Are you sitting too much?

Posted on: August 12, 2018

Have you heard the buzz phrase, “Sitting is the new smoking?” It seems that with our advancement of technologies, people are sitting more than ever. Where smoking used to be seen as the major detriment to people’s health, sitting for long periods of time is having serious consequences for structural health and cognitive function.

From a structural point of view, sitting for long periods of time can contribute to:

• Loss of muscle strength in the back
• Neck strain and low back strain if you are leaning forward while reading a computer screen
• Loss of lower back stability
• Contraction of the psoas muscle, which connects your lower body to upper body

All of these can make you more susceptible to going out of alignment, cause low back strain, and contribute to tension in your neck and shoulders.

You might be saying, “But I need to sit for my job!” Many of us do. You don’t need to invest in a standing desk or change jobs to reduce your sitting time.

Here are some simple ways to build in more movement throughout your day:

• When you take a break, get up from your desk and walk around rather than turn to your phone or social media
• Drink more water––it will force you to get up more often to use the restroom and refill your water!
• Suggest shorter standing meetings with colleagues
• Stand and do some light stretching while on phone calls
• Take the longer way to walk somewhere

The key is more movement, more often. If you have any questions, please ask me on your next office visit. You deserve to have vibrant health every day, in all ways.

Call us for your next appointment at (805) 497-1072.

 

Posted in: Back pain, Exercise, Headaches, Health & Well Being, Neck pain

Tagged with: back pain, Chiropractic Services, Cranial Therapy, General health, Migraines, neck pain, stress, Therapeutic Exercises