Why Sitting Is The New Smoking

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Why Sitting Is The New Smoking

We've all heard the saying that “sitting is the new smoking”. Not only is the average office worker spending about eight hours (1/3 of their day) sitting at a desk, they are doing so with poor posture. After time this takes a toll on the body causing muscles to adapt to these abnormal postures in an unequal distribution which causes muscular tightness resulting in pain and predisposing the body to injury.

The negative effects of sitting predispose the body to pain and injuries and research has also demonstrated that sitting for more than two hours at a time can increase the risk of heart disease, metabolic syndrome, diabetes and cancer. Even with regular exercise, sitting for too long can be as much of an occupational risk as physical labor on the job.

Let's think about the position the body is in when we're sitting. The legs are in a flexed position with the torso slumped forward, the shoulders rounded and a forward head carriage. This position creates muscular imbalances in both the upper and lower body.

In the lower body the result is tightness in the hip flexors and lower back musculature with weakness in the gluteal and abdominal musculature. This phenomenon is called lower crossed syndrome. Similarly, in the upper body this position results in tightness in the pectoral muscles and the posterior neck muscles with weakness in the anterior neck flexors and upper back musculature. This phenomenon is called upper crossed syndrome. Both of these two syndromes also result in joint dysfunction and can lead to pain.

Fortunately, there are some things that can be done to prevent the negative effects associated with sitting from occurring, one of them being regular chiropractic treatment. Chiropractic care is one way to prevent and correct the muscular tightness and restore any joint dysfunction caused by these two sets of muscular imbalances. It is extremely important to focus on this in order to prevent any further dysfunction or injuries that may occur. Some additional tips include reducing the amount of time spent sitting as much as possible, get up and move for two minutes for every 30 minutes spent sitting and practice good posture by keeping your head and shoulders back.