driving posture in your vehicle. I will use a sedan car (Toyota Camry) and a cabrio (Honda S2000, with a much less adjustable seat) as examples.
Here we go:
00:00 intro
00:26 the 3 big mistakes
01:33 seat height
02:30 front-back seat position
03:10 seat pan angle
03:50 backrest angle
04:58 steering adjustment
05:59 headrest adjustment
06:32 adjust the mirrors
06:42 micro adjustments
07:32 adjusting a sports car seat (S2000)
10:51 how to get into a car
and how to get out of a car
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Medical Disclaimer
All information, content, and material of this website is for informational purposes only and are not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider.
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Pain in the back, shoulder, arms or any other musculoskeletal pain should not govern your life.
A lot of the pain you feel is caused or aggravated by wrong posture, poor ergonomics and a lack of specific exercises for your muscles and joints. Giving you the tools to resolve these issues is the reason why I created this self care channel.
If you need more, check out these two innovative offers that will truly empower you in the subtle art of posture correction:
- you can get THE POSTURE MANUAL, my best-selling book with 15 readers-only posture correction videos - only if you buy it from my website: oliviergirard.ch/en/boutique/...
- to enjoy a personal coach and a lifetime membership to my private Facebook group, consider joining THE POSTURE ACADEMY: oliviergirard.ch/en/posture-a...
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Medical Disclaimer
All information, content, and material of this website is for informational purposes only and are not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider.
Full disclaimer:
oliviergirard.ch/en/ytdisclai... - Jak na to + styl
These were the most clear instructions for me personally. After getting back my car from a workshop they’ve changed my seat and it was a nightmare to get it back where it was. Thanks to this video I’ve adjusted my seat perfectly and felt a lot of comfort and relief in my back and shoulders. Thank you again for the clear instructions.
Thanks for the feedback!! I'm glad it was useful 🙂
Thank you for the most helpful video about driver seat's adjustment on youtube today. Clear and concise information. Even though you posted it a few years back it still served me today.
Thank you for posting this video. It is very helpful to learn ergonomics to work on driving posture and safety.
This was very insightful, thanks again Oliver!
very detailed explanation, thank you!
Excellent advice!!
Great video. Thanks. I’ve been cramped in my seat for a long time, opening the hips is a great piece of advice.
I’m now more comfortable as I drive 1 hour to work and 1 hour back per day.
Thanks to this vid. Helps me get the right posture, eliminates my back pain when im driving l.
Thank you so much for this information, be blessed.
Very helpful! Thanks 😊
Thanks a lot! Great video !
Wonderful, thanks!
great video, thanks
Good video brother.
exelent tutorial, thx
Thank you for theses advices. Do you know if it's a good idea to put some kind of neck support accessory on the lower part of the headrest for increased support ?
Thank you so much for this demonstration! I am 5'2" and recently bought a 2006 Toyota (Camry) Solara XLE convertible, and I've had awful right neck and shoulder pain. I just did new seat and steering wheel adjustments while watching this! I'm looking forward to driving this week now!
Let us know how it feels!!! 🔥
very nice explanation. you seem to be the only one that I found that explains how to do it in older cars that don't have much adjustment. only the sound quality in second half of the video could've been better.
Thank you Mammad! Indeed, I have been steadily progressing with video and sound quality... surely still a lot to do, but I'm improving ;) !!
This video has saved my back thank you! The new Accord I have is comfortable but it is challenging when you have so many adjustments.
You've got the car I wanted to buy! I have the 2008 Accord which is immensely comfortable, but they don't import the new one in Europe. So I bought the Camry...
@@OlivierGirard Darn! It would be a great car for sure! I do agree having more adjustments is a bit difficult. The Camry I have driven before, it’s as smooth as silk, I just found the accord a little more affordable in Canada plus it’s got a bit of a kick in power. That S2000 is a beauty by the way! Excellent condition.
Thank you so so much❤
This was super helpful. Thanks so much for putting it together 🙏
Wooooow!
Amazing video
One hint before entering the car you can sit normally whith both legs outta the car and then turn your body with your legs all the way inside
Awesome video. Please demonstrate entering and exiting a Lotus Elise with the top on.
😂... you get the Elise to Switzerland, I shoot the video!!
Omg you have no idea how helpful your videos are!! I had a sacroiliac fusion in October 2019 and have had piriformis pain ever since. Your videos are helping me with so many aspects of my life. I thank you so much!
Still going through the videos to try and figure out why cooking especially makes it “flare” up.
And you have no clue how nice it is to wake up and read such comments, Melissa :) ! I have a couple of ideas that could help you with cooking... I’ll discuss them in my live tomorrow (23.12, 9AM EST- czcams.com/video/lNeDto1JOdE/video.html): great if you can join us, and feel free to watch the replay otherwise! Check out the comments of the live, I’ll mention the timing for your answer ;)
Thanks!
Great video, love the s2k❤️
It's a cool mechanical car, not a computer on wheels :) Feels good to sometimes drive the old way again!!
@@OlivierGirard definitely! They are one of my favourite cars, one of Honda's few RWD vehicles 👌 My Honda seats are very uncomfortable. I have bad coccyx pain after sitting in them for about an hour. Thinking if getting a pillow for the bottom of the seat , do you know if lumbar support would help with coccyx pain or have any ideas?
@@fipfip3331 If you have coccyx pain, what would work best is something like this: www.amazon.co.uk/Drive-Cushion-Removable-Machine-Washable/dp/B009DZQL7E. Now, the risk is that it raises you too much on the seat (= the lumbar support wouldn't be at belt height anymore) so I would take one which isn't too thick (you may very well waste money once or twice on a non perfect one... like I did approx. 500 times :) that's life!!). The other thing I would do is put anti slip fabric on both sides of your cushion (especially if you have leather seats): rubbersmart.co.uk/product/non-slip-fine-fabric/. This will avoid that you slide on the cushion or that the cushion slides on the seat, i.e. avoid that you slouch. You try and let me know?
@@OlivierGirard thanks so much for your expertise. I’ll let you know how I end up and reply to this comment with what I found worked !
Thank you
I only want to say thank you for this Video, for me with 1,90 m height it was the only video on CZcams which helped me for the right Seating-Postion. My Mistake was all the Years, that i moved the seat to much backwards (this gave me strain in the shoulders and neck and it was exhausting in the arms to drive), because i have long legs and i only checked whats wrong because of your Video. Greetings from Germany!
I'm super glad that I could help!! Thanks for the feedback :)
Best video I found so far, bought Audi S5 and have been crippled with seat. Will try this tomorrow
Excellent Jason! Did it help?
@@OlivierGirard definitely improved god I wish you were close I’d drive over to you right now I really want to keep the car but the seat is killing me. I’m 6”2 so maybe too big for the car
2:00 - “as high as the car allows us to”: I’m 1.85m and trying to find a balance between being higher to sit more upright and being low enough to see under my center mirror. In prior cars, I was able to adjust the mirror closer to the ceiling, giving me a clearer view to my front-right; but in my current car, the mirror can’t be adjusted up-or-down (does my description make sense?). So, to see under the mirror, I have the bottom cushion adjusted as low as it go under my hips and the backrest tilted rearwards farther than before. Then I have to move the headrest forward to support my head (I’m trying to avoid neck strain) and raise the thigh support just a bit to keep me from sliding forward.
Much love.
hello, and thank you for this vid. I appreciate the time and detail given towards explanation. I really notice my left knee/ leg wants to hang/point outward which you addressed. I'll use this info and thank you again.
You're most welcome, Shawn! I don't remember if I mentioned it in this video... but if you don't manage to prevent your knee from shifting laterally, try with a towel or t-shirt that you roll on the external side of your thigh. It works miracles...
merci
Thank you for this video, it's a bit tricky when you're taller, makes every car feel clusterphobic and uncomfortable.
Cars are indeed a please of great injustice: the taller you are, the higher you should normally sit. But in car, the ceiling prevents you from doing so!!
Very unique approach. What about buttocks first (squat into the seat), then rotate 90 degrees to driving position once all the weight is on the seat ?
That's yet another great question, thank you for this!
Buttocks first needs more details: you can put butt first + hollow back (if you look straight forward) or butt first + flex your back forward (much better!!).
Then, the fact that your 2 legs are outside the car might be a bit of a problem:
- either you bring one into the car, then the other but chances are big that you spread the thighs far apart and overstretch the adductors (inner thigh muscles) + possibly strain the hip joint
- either you bring the two legs at the same time... and this is a really bad idea for your lower back!
So if you sit butt first, you should rotate 90° first, then flex your whole body to the right side, then bring the right leg inside, and then the left one. There are more steps than in my "kicking donkey technique" so I'm afraid you will take some painful shortcuts. But try both, and let us know which one you prefer :) !!
lack of height adjustment on the S2000 is probably also to keep center-of-gravity low in sports car. I don't really know much about sports cars. I really don't know how much of an effect driver would have on that. I'm old enough to remember economy cars where you just got back and forth for seat adjustment.
Thanks
It feels as if, I need a roll Ora rolled towel where b, my hip and buttocks rest inn the back the seat cushion.
Does sound most correct piston for my body?
you probably dont give a shit but if you guys are stoned like me during the covid times you can watch all the new series on InstaFlixxer. Have been binge watching with my brother for the last few months :)
@Moses Ivan Definitely, have been using instaflixxer for since november myself :)
Do you have any videos about getting in and out of tractors or industrial equipment?
I just have something about trucks: czcams.com/video/XDy1MyqLNYI/video.html (my PA will subtitle in within a few days)
@@OlivierGirard that will work. Thank you.
