The Impact of Sitting All Day – Part 1
For most people know they sit all day as part of their job. Recently there has been a spate of article in the press about the impact of sitting all day, so I wanted to take some time to look at the impact of sitting all day.
Sit up Straight
I want to start this series of articles on a positive note, as most of my clients have to sit to work, the negative impact of sitting is minimised if you sit correctly. As your Mum always said, “Sit up straight”, i.e.
- Not leaning forward
- Shoulders relaxed
- Arms close to sides
- Elbows bent 90°
- Lower back should be supported
- Feet flat on floor
So what happens if you don’t sit up straight?
As you would expect from a masseur I am going to start by looking at the impact on your muscles.
Strained Neck & Sore Shoulders
If most of your sitting occurs at a desk at work, craning your neck forward toward a keyboard or tilting your head to cradle a phone while typing can strain the cervical vertebrae and lead to permanent imbalances. The neck doesn’t slouch alone. Slumping forward overextends the shoulder and back muscles as well, particularly the trapezius, which connects the neck and shoulders. Here at Vitality Therapy we offer Seated Acupressure Massage to directly address these issues.
Bad back
When we move around, soft discs between vertebrae expand and contract like sponges, soaking up fresh blood and nutrients. But when we sit for a long time, discs are squashed unevenly. Collagen hardens around supporting tendons and ligaments. So people who sit more are at greater risk of slipped disks or herniated disks.
I recommend the Yoga position cat-cow for increasing your spinal flexibility. (Click here for guidelines on how to do cat-cow.)
When you sit for a long time, a muscle called the psoas travels through the abdominal cavity and, when it tightens, pulls the upper lumbar spine forward. Upper-body weight rests entirely on the ischial tuberosity (sitting bones) instead of being distributed along the arch of the spine. A sports massage or a deep tissue massage can release a tight psoas muscle.
Mushy abs
When you stand, move or even sit up straight, abdominal muscles keep you upright. But when you slump in a chair, they go unused. Tight back muscles and wimpy abs form a posture-wrecking alliance that can exaggerate the spine’s natural arch, a condition called hyperlordosis, or swayback. So sitting up straight is the first step to good abs!
Tight hips
Flexible hips help keep you balanced, but chronic sitters so rarely extend the hip flexor muscles in front that they become short and tight, limiting range of motion and stride length. Studies have found that decreased hip mobility is a main reason elderly people tend to fall. So when you are in the gym remember tohttp://vitalitytherapy.co.uk/wp-admin/post-new.php stretch your hip flexors.
Limp glutes
Sitting requires your glutes to do absolutely nothing, and they get used to it. Soft glutes hurt your stability, your ability to push off and your ability to maintain a powerful stride when walking. They can impact your performance when you run, as all powerful glutes are the key to increasing your speed and powering you up hills.
Related Posts
The relationship between vitamin D and your immune system
A growing body of scientific evidence shows that vitamin D plays a crucial role in disease prevention and maintaining optimal health. You have about 30,000 genes in your body and vitamin D affects nearly 3,000. This is in addition to all the vitamin D receptors through out your body. Inflammation is the body's attempt at self-protection; the aim being to remove harmful stimuli, including damaged cells, irritants, or pathogens. While inflammation is a vital part of the body's immune response, it can also be problematic and plays a role in some chronic diseases e.g asthma, arthritis. Researchers investigated specific signalling events that vitamin D suppresses in order to inhibit inflammation. Research published in The Journal of Immunology called it the "inflammatory cascade"; low vitamin D levels failed to inhibit the cascade while adequate levels did the job. Researchers concluded that patients with chronic inflammatory diseases who are also vitamin D deficient may benefit from supplementation. Researchers in Turkey, reported in the international Journal of Rheumatic Diseases that chronic widespread musculoskeletal pain is improved with vitamin D. Fibromyalgia sufferers and other patients with chronic widespread musculoskeletal pain were given 50,000 iu/week oral vitamin D3 for three months. Afterwards scientists discovered decreases in pain, fatigue upon awaking, lack of energy, tender points and depression. Significantly there were 30 Fibromyalgia patients at the beginning of the study and only 20 at the end! Next week I want to look at the relationship between low vitamin D levels and common ailments. References Zhang Y, et al. (2012). Vitamin D Inhibits Monocyte/Macrophage Proinflammatory Cytokine Production by Targeting MAPK Phosphatase-1. The Journal of Immunology.
Yilmaz, R., Salli, A., Cingoz, H. T., Kucuksen, S. and Ugurlu, H. (2016), Efficacy of vitamin D replacement therapy on patients with chronic nonspecific widespread musculoskeletal pain with vitamin D deficiency. Int J Rheum Dis.
Can a cup of cocoa a day help you?
The causes of mental and physical fatigue experienced by people with MS are complex, and likely to include neural, inflammatory, metabolic, and psychological factors. None of the currently available approaches offers long term relief, say the researchers. Previous research suggests that dark chocolate, containing between 70 and 85 per cent cocoa solids, is associated with an improvement in subjectively assessed fatigue in people with chronic fatigue syndrome (ME). Cocoa, like dark chocolate, is rich in flavonoids––substances found abundantly in fruit and vegetables and associated with anti-inflammatory properties. This prompted the researchers to see if it might also be worth exploring Cocoa potential in helping to tackle the fatigue associated with MS. They randomly assigned 40 adults recently diagnosed with the relapsing remitting form of MS and fatigue to drink a cup of either high flavonoid cocoa powder mixed with heated rice milk (19) or a low flavonoid version (21) every day for six weeks. Participants were instructed to wait 30 minutes before taking any prescribed medication or eating or drinking anything else, but otherwise to stick to their usual diet. Fatigue and fatigability–the speed with which mental and physical fatigue set in–were formally assessed before the start, at the mid-point, and at the end of the trial. And participants also subjectively rated their fatigue on a scale of 1 to 10, at 10.00, 15.00, and 20.00 hours each day, and monitored their activity with a pedometer. After six weeks there was a small improvement in fatigue in 11 of those drinking high flavonoid cocoa compared with eight of those drinking the low flavonoid version. Those drinking the high flavonoid version showed a 45 per cent improvement in subjectively assessed fatigue and an 80 per cent improvement in walking speed. Although not objectively measured, pain symptoms also improved more in the high flavonoid group. If the findings are confirmed in larger studies, it may offer a simple dietary approach to a persistent and hard to treat symptom, which affects nine out of 10 people with MS, suggest the researchers. Reference https://jnnp.bmj.com/content/90/5/507
Do you know how to protect yourself from a leading cause of disability?
The injury to a brian caused by stroke can lead to problems with talking, seeing, thinking, remembering, moving, eating, swallowing and more. It's no wonder stroke is a leading cause of disability in adults worldwide. Here are some lifestyle tips to cut the risk of suffering a stroke:
- Eat at least 3 to 5 services of fruit and vegatables a day - the more the better.
- Exercise most days of the week. Brisk walking for an hour a day five days a week can cut the risk of a stroke in half.
- Maintain a health weight, and especially watch out for abdominal fat.
- Limit alchol to no more than two drinks per day if you drink.
- Eat more grains such as oats, quinoa and brown rice.
- Eat more sources of good fats such as fatty fish, walnuts, flaxseed and chia seeds.
- Destress - psychological stress is a known risk factor for stroke.
