21 Feb Sitting – Worst Exercise Ever!
Sitting – Worst Exercise Ever!
Sitting is an exercise? In your traditional sense of the word, it might not be. But it certainly feels like an exercise to all your spinal stabilizer muscles from your neck to your low back! And just like any exercise where doing too much of it can result in injury, so can sitting for long periods of time. As you are sitting, your buttocks (gluteus maximus) muscle is not being activated and as a result your spinal muscles kick in to keep you upright and at your task at hand. After a certain period of time, which varies for everybody, your stabilizer muscles start to fatigue and the proverbial slouch formation creeps in. This poor posturing leads to muscle spasms, pain, strains, joint degeneration, and disc bulging. The longer you sit on a daily basis, the more you put yourself at risk to develop these issues.
Good news is that most of you don’t have to be stuck in that negative cycle at work or at home. Some recommendations are:
- Get up every half hour for a drink of water or light healthy snack
- Be self-aware of your slouch and stick your chest out/squeeze shoulder blades together – do 10 times in a row
- Sit on a stability ball if possible
- Get up to stretch hamstrings, shake your arms out
- Foam roll at work or at home on your low/mid back
- Perform 3 sets of 10 of following exercises at home if they do not give you pain (Superman, Supine Bridges, Bird Dog, Child Pose stretch)
- Get a chiropractic adjustment to keep the spinal joints aligned so to prevent further degenerative changes