I watched the whole video, it helps, but not all, since im driving a Japanese K-Car Suzuki Hustler, which has limited setting, I used to drive a Mitsubishi Colt version R and VW Golf 6 which were fine, now I have foot pain issue till my bottom leg part while driving my current car
Have a look at this video: czcams.com/video/llXTtAc7hM4/video.html. If you realize that your knees are moving sideways, try with a folded towel on each side of the thighs to keep them in line...
@@OlivierGirard Thanks for the instant reply, I will try adjust my seat again
Merci beaucoup for the GREAT video, c'est genial! I am: very tall, have had multiple herniated discs, love sports cars and hate SUVs- add all of these up and you can see why I am very focussed on optimising my driving posture. My crucial question for you as I choose my next daily driver is, aside from ingress/egress, if you compare a low-slung car (like the S2000) with an SUV or large sedan, assuming the seat quality is equal, and both allow you to find a position where the hip joint is not closed/pressure on the underside of the thigh is equal, so the only difference is that in the sports car you will be seated lower and further away to get those angles....Is the SUV/car really healthier for long drives, aside from the fact that it is easier to enter/exit?
Yeah, unfortunately the environmentally-friendly side of me has to accept that an SUV is more ergonomic:
- if you're tall, you'll never find a low car that allows exactly the same hip angle as an SUV;
- on a low car, your legs will always be stretched forward. This causes slouching due to weight compensation: if you put some weight forward, some has to go backwards. It's like sitting on the L of the couch vs. sitting on a chair with your knees at 90°.
One more thing... even if it's super obvious: rent the car for a long drive before you decide to buy it, and get electric seats. It's so much more comfortable!
@@OlivierGirard Thanks a lot Olivier! The specific car I'm looking at is not quite as extreme as our sports cars- it is a BMW F30 328i sport sedan, so it's somewhere in between; when I tested the interior and jacked up the seat as high as possible whilst sliding it back, the thigh/back angles seemed quite satisfactory (albeit relatively low compared to my 3 series GT or especially an SUV). It is tempting! : )
If the driver seat has a slight offset to the left creating discomfort how can i minimize that discomfort
I see that your supervisor was monitoring you. Beautiful cat LOL
😂😂 the neighbour’s cat!!
I have a Recaro seat in my Ford Focus ST. Due to the pitch of the seat ( knees sit higher than hips) I find it hard to get comfortable. Any suggestions?!
The only way to lower your knees would be to sit a bit further away from the pedals... but if your steering can't move forward, it might result in neck / shoulder strain. At first, I would avoid raising the hips (e.g. by placing a cushion) due to the ceiling height + the risk of the butt sliding forward = slouching)... but if no other choice, try it out!
My car’s head restraint is too high for me and causes my head to bend forward leading to neck pain. Do you know how I might fix this? I already have my seat at its highest
Usually, the way forward is to recline the backrest a little: this way, the pressure from the head support is reduced. Would this help?
Have you tried driver seat of Tesla Model 3. Is is good for back? Ergonomically? Thanks
I never sat in a Tesla... yet! Do you have one?
@@OlivierGirard I was looking to buy but it has a low height car seat so not sure if it is bad for back? Was wondering if anyone can share their experience of sitting in Tesla model 3 car seat?
when i adjust car don't feel anything, but after short driving have pain in my body, its not easy as seems in this video
yep, posture adjustments are often super precise. Where do you feel the discomfort after driving?
@@OlivierGirard hi, right leg pain going from buttocks to foot
Does this pain pattern remind you of your pain: czcams.com/video/XHAO4-xyoLE/video.html ?
@@OlivierGirard more like czcams.com/video/sTwDEmFY654/video.html because i sit more than standing
I cant get a good posture in my car seat. My vertebrae sticks out. When I drive long periods like 6 hours, my lower back hurts even days later
Could you try with a very slim cushion in the lower back? Watch this video, at least from 04:05: czcams.com/video/sJLUWTLQwNI/video.html
@@OlivierGirard Thanks, I will try a slim cushion!
11:33 Looking at something like this makes me almost feel sad for you. I mean freaking hell, your life must be really complicated. You provide very interesting and valuable insights into posture though, no doubt. However, i probably take the risk of "braking my back" and get into my car like a normal person, lol.
I appreciate your compassion… but believe me, even freaks of biomechanics can live a happy life 😅… and even earn a living from it! I’m sure that all those who ever practiced systema or other smart martial arts will agree with me 🔥
@@OlivierGirard After all it's your passion, which i can tell from watching your videos, and the fact that you can even make a living off of it makes it all the better. I never had a single doubt in my mind that you live a very satisfying life. Sometimes it just looks like as if something as simple as sitting down onto a "foreign couch" might be able to completely stress you out (not really, but you get my idea i think lol).
This guy..... "I don't have to press all the way to shift the gears".
The hand placement on the steering wheel is wrong.
Great video, thanks
My pleasure, dear :)
Thank you