Why Sitting is the Worst

We see a great deal of this. Pain with Prolonged sitting. At work. Driving. At school. Ever increasing cell phone use. We treat the elements: muscles, tendons, joints, posture and nerves. But why don’t you get better and stay better? This could become a deep dive, but we will try to simplify it.

 

But, what about the culprit?

 

There are a number of considerations regarding prolonged sitting which lead to pain as well as several other health compromises and the subject deserves discussion. We were not designed to sit in a chair for 8+ hours a day. We are just simply not built for it, taking a look back in time at our ancestors can shine some light into why this is. While times have changed and we no longer have to hunt, gather, build, run from prey, walk instead of drive places, we need to find a way to adapt to this new way of life: prolonged sitting.

The sitting position is a prolonged isometric contraction. All muscles enjoy a range of motion that they can find themselves in. All muscles can get long, and then contract and become short. When you are sitting you have a handful of muscles in a contracted state. When they stay in this state for too long, they can quickly fatigue causing muscle pains, or in some cases remain contracted limiting the movements some people can do after prolonged sitting.

 

There is no position so perfect that it won’t, in time, provoke pain. There are postures that will provoke this pain more quickly. You need to be mindful to not find your head in front of your shoulders. The neck muscles were not made to be weight bearing and cannot take the weight of your head.

 

In this day and age we cannot just recommend no sitting. While there are stand up desks, there are no stand up cars-yet. So what can you do? Periodic (set a 15 min timer on your watch) shifts in seat height, seat length, keyboard/mouse/ monitor position bring fresh muscles and a refreshing of position= it can be quite ameliorating. Just a small change can mean a difference for the muscle that isometrically contracted when you are sitting, and the more movement you can incorporate into your sitting will limit how tight your muscles will be.

 

 

 

For more in-depth advice suited just for you, make an appointment and have the doctor address your concerns.

Written by: Donaid Seals D.C

Dr. Seals is a practicing Doctor of Chiropractic with over 25 years of experience caring for people across three states. His thinking is the product of his education, practice experience and many years in the natural foods and fitness industry. He has become living proof that old muscleheads don’t die-or fade away; sometimes they grow up to bring real-world expertise to the clinical picture. Traditional background information is available here.