Time to get ‘Sit Fit’

For a lot of us, if not all of us, our daily routines have had a big impact and an inevitable change, and so have our bodies. We may have gone from working on our feet from 9-5 to being limited to our 1 hour of exercise a day (French restrictions), or have gone from our usual desk working space to our less ergonomically designed sofa office. Ultimately the majority of us are spending more time on the sofa and less time on our feet.

 

Prolonged postures are never good whatever they are, but in this case we are talking about sitting. Sitting for prolonged periods of time can cause a reduction in muscle length (hip flexors for example). What this means is that over time and with repetition of the same positioning, when we stand up and move around our body has adapted to these positions and can therefore alter your bodies alignment. This can put more strain on other areas of our body, cause pain and increase our risk of acquiring other injuries.

Neil from Be Fit Apps has created a short video explaining this and demonstrating a couple of simple and easy exercises you can do at home to help combat it. It is worth mentioning that in this case Neil is demonstrating a standard sitting position and the common side affects. If you have a look at how you are sitting at this moment in time whilst reading this article, I suspect that there is a fair few of you who are either twisted to one side, with knees up, legs crossed or stooped into your sofa. This is okay, providing you mix it up a little bit. There is a reason why, when we sleep we often find ourselves waking up in another position or on the other side of the bed entirely; we as humans are not designed to stay still for long periods of time. Change your positioning, if you find you are always lying on the left arm of the sofa to watch the television, then lye on the right tomorrow, and so on. Try to change your position every 15 minutes ideally. If you are working in an office usually, try setting a little reminder to pop up onto your computer screen prompting you to move every 15 minutes; getting up to put the kettle on or even just a little bum shuffle will do.

Changing your seated position throughout the day is great, another way to help reduce the risk of further complications is by improving your core strength. This will help to support the vertebrae and maintain a good ergonomic posture, reducing strain on larger muscle groups which could lead to pain due to their fatigue. Visit our Be Fit App training programs for more core strength and conditioning.

 

 

Francesca Pioli
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