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I ran across this very informative article today.  Everyone pretty much agrees and understands that prolonged sitting is bad for your back.  I’ve been educating patients about this from day one of my career as a chiropractor.  The body is designed to be upright most of the time, and frequently moving.  Sitting disengages the activity of critical muscles used in posture and can lead to muscle weakness and less support to the spine, leading to degenerative joint disease and chronic back pain.

This article confirms this and goes further to state that prolonged sitting can actually increase your bad cholesterol levels! Here’s what it says:

If you’re standing around and puttering, you recruit specialized muscles designed for postural support that never tire,” (Missouri microbiologist Marc Hamilton) says. “They’re unique in that the nervous system recruits them for low-intensity activity and they’re very rich in enzymes.” One enzyme, lipoprotein lipase, grabs fat and cholesterol from the blood, burning the fat into energy while shifting the cholesterol from LDL (the bad kind) to HDL (the healthy kind). When you sit, the muscles are relaxed, and enzyme activity drops by 90% to 95%, leaving fat to camp out in the bloodstream. Within a couple hours of sitting, healthy cholesterol plummets by 20%.

The data back him up. Older people who move around have half the mortality rate of their peers. Frequent TV and Web surfers (sitters) have higher rates of hypertension, obesity, high blood triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol, and high blood sugar, regardless of weight. Lean people, on average, stand for two hours longer than their counterparts.

The chair you’re sitting in now is likely contributing to the problem. “Short of sitting on a spike, you can’t do much worse than a standard office chair,” says Galen Cranz, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley. She explains that the spine wasn’t meant to stay for long periods in a seated position. Generally speaking, the slight S-shape of the spine serves us well. “If you think about a heavy weight on a C or S, which is going to collapse more easily? The C,” she says. But when you sit, the lower lumbar curve collapses, turning the spine’s natural S-shape into a C, hampering the abdominal and back musculature that support the body. The body is left to slouch, and the lateral and oblique muscles grow weak and unable to support it.

So there you have it.  If you have a job that involves sitting for more than 20 minutes straight (very common in the Financial District of San Francisco), you’ve got to take action and break the cycle– stand up and stretch every 20 minutes; try using one of those “knee chairs” that distributes some of your weight to your knees and legs and preserves the S-curve of the spine; or even consider asking your boss if you can ditch the chair and have a standing work station.  Bottom line– prolonged sitting is bad for your back, and bad for your health!

If you haven’t been in awhile to get your spine adjusted, now’s a good time.  Adjustments help your vertebrae move better, which is critical for those who sit for long periods.

Dan Perez, DC

San Francisco Chiropractors

If you notice that you feel tired a lot, it may not simply be that you’re working long hours. Many people who feel fatigued, or have “low energy” mistakenly attribute this to the stress of life. Well, there may be something else to it.

Did you know that your brain expends considerable energy just maintaining muscle tone? If it didn’t, you wouldn’t be able to stand. There is a constant flow of nerve signals to your muscles, especially those around your spine and legs. These muscle groups must have the precise amount of nerve tone in order for you to stand and move efficiently, and the brain sees to that. Now, imagine having bad posture; like a high hip, rotated torso, or high shoulder. These spine and muscle imbalances put a greater demand on your brain, requiring it to “work extra hard” to keep you standing and moving. When your brain is tired, your body will feel tired.

So, if you feel like you have low energy, check your posture and flexibility. Do you have a hunched back and forward rolling shoulders? Can you bend your spine in all directions, equally? If not, make sure to get checked. Chiropractic adjustments can help restore proper spinal movement and alignment.

There are other factors that can contribute to fatigue, namely not getting enough exercise (cardio and strength), not getting proper nutrition, and not getting enough water.  And of course, medical conditions like hypothyroidism can be a factor. Make sure that you are addressing all possible causes of fatigue–you can overcome it if you make the effort.

Till next time,

Dan Perez, DC
www.sf-chiro.com

The human body is built around the spinal column.   The spine is like the keel of a ship; it’s the structure from which other parts of the body– head, arms, legs, torso–  branch out.  Because of this, your posture is a good indicator of your spine’s alignment.  Posture is important to health, because it determines how “efficient” your body is, biomechanically.   Having bad posture is like driving a car that needs a tune up and wheel alignment– the car can still run, but it is inefficient due to the engine having to work harder.    Likewise, poor posture saps your energy and predisposes you to injury/ breakdown.

First of all, what is good posture?  Professionals in the physical medicine field (chiropractors, physical therapists, podiatrists) agree that the human body should be symmetrical when viewed from the front.  In other words, a straight line passing through the nose, sternum (breastbone), and navel should “split” the body evenly; and each foot should bear exactly 50% of the person’s weight.

When viewed from the side, a straight line should pass through the earlobe, shoulder joint, hip joint, knee joint, and slightly in front of the ankle.

Examples of abnormal posture include:

• a forward-leaning head (ear is in FRONT of baseline)
• a high shoulder compared to the opposite
• a tilted head (nose is to one side of mid line)
• a high pelvis (pants waist angles up on one side)
• a rotated pelvis (one hip of more forward)

A simple exercise to help you improve your posture from the side view is called wall angels.  This is a great exercise for those who find themselves in front of a desk for the most part of their day.  You see, sitting at a desk, over time, causes the muscles in the front of your body to contract (shorten) and the muscles of your back to weaken.  This results in that hunched, forward-rolling shoulder, forward leaning head posture.

To do wall angels, you’ll need to find an empty wall.   Stand against the wall, ensuring that the back of both heels and your head are making contact.  Raise your arms in the “hands up” position.  Make sure the back of your arms and your hands maintain contact with the wall at all times; gently push your arms back against the wall to ensure  this.  And, keep your wrist straight at all times.  The exercise is basically raising and lowering your arms (keeping elbows bent) as high and as low as they can go, without breaking contact with the wall or bending your wrist.  You should feel a strong stretch in your chest wall, and your back extend a little.  Do 50 – 100 repetitions.  This action activates the weak back muscles and stretches the shortened front chest muscles, essentially “reprogramming” them to help you stand straighter and taller.

(P.S. they are called wall angels because the action is similar to that when you make snow angels lying down, for you easterners!)

Till next time,

Dan Perez, DC