What effect does a few hours of sitting have on our back and overall health?
Chairs are like a torture tool. Many sit on their chairs for hours and hours, but may not realize that they are actually hurting themselves.
We can talk about four stages of back pain:
Twenties who live with the onset of pain and feel a little stiff
Thirty people who live in constant anger from back pain and stiffness
Forty-year-olds who suffer from a number of disorders and weaknesses associated with the spine
Fifty people who had to quit their jobs due to really serious disorders caused by constant sitting
From this point of view, it is not difficult to see how relatively minor injuries develop. For young people, let's call them chair warriors, stiffness is just some irritation. But for a physiotherapist, this is the beginning of the end!
What is the problem with sitting?
The problem is immobility. Everything works in a certain way of response and nothing works just like that without any previous stimulus. The first consequence of immobility is the stagnation of soft tissues, for which Christopher Reeve, for example, also died (infected with bedsores, literally). If you can move, but you don't do it as often as you should - like a lot of office workers - you basically have a serious problem. Your muscles will scream that they want and need physical and neurological stimulation to survive and thrive. By moving, you remove what you don't want to happen - to become "dead". In addition, however, they become ill with minimal movement. The most affected are the shoulders, back and hips, which tend to remain relatively still.
We know a rather popular claim that excessive sitting causes shortening of muscle tissue (especially shortening of lumbar flexors). This statement is in itself essentially true. For example, one study found that high heels shortened the calf muscles by 13%. The trusted biologist D. Lieberman also commented on the topic of problematic, constant sittings:
“Paper after paper, study after study proves that chairs really cause back problems because they shorten lumbar flexors, weaken the spine and make us simply sedentary - inactive people. We spend a lot of time sitting on a chair, but many don't even mind - you know what, they're comfortable. "
Unfortunately, all this is not so clear. Even if your muscles are shortened, it doesn't have to be a disaster right away. The shortening of the calf muscles mentioned above? The authors of this study also found that it actually had no measurable effect on ankle function, but…!
"It is known that immobilizing a joint over a long period of time can lead to loss of muscle contracture and cross-linking of connective tissue."
However, some studies have found that any negative effects can be eliminated by a short, not frequent movement. In one study, the researchers left the "soleus" muscle of the rat completely immobilized in plaster for 10 days. Every 2 days, the plaster was removed and the muscle stretched for about 15 minutes. This was enough to maintain the length of the tissue.
In another study, in which the daily length of "stretching" was a maximum of 30 minutes and the rest of the time was filled with sitting on a stool, it was found that sitting on a stool almost all day will not cause tissue length loss if you walk here and there and visit a refrigerator.
I'll buy a great chair and it will be fine
Well, no, it won't! The importance of extremely comfortable and ergonomically dazzling chairs is a bit exaggerated. There is no such thing as a perfect chair. It is simply not comfortable for our body to sit for several hours at a time.
So is it enough if I go to work a few times to scan something or go to the toilet?
Yes, but no. Any getting up is much better than being stuck on a stool. There is no doubt about that. But on the other hand, it is not enough! The key point is that you can't go through your back muscle in the office. Standing above the scanner and pressing the buttons is also not a musculoskeletal challenge, just like a trip to the toilet. You just need to be active during the day - exercise is best. However, some work requires sitting on a chair for several hours. So at least try not to keep the monitor above eye level, do not cross your legs while sitting, keep your feet flat on the floor (knee and middle finger should be at the same angle). Try to have your hips and knees at right angles. How many of you have relocated?
What are some of the most common, common, but literally catastrophic things?
No mini-breaks while sitting, monitors high above eye level and frequent holding of the phone to the ear by the shoulder. Of course, the occasional violation of these things does not make such a problem, but a similar daily routine can lead to continuous headaches and neck pain.
In conclusion, it must be added that constant sitting may not immediately lead to serious problems, but most likely it will really be in a few years. You run the least risk (chronic, serious, serious, painful problems with mobility and flexibility), and indeed. A healthy lifestyle is simply not compatible with chair warriors. If your work requires several hours of sitting on a chair, try to shorten the length of the session, get up often, stretch, but do not forget the most important thing - the overall activity. You can also use the tips from our article on warming up, where you will find many tips in the videos on how to avoid back pain (also). And now get up!
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