If you sit all day, here's how to protect your health

Do you sit? The answer is probably yes. After all, we’ve been sedentary in desk jobs for generations, and we’ve been sitting even more in the past decade as we’re increasingly glued to our computers and smartphones for all sorts of basic functions: shopping, social networking, streaming, therapy, Zoom. “Many of us sit for hours at work, then hop in our car, go home, plop down on the couch and let the day wear off,” says New York-based holistic health expert Nicole Gilman, who adds that before the convenience of technology, everything required more physical effort. Think back to the days before Instacart, when grocery shopping involved hard work. According to one study, between 2007 and 2016, daily sitting time for teenagers jumped from 7 to 8.2 hours, and for adults it jumped from 5.5 to 6.5 hours. And these numbers are Before-Pandemic.

Every time your lower back aches or your back is a little bent, you’re probably sitting for hours on end, causing a ripple effect on your health, wreaking havoc from your head to your toes and everywhere in between. Think about your torso: “Prolonged periods of sitting can lead to reduced curves in your lower back, strain and changes in your upper back, neck and shoulders, pressure on your pelvic joints and back, and weakened back, hip and abdominal muscles, reduced range of motion and stiff muscles that reduce function,” says Dallas-based physical therapist Ashley Rollins. Even more depressing, these issues can also lead to knee pain and disrupt your balance and gait.

And then there’s the pelvic floor. Prolonged sitting and hunching can reduce blood flow to superficial tissues (like the vulva), increase downward pressure on the tailbone and ischium, and painfully tense the pelvic floor muscles, which are exacerbated by stress and anxiety, says Rollins. This pelvic floor dysfunction (which manifests as urinary leakage, difficulty urinating, and pressure or pain during intercourse) has recently been dubbed the “pandemic pelvis.” And pelvic floor physical therapy company Origin, where Rollins runs virtual clinical learning and development, announced in April that it was expanding its services to 35 states to meet demand. Leg conditions like sciatica, varicose veins, and spider veins can also be linked to sitting, adds Gilman.

Your head takes its toll, too. Lisa Sumption, a physician of acupuncture and East Asian medicine and founder of Moxi, an integrative health clinic in New York, points to TMJ (temporomandibular joint disorder) as a surprising consequence of sitting too much; every patient she treated during the pandemic reported the condition. “It was the result of internalized stress, on top of physical symptoms from sitting and working from home, like muscle tension, stiffness, and spasms in the trapezius, rhomboids, and scalene muscles,” she adds.

Poor digestion is one side effect: “When you sit for long periods of time, your body is less able to break down sugars and fats, which increases metabolic disorders,” says Sumption. Sitting for long periods of time has also been shown to increase your risk of serious systemic health problems, including type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. It can also negatively impact your mood and energy levels, says Rollins.

So, before you start overthinking your corporate career, your Netflix habit, or the accumulated time (weeks, months, years!) spent in a leather lounge chair, calm down. Adopting the following habits will help you offset all that time spent on your butt and leave you feeling more flexible and energized going forward.

Change your mindset

The first step is to think of yourself as a moving creature, says Juliet Starrett, a trainer and mobility pioneer who, with her husband, Kelly, a physical therapist, is co-founder of the mobility-coaching system The Ready State and co-author of the new book, The Ready State: How to Move Your Body. Built to move“It’s not that standing is good and sitting is bad, it’s that we’re not moving enough,” the Starretts suggest, suggesting that we intentionally move as much as we can throughout the day: stand up when folding laundry; stay calm when taking a work call, literally.

Despite being avid athletes and working with Olympians, the Starretts say exercise isn’t the only answer. “We spend billions of dollars every year on health and fitness products, yet our health indicators aren’t getting better – in fact, they’re getting worse,” says Kelly, adding that an hour of exercise doesn’t cancel out six or more hours of sitting in a chair. “There’s research that shows if you exercise for an hour, then sit for the rest of the day, and then sleep, the sitting essentially cancels out the exercise,” Juliette adds.

