Are you sitting comfortably?

As we move into winter and the nights get longer, the sofa becomes even more enticing, especially when there are Scandinavian dramas on TV and a roaring log fire tempting you to sit down and relax! But before you get ready to hibernate in front of your fire for the winter, it is worth taking a moment to consider how much time you spend sitting down on an average day.  As a population, we sit for far longer than ever before in history. We sit to work, to play and then, when we are tired, we collapse on the sofa.

Our lifestyles also encourage us to be physically passive driving to work, technological aids both at home and work, has meant that our ‘work’ involves smaller and smaller movements performed under tension.  According to a report published by the British Journal of Sports, Britons spend 60pc of their waking hours sitting down, which can rises to as much as 75pc for those who work in offices.
This is further backed up by recent research by the British Heart foundation suggesting that almost half of women and two-fifths of men in the UK spend less than 30 minutes a day walking around at work.

The report recommends:
• Two hours of standing and light walking during working hours every day, eventually progressing to four hours for all office workers whose jobs are predominantly desk-based
• Regularly breaking up seat-based work with standing-based work, with the use of adjustable sit-stand desks and work stations
• Avoiding prolonged static standing, as this may be just as harmful as sitting down for too long
• Altering your posture and taking light walks to alleviate possible musculoskeletal pain and fatigue as your body gets used to more movement

If you are sitting poorly try this...
1.    Sit on the front of the sitting bones, by pushing your low back forward.
2.    Square your shoulders, without elevating them or adding a chest lift by linking chest movement to shoulder movement. Try to keep the lower ribs 'down' as the shoulders retract - stopping the shoulders movement back if the chest starts to lift.
3.    Lift your head so your face is directed at the ceiling. Then 'lengthen the back of your neck' so your face points forward. (This initially corrects the low neck position and then corrects the upper neck).
4.    Keep a relaxed breathing pattern. As you breathe in - make sure the air gently fills the lower lungs - don't fill the upper chest.

If you sit down at work, can you adjust your chair to support this shape? If not, can you add a cushion or rolled up towel to your low back to maintain this shape? Remember, when correcting a sitting posture correctly placing the low back position can actually improve the entire sitting posture.
When you get home, try not to collapse and slouch on the sofa! Slouching encourages our low back to take exactly the opposite to ideal shape. Sitting is in itself tough on the back but slouching is one of the most constant and damaging strains on our spines in modern life. If we slouch on a regular basis the slouch will feel 'normal' to us but human nature is to interpret that feeling as if it is correct.

I'd like to book an appointment