One of our clients worked with the guys over at BodyFix Method and she highly recommended their services for anyone suffering from a running related injury. I checked out their site and stumbled upon an interesting article, “Beware the Chair.” The average human apparently sits in a chair 9 hours a day. If you add in sleepy time we’re talking 3/4 of your day sitting and sleeping. We’re the Born to Rest generation! Our ancestors survived through running so we could all sit back and relax, I guess.
There are two types of functional muscle movement: phasic and tonic. Phasic activity is mechanical, moving the body around on command; tonic is structural, postural, working automatically 24/7 to maintain the body’s straight line of gravity. Phasic muscles aren’t used when we sit for long periods. Tonic muscles do all the work and become tight and exhausted, doing a job they were not designed to do. Sitting overworks a few, poorly equipped muscles all day, while the ready-to-work muscles atrophy.
Muscle imbalances cause most pain that affects load-bearing joints. Sitting pushes us further into pain. Sitting in a chair all day adds unwanted pounds and pushes us towards poor circulation, muscle atrophy, joint pain, and a myriad of other, easily preventable conditions. Sitting puts all the weight on the pelvis and spine, with the heaviest pressure on the low back.