Hitting the sweet spot of the step

The ideal of 10,000 steps a day has been ingrained in our collective mindset for years. It was actually a marketing tool created by a Japanese pedometer brand in the 1960s. You don’t have to walk 10,000 steps, but steps are a great way to track your movement, Kelly said, adding that most adults only walk 2,000 to 3,000 steps a day. “Most of the protective benefits against causes of mortality and morbidity start to peak at 8,000 steps, which feels like a reasonable number for the average person to incorporate into their day,” Kelly said. If you drive to work, park a little further away, walk to conference calls, and take a walk before or after your lunch break. Kelly adds that people with sleep disorders should set higher goals to feel pretty tired by bedtime.

Increase your heart rate and mood

Sitting for long periods of time (and poor posture) eats away at your mind, reducing attention span, motivation, and increasing anxiety. But these feelings aren’t just in your head: studies have linked sitting to depression and anxiety. While exercise can’t counteract all of the negative effects, Sumption says it’s important to add a simple heart-rate-boosting routine to your daily steps. “15 minutes of moderate-to-high-impact exercise burns calories and lowers the risk of a variety of cardiovascular complications and diseases, but more importantly, it increases blood flow to the prefrontal cortex, improving focus and creative problem-solving,” she adds. A quick Nike app burn routine or a pony sweat aerobics session will do.

Expanding the language of movement

This applies whether you’re standing or sitting: When you sit down to watch TV at night, you sink all the way to the floor: “You have to lower yourself to stand up,” says Kelly. do not have This ability to move is the No. 1 reason people go into nursing homes. “It’s a great way to get the hips, back and leg tissues back to where they need to be.” Kelly also varies his work posture throughout the day: standing at a standing desk, sitting on the floor at the coffee table in his living room or sitting in a chair. “The key with sitting is to break the immobility marathon,” he says. “Create an environment where you’re constantly changing your posture.”

Time Yourself

Call it the “Have you been sitting on the couch for four hours already?” phenomenon. “We tend to underestimate the number of times we click ‘yes’ to the ‘Are you still watching?’ question on Netflix,” Rollins adds, pointing to the CDC’s Take-a-Stand project, which found that reducing sitting time by 66 minutes a day can help reduce neck and back pain and improve mood. So set a timer and get up every hour, says Gilman. “And change your sitting position or take a stand-up break every 15 to 20 minutes to relieve pressure on the pelvic floor, relieve back tension, activate dormant muscles, and prevent potential tissue damage,” Rollins says.

Stretch and repeat

Stretching throughout the day can help activate tight muscles, says Rollins. Two popular stretches are the standing hamstring stretch (step back with one foot, place hands on hips, and put weight on back leg, then bend at the waist while keeping spine straight as you lean forward, pushing hips back to stretch the back of the front leg) and the standing hip flexor stretch (stand with hands on a wall or chair back, step back with one foot, turn toes slightly out and place heel on the ground, keep spine straight and shoulders relaxed, and bend front knee toward the wall to stretch the front hip). Gilman suggests simple intermittent stretches like reaching out to touch your toes, shaking your feet separately for 60 seconds, or doing a few figure eights with hands on hips.

Fighting flatness

This isn’t a figment of your imagination; the dreaded “pancake butt” is actually a result of sitting for long periods of time. “When you sit for long periods of time, your glutes and hip muscles go to sleep. They have nothing to do, so they can’t work. This means that after hours of sitting, your muscles weaken and become weaker, leading to less muscle mass (or atrophy), making you look thinner and flabbier,” explains Rollins. A smaller lower back curve also causes your pelvis to tuck in when you’re sitting or standing, which not only makes it harder to use your muscles, but also makes them look even flatter, Rollins says.

The solution, and thankfully there is one, is to strengthen your glutes. One way, she says, is with deskside intermittent squats: Stand behind your desk chair, using it as support, and stand with your feet a little wider than hip-width apart. Activate your core by drawing your belly button in, then press your hips back and bend, lowering them as far as you can to 90 degrees. Then squeeze your glutes and pelvic floor as you straighten. Repeat.

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