Sitting Fit: How to remain healthy and fit while sitting!
Dr. Marc A. Bochner on Friday, February 19, 2021 at 02:00AM by Marc Bochner, DC, CCSP
Many studies have demonstrated the negative effects of a sedentary lifestyle, from back pain and obesity to an increased risk of developing many chronic diseases (see Sitting Fit: Prevent "Movement Dystopia")(1)
Unfortunately, this already serious problem has been exacerbated as the pandemic lock-downs and working from home has led to decreased physical activity for many people who already might not have been moving enough. It is all too easy for both adults and children to become less active, especially during the winter. (2) But you can manage the "movement dystopia" of sitting and prevent musculoskeletal pain, injury and other health issues.
“Sitting for a living” is very risky:
Muscle tightness: Hip flexors, lower hamstrings, calves, chest, shoulder and forearm muscles all tighten when sitting in the 'flexed" posture, and the opposite "extensor" muscles weaken. Intervertebral discs: The spinal discs are like jelly donuts, and the "jelly" like center, or nucleus, can start to compress and bulge through the dough, or layers of ligament tissue.
Heart and blood pressure: BP goes up as the lack of muscle movement hinders venous blood return and cardiac output decreases.
Metabolic levels: Triglycerides and "bad cholesterol" levels rise along with insulin resistance.
Bone Density: Has been shown to be lowered in women.
Cancer: Prolonged sitting also increases colorectal, endometrial, ovarian, and prostate cancer risks, and it has been reported to increase cancer mortality particularly in women.
However, there is good news -- increasing your physical activity can help prevent these negative health affects!
Use the acronym "WORK" to remember these 4 key steps:
1) Evaluate your Workplace Set-Up, 2) Organize Breaks, 3) Restore Health, and 4) Keep Healthy.
- Workplace set up: Do an ergonomic check of your home office set up (desk, chair, screen, keyboard).
Desk: This may involve purchasing or creating a standing desk as the easiest way to avoid the sedentary effects of sitting is to...not sit, or not sit as much! "Active" sitting is best- active means you still use your core to minimize the vertical pressure of the chair seat pushing back against the spine by using your core muscles.
Chair: An active sitting chair that has an slightly "unstable" seat can be used to achieve this or you can use the Sit-Disc.
If you must use a "regular" chair, sitting on the front edge of the seat can also activate the core by helping to maintain the lower back arch instead of the rounded, slumped posture that compresses spinal disks and stretches and weakens deep back muscles. Or, you can recline back in the chair to reduce compressive forces on the spine- but this reclined posture is not practical for most desk work so it may be best to use for a break from the upright posture.
If you use an adjustable "ergonomic" chair with contoured support, and sit "straight up" and against the back of the chair, you must make sure your lower back and mid back are aligned properly so that the upper back rests on the chair arch, which takes the weight of the mid back off of the lower back. However, even though these ergonomic chairs are very "supportive", unfortunately they inactivate the core muscles which can lead to atrophy and long-term weakness if used regularly. Thus, I do not recommend using a traditional office chair as your main sitting strategy.
Finally, no matter what chair is used, the neck should be in neutral, not flexed, and the head should not be translated forward. The shoulders should also be relaxed and not shrugged up and/or forward. T help relax your shoulders, make sure the chair height is adjusted so that your arms rest low enough on any arm rests or on the desk edge and thus you don't need to hold them up with the arm and shoulder muscles.
Keyboard: keep your wrists aligned with your forearms (no sharp angles) and in neutral (not flexed or extended) and keep your elbows at a 90 degree angle or more, not less.
Computer screen: the top of the monitor should be at eye level, and the screen should be about 20-30 inches away from your face. You shouldn't need to flex your neck down or arch it up to see the screen center.
2. Organize BREAKS from your work/sitting to minimize the negative effects of sitting:
Micro- take a 20 second break every 15 minutes and stand and stretch your neck and hip flexors, shoulder/chest and hamstrings/calves.
Mini- take a 5 minute break every hour and walk around the office or outside your home.
Macro- take a lunch break workout of 30-60 minutes or workout before or after work.
3. Restore health to already tight/weak/injured areas: Use both self-care (foam/ball rolling, targeted stretching, strength exercises) and office care if needed (myofascial release /adjustments/rehab programs/exercise training).
4. Keep healthy by maintaining normal joint and muscle function by proactively self-treating with the above restorative methods and scheduling check up visits for chiropractic and manual muscle treatments when needed. Using our self-monitoring system, traininghistory.com, can help you track the status of key areas (neck, shoulder, wrist/hand, lower back) and also help you learn when to self treat and when to seek professional care.
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