To Sit or Not to Sit?
Standing More, Sitting Less, and Sitting “Right” Can Improve Your Health
The other day a woman on a bus offered me her seat. I was just coming back from the gym and felt strong and energized. My gut reaction was, “Are you kidding me? Do I look like I need to sit?” But instead, I smiled politely and said, “That’s ok” and proceeded to stand. Standing on a bus or subway and keeping my balance as the vehicle jerks to a start or pulls to a stop is a favorite occupation while traveling short distances. The movement and feeling that my whole body gets, not just my legs and arms as I balance and hold on, is a wonderful way to experience a whole range of sensations that you don’t get while walking and moving around.
The amount of sitting we do in our modern lives far exceeds what people used to do even as recently as 50 years ago. I believe it is one of the reasons, among many, that our health has declined in that period. Part of the problem is how we sit, collapsed on cushy sofas and chairs, and part of it is the effect on our joints, muscles, and circulation, because they are not getting the benefits that standing gives to our entire system, head to toe. Standing burns an extra 50 calories per hour (a few hundred extra per day), and it keeps us moving, even if that is only shifting our weight or standing up straighter. It gives our circulatory and nervous systems a mild workout, keeping them tuned up for higher levels of activity. In my case I know that standing also keeps my mind more active. I feel more inspired, think much more, and solve problems better when I am on my feet.
The other problems with sitting are numerous, posture being the biggest one. In his great book Deskbound: Standing Up to a Sitting World, Kelly Starrett goes through all the issues. He calls sitting “the elephant in the room” of ill health and cites scientists who say that “sitting is the new smoking.” How we sit is a big part of the problem; weak backs, poor circulation, and shallow breathing are among the many problems spawned by our sitting world. We have engineered our modern lives to sit, mostly passively and improperly. More than 90% of life today is spent sitting, whether we are in a house, school, car, or office. Most of that sitting is lazy, with our backs slouched, and in a way that weakens our legs and sacroiliac (the joint that links the pelvis and lower spine).
Standing More and Sitting “Right”
The easiest way to become proactive about all this is to simply stand more. Use a standing desk or work at a counter like I do. Walk more. Stand on the bus or subway or airport or wherever you can find an opportunity to stand instead of sitting.
When you do sit there are ways to mitigate the damage that modern sitting does. There are many ways to sit “right.” Sitting on the floor and actively engaging your back and legs is probably the best way. There are many ways to sit on the floor: legs crossed, legs to the side, or kneeling. All are good provided your back is engaged. You also build extra strength in your legs when getting up from the floor, hopefully with ease and no grunting!
Even if you sit on the front edge of a chair, avoid collapsing your lower back. Keep your back engaged and straight, and you will be doing yourself a favor. For every 30 minutes spent sitting make sure you stand and move around for 5 minutes. Loosen your shoulders, arms, and back, which tend to take a lot of the stress of weak backs. When you stand up, lean forward and use both legs to support yourself without holding on to the chair with your arms (if you can) or standing up sideways. This is also good for balance. Experiment with all this on your own. There are many ways to avoid the fate that awaits lazy sitters: weak backs, poor circulation, poor digestion, low overall energy, and further complications.
Driving is a particularly vexing and captive sitting situation. When I drive, I sit slightly forward and don’t use the back of the seat to keep my back straight and upright. And for longer distances, I try and shift my weight around, engage my legs with gentle, non-distracting twists, engage my shoulders, neck and arms with gentle isometrics, and stop periodically to stand and walk a bit.
Sitting “right” and standing more are easy, non-time-consuming ways to greatly enhance your health, body awareness, circulation, balance, and strength. It can sometimes be unconventional and can make other people nervous if you are standing when they are sitting, or sitting differently. That’s their problem, not yours. Taking care of your health often goes against the grain. (From what I’ve observed, most people would rather be unhealthy than “weird”. Is that you?) Depending on your tolerance, play with it and see what works for you. But once you feel the improvement, it becomes very natural to treat yourself to the benefits of standing more, sitting less, and sitting “right.”
