It is simply the reality that many of us spend 8+ hours a day sitting at our desks. Here at Book Architecture, we were discussing what can be done to mitigate the bodily wear and tear of that fact earlier this month. We bandied about some of the tips and tricks we think we maybe heard were helpful somewhere? before realizing it was time to consult a professional. Below is what physical therapist Dr. Mat Parker told Madison when she asked, on all of our behalf, what can be done:
Motion is lotion.
If you retain just one thing after reading this, Dr. Parker wants it to be that humans are made to move. You can sit with the most ideal posture on a multi-thousand dollar ergonomic chair with an optimally elevated screen, and even cumulatively that won’t be as impactful as taking mini breaks from being at your desk altogether. If you can swing it, he recommends moving around for five minutes every hour.
Less is more when it comes to products.
The type of chair you’re sitting on matters so much less than how you’re sitting on it. What we should be aiming for, according to Dr. Parker, is the 90-90-90 rule. Essentially, with your feet resting comfortably on the ground, your ankles should make a 90 degree angle, your knees should make a 90 degree angle, and your hips should make a nice 90 degree angle. If your feet don’t reach the ground but are dangling, that puts more pressure on the spine, and a footrest or foot stool might be a good idea–but really, that’s all.
The biggest mistake Dr. Parker reports seeing is people, especially those with a history of back pain, opting for too much back support in their work setup. This can actually increase the curvature of the spine, forcing spinal muscles to activate and fire all day long, creating pain rather than alleviating it. Instead, when you’re sitting, you should ideally be straight up and down, with your low back gently resting against your chair or against a very small low back rest, with your back muscles relaxed and jelly-like.
Check in with your body regularly.
While we’re aiming for 90-90-90, people slouch. They sit on their feet. They cross their ankles. According to Dr. Parker, that’s fine. Don’t sweat it. Just make sure you don’t get so in the workflow that you hold the same suboptimal posture for too long. It’s important to switch it up. Even if you have a standing desk, for example, it’s best to alternate between that and sitting. If it doesn’t seem realistic to aim for the five minutes of movement per hour recommended above, these body scans and micro adjustments still carry a lot of value.
Targeted effort goes far.
If you want to take things a bit further, however, Dr. Parker says that working on hip mobility and glute strength is very beneficial for someone who sits for most of their work day. When people experience back pain or tightness, they often assume their core is weak and what needs to be strengthened. It is actually glutes that are the bigger issue. Dr. Parker describes it as their being the foundation to your house; if the foundation is rocky and unsteady, the columns of your spine are taking on force they’re not designed to.
A hip flexor stretch is a great place to start to combat this. If you want to get fancy with it, you can add in some glute exercises like squats or glute bridges. Youtube videos can help guide these efforts–just take care not to let the glut of fitness videos therein overwhelm you.
It’s an awareness game.
The true challenge is that when people are locked into work, or writers have found the flow, people tend to float off the back of their chair and inch closer to the computer screen–and there they might stay, for hours on end. According to Dr. Parker, “You want my annoying voice in the back of your head reminding you, ‘I haven’t moved in a few minutes. I should probably change positions.” At the end of the day, this is really all an awareness game.
