The problem with sitting!

Firstly, thanks to all who have read my ramblings thus far. I really didn't expect anyone to read it!

I was going to write up an introduction on Myo (Muscle) Fascia, Self Myo Facial Release (SMFR) and the Hips, based on my understanding of these things so far, and I still am. But after re-reading my introductory post, I realised I talked a lot about causing dysfunction in my own body from sitting down a lot, at work, in the car, on my bike, etc, but I never really explained why sitting down for extended periods of time is not very good for our bodies, and that information is kind of important to really understand this blog going forward and the purpose of the corrective actions I am going to be taking to fix my body!

What is the problem with sitting down?

Well, quite simply, it is just not what our bodies were designed to do! The topic of evolution and the change in our movement patterns from four limbs onto two is a little beyond the scope of this blog, but it is very relevant. Basically, we evolved as a species to be able to stand and walk/run upright, supported and balanced on two limbs. It enabled us to move, hunt and gather much more efficiently and ultimately to survive! Sitting down was never part of the evolutionary process....well, not until the 20th century at least anyway!

So, what happens to our bodies when we sit? Well, being in a seated position, especially for extended periods, creates muscle imbalances in major muscle groups that connect to our hips. The first significant group of muscles to be affected is the hip flexors. The hip flexors are a group of muscles that directly attach to the pelvis and are responsible for 'flexing' the hip, i.e. bending our legs. I will be drilling down into the hip flexor complex later on as I start 'releasing' those muscles, but for now I will just refer to them collectively.

So when we sit at a desk, or in our cars, wherever, our hip flexors are active (over active in fact), they are constantly shortened and in a state of flexion as our legs are bent. Over time, this constant activation and shortening of the hip flexors starts to have lasting effects and the hip flexors become shorter/tighter in general, until your muscles can no longer fully extend and return to their full original length when you stand up. We are evolving to sit!

This tightness and shortening of the hip flexors will force a forward tilt in the pelvis (Anterior Pelvic Tilt) when your hips are extended and you are in a standing position, this then has the knock on effect of lengthening and over extending the lumbar spine, causing a slight curve, weakness and under activation of muscles groups in your lower back, predictably leading to lower back pain/discomfort. I forget which law exactly, but as Newton said, "for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction" and in my mind these forces are certainly at play here!

There are of course other muscles at play (or not) when we sit, like the glutes, and abdominal muscles. Properly activated abdominal muscles are going to be absolutely key to maintaining a good posture, so that they can properly support the spine, but I'm just going to leave it there for now with the hip flexors. It all really starts at the hips and these muscles are going to be my initial focus.

I'll be spending quite a bit of time working on correcting my hip imbalances before I move on to the lower extremities. I'll get to the abs eventually, but there is a chain, a sequence if you like that I have to follow to unlock my body and properly address my postural deficiencies. This is a holistic system I am applying here and considers the whole body as an integrated system, nothing will be treated in isolation, everything is integrated and connected, