Almost all of our everyday activities involve a lot of sitting, whether it's working, surfing the net for fun or studying Japanese in Cooori, the online language learning software. Sitting is one of the all time worst positions for the body to maintain.
After just about 20 minutes of sitting down hunched over in a chair, blood pools up in the legs and immense pressure builds on the spine. Now, imagine the effects of deskbound workdays long term.
This is one of the reasons why we here at Cooori suggest to our users that frequent and short sessions in Cooori are more beneficial both for the body and mind.
Ideally students should log in frequently likeLorenzo Fantini andGudrun Ragnars, Cooori "Super-Users", tend to do and do 15-20 minute sessions at a time. This way you spread out the learning progress, rest your memory, you body and your mind and ultimately get the most out of your studies.
Prolonged sitting causes discomfort, numbness and spine misalignment. Holding the body upright also increases tension in major muscles and joints. All that means stationary time at work can lead to cardiovascular disease (because of less blood flow), tightened hip flexors, shortened hamstrings, pinched nerves and many physical injuries in the long run.
For employees at startups (like Cooori is) and tech companies, our jobs are completely desk-bound. So, it’s a good thing that all expert’s tips on the matter to prevent serious injury are rather simple — take frequent breaks and stand as often as possible, if optional ask for a desk that you can alternate both stand and sit.
Why Is Sitting So Unnatural?
New York City chiropractor Dr. Jan Lefkowitz treats pinched nerves, slipped discs, carpal tunnel, back pain and stiff necks full time. "Body pain, herniated discs, nerve problems and painful joints are direct results of long office hours," says Dr. Lefkowitz. When you’re sitting, the spine is under a lot of pressure. Our bodies were made to stand, so maintaining the seated position is physically stressful.
“The weight is distributed in a standing position,” saysKelly McGonigal, Ph.D., a health psychologist at Stanford University and a leading expert in neck and back pain. That’s not the case while sitting. McGonigal explains, “When you sit, you distort the natural curve of the spine, which means your back muscles have to do something to hold your back in shape because you’re no longer using the natural curves of the spine to lift yourself up against gravity.”
Desk work is putting huge mental and physical stresses on our bodies. Bad posture makes the sitting disease even worse. Slipped discs occur as a direct result of too much sitting.
“When the posture breaks down, it causes a lot of spinal problems,” Lefkowitz says. “If you are sitting down with bad posture and you’re slouching, you can only handle 20 minutes of that before it deforms your ligaments.”
Doctor’s Orders: How to Prevent Back and Neck Injuries
Good posture when sitting maintains the three natural curves of a healthy spine. The neck is forward, the upper back has an outward curve and the lower back is inward. Elbows are at the sides of the body and shoulders are relaxed — holding shoulders upright for a long time will strain the area.
“The main point is avoid slouching, you have to sit up straight and sit all the way back in your chair,” Lefkowitz says. “The chair should be tucked in close to desk. And, you need lumbar (lower back) support.”
Inexpensive remedies are available. Either roll up a thick sweater or use a small pillow behind your back to allow your lower back to curve inward. Aim to insert it in between the small of your back and the chair. Another recommendation to avoid pulling muscles or causing pain is simply standing every 20 minutes or so. It’s the most important thing desk workers can do to give the body a break from a long held position. “That will push the blood out of your legs and will prevent ligaments from getting strained,” Lefkowitz says. “It starts to stretch out your ligaments.”
Simple stretches at your desk such as twisting, turning the head from side-to-side and chin tucks upward towards the ceiling will also help. “Those movements, doing them very regularly, at least once an hour, for 60 seconds will do more to relieve chronic pain than going to a yoga class once a week,” McGonigal says.
General Tips
- Stand up at least every hour.
- Do simple stretches throughout the day such as placing your hands on your lower back and stretching backwards.
- Get moving! Make conference calls on your feet or suggest a moving meeting — walk up and down the hall.
- When seated, make sure you maintain good posture with your butt all the way back to the chair, feet flat on the floor, head straight and with lower back naturally arched inward.
How many hours do you stay seated at your desk every day on average? A lot of us here at Cooori do yoga to counteract to all the sitting and we are lucky enough to have at least one yoga teacher on our books to help us out!
We can always use more suggestions, please let us know in the comments what you’re doing to combat neck and back pains associated with long work hours.
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