7.5 hours – that’s the average amount of time we spend sitting on our butts, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year. Be it in the morning having breakfast, in the office in front of our computer, or in the evening watching TV: sitting and a lack of physical movement has become the norm in most people’s daily lives. Sound like you? Then beware! These 2 things have nasty impacts on your health and can damage your body in the long run. In this article we will clarify the dangers of sitting all day and show you how NOT to do it.
The dangers of sitting
Scientists predict that sitting will become one of the biggest problems to the human species. Issues such as bad tension in the muscles of your hips, pain in your lower back, neck or shoulders are just a few of the many dangers too much sitting and a lack of physical movement poses on the body. And there’s more. In the near or distant future, sitting can be the reason for the following problems:
- contraction of your chest and restricted breathing
- increased risk of heart disease and diabetes
- muscle deterioration in your hip and butt area
- weight gain
- problems in your lower limbs, especially in your knees
Here's how NOT to sit
As your body is able to quickly adapt to your behaviours as well as your sitting position, you should definitely avoid the following three points:
Do not round your back to a "C"
When you round your back, your spine tends to go forward, creating pressure on your discs as well as pushing your hips into an incorrect position. This again will create tightness in your hip and butt muscles and lead to extreme lower back pain. Finally, it causes your head to tilt forward resulting in neck pain and headaches.
Do not allow your hips to fall back
This will create a hollow back and a bad position for your hips. As well this, it can cause pain in your lower back, bad tension in your muscles and the decrease of your discs.
Do not push your head forwards
You often see people doing this when they are sitting in front of a computer. However the ‘vulture head’, as it’s also known as, will create severe problems in your neck and shoulder area, therefore should be avoided.
You take care of your health: You train, eat clean, stretch and stay hydrated. Don’t ruin it all with something as simple as wrong posture and not enough regular movement. Take note of how not to sit and focus on improving your posture every day. Wait a minute, what is the correct posture you ask? Find out how to sit safe and correct in the following article.