Can sitting too much be causing your pain?

Can sitting too much be causing your pain? 

The truth is, we live in a sedentary culture. 

We sit at the breakfast table. 
During our commute.
At our desks.
While eating lunch.
During more computer time. 
On another commute home. 
At the dinner table.
While relaxing on the couch…

The common denominator is dozens of hours of sitting. 

The result?

• Hip flexors shorten + tighten

• Core stabilizers weaken

• Glute muscles weaken 

• Head assumes a forward (slumped) posture

In essence, we are sitting ourselves into pain.

The human body is designed to move. 

But the current state of technology - and a societal focus on efficiency - de-prioritizes movement. 

If you make time for a daily workout, that’s a HUGELY important first step.

But what about the other 14+ waking hours of the day? 

An hour of focused exercise can’t compete with a dozen seated hours.

Well wait, you say – I have a standing desk!

OK - that’s a good step!

It’s great to get out of a seated position.

However, simply standing in a single unmoving position can create it’s own host of imbalances.

Our bodies simply aren’t meant to be static…

So, what can we do? 

We need to create as many opportunities for movement as possible throughout our day.

Instead of only thinking about an official “workout”, can you simply change the shape of your body more often? 

Biomechanist Katy Bowman has talked about “moving your constellation.” 

If you think of each of your joints as a point on a constellation - how often can you change that shape? 

Some simple ideas to integrating more movement into your day:

• Change your position more often
  You can switch between sitting in a chair, standing, sitting on the floor, crouching, squatting, kneeling etc. There are endless possibilities to create new shapes with your body so it doesn’t become stiff in a single pose.

• More walking! 
  Walking is an incredibly underrated and underutilized form of movement. Especially if you live in a more suburban or rural environment and are heavily reliant on your car, it’s possible to avoid walking more than a few steps altogether. Can you seek out more opportunities to walk? Walk your kids to school instead of waiting in the drop off line. Take a 5-10 minute break for some fresh air and steps during the work day. Intentionally park further away from the grocery store. Are these little movement nuggets a full blown workout? Of course not. But, it all adds up - and keeping your body moving regularly is critical to your health. 

• Movement snacks
  Longer, more intense workouts certainly have their place. But so do short, quick movement snacks to break up a day of sitting. Work at a desk all day? Try setting an alert for every hour. When it goes off, take 1-2 minutes to move. Some bodyweight squats and elevated pushups off your desk, and back to work you go! Again, the goal here is getting the body moving in different positions, and challenging it throughout the day rather than remaining stationary and static. 

Need help resetting your body from too much sitting and not enough moving?

Give us a call or shoot us an email and let Dr. Kara and Dr. Danielle deep dive into the root cause of your pain and movement restrictions.