Josh Bowen: A Seated World

I have driven over 300,000 miles in the last 6 years. It wasn’t until recently I started to feel the extent it was having on my body. I woke up one morning and my hip was killing me and my shoulder ached, I just thought it was from hard workouts. Possibly, but when I evaluated the situation I realized I am in the most amount of pain when I drive a lot of miles in a short amount of time. Having the knowledge of how the body works, I can understand and appreciate the havoc sitting can have on one’s body.

The fact is MOST jobs are now sedentary jobs, where people; sit at a computer, sit in meetings, sit in a car or airplane and basically sit on the rear end all day. I realize this is part of it, everything in this world has become technologically advanced where people are more sedentary in the work place than ever before. That’s ok. No, really it is, because I am going to show you how to overcome this (more on that later).

Here is a stat for you that you may want to sit down for: According to a poll of nearly 6,300 people by the Institute for Medicine and Public Health, it’s likely that you spend a stunning 56 hours a week sitting on your butt- staring a computer working or watching TV trying to think about work. That is a lot of time in one position. Let me tell you how much that effects your body.

Let’s start with the lower half first, when you sit your hip flexors and hamstrings become shorten (not a good thing). This can lead to improper movement patterns leading to pain in various regions of the body. Also, since you are planted on your butt, your body sees no use for your glutes or your core musculature so they become lengthen or turned off. This is also, not a good thing. Your glutes act as the powerhouse of the low body allowing you to generate the most amount of power. If you have faulty glutes the lower back must pick of the slack.Everyone with lower back pain raise their hand! Is this starting to make sense? I hope so. So the technical version of the story is lower cross syndrome, whereas your hip flexors and hamstrings become shorten and your glutes and core musculature become lengthen and nonexistent. This contributes to knee pain, back pain, neck pain and many other types of “pain.” “JB, all from sitting??” YES!

Now, let me complicate the situation a little more. You decide to workout and you go to the gym and you find your favorite 5 machines. What do those machines have in common, you have to sit! Oh no! What good does that do? Sure your chest and arm muscles may look tone, but you still have pain in your lower back. Not a good trade off if you ask me. But are you asking me? I hope so, here are some tips to not sit so much and correct some of our imbalances.

1. Quit your sitting job! I’m joking! Don’t do that but make sure you move out of the seated position at least every hour. Don’t stay in the same position for more than 60 minutes, your muscles will thank you. Set your timer for 60 minutes and when it goes off get up and walk around for 5 minutes. Stretch your legs and go back at it.
2. Make sure your computer is at eye level. This way you don’t have to dip your chin and put your neck and head in an awkward position. Also, make sure you head in a neutral position with your shoulders back. Your ears should be in line with your shoulders, shoulders with hips and so. For every 1 inch your head moves forward its an extra 8 pounds on your cervical spine. Your spine will thank you!
3. Soft tissue work. Go buy a foam roller and roll out your IT band, hip flexors, lower back and calves. By applying pressure to a specific region, the body tells the muscle to relax. You can then stretch the muscle back to where it needs to be.
4. Before working out, perform a dynamic warm-up (check out some of my other blogs). Lunges, butt kicks, bridges are all good for loosening up the hips and activating the glutes. This is imperative before your workout. Static stretching cannot prevent muscle imbalances; you must move and move on your feet!
5. Don’t sit down during your workout! There are plenty of great exercises that you have to do seated; lat pull downs, leg press, seated row. With the exception of these exercises, I want you on your feet moving. Standing overhead press, squatting, wood choppers, lunging, deadlifting etc are all great movements that don’t require you to sit.
6. We all sit to watch TV. Its human nature. Just make sure you get up every 30-60 minutes and move around. Maybe do a lunge or two, your body will thank you.
7. Last but not least, if you have a job that requires a brutal amount of traveling, make sure you don’t sit for too long. 2 hours straight is my limit before I have to stop and walk around. 5-10 minutes and then get back on the road. This will allow your body to get some blood flow to the extremities and allow your lower and upper body to move.

In closing, we all sit more than we need too. Its apart of life, but it doesn’t have to be. Sitting is reecking holy hell on your body. It has mine for sure. Take the time to move and move often, your body will thank you for it.