Is sitting “killing you softly?” Our long ago hunter and gatherer ancestors did not sit and wait on a mountainside waiting for something tasty to come along for dinner….they didn’t scroll through facebook or watch game of throne marathons for several hours. They were moving all day long whether it was for eating or entertainment. The average agrarian villages sits for 3 hours a day versus the USA office worker sits on average 13-15 hours per day. It’s no wonder why we get so many clients that complain to us about back and pelvic pain! So how much should you sit per day? According to Louisiana State University and Harvard Medical School’s research….3 hours max in one day. What’s more interesting is that their research showed that life expectancy was 2 years longer in those individuals that sat 3 hrs or less on average.
Now I know many of you are rolling your eyes and stating that this is impossible to do. How can the person that uses a computer for their job sit for only 3 hours? Now I’m not saying that this is realistic for many of your but simple 3 hours is the average to prevent damaging affects of sitting (Diabetes, orthopedics issues, heart disease and a whole host of other problems)…so you have to realize that if you are sitting longer then you should…then you might have to think about incorporating certain exercises, stretches, desk modifications (standing desk) or diet modifications to offset this. It’s not that it’s reversible but it can help. Stay tuned and next week we will discuss simple tips and the BEST exercise to reduce and even prevent back, hip and pelvic pain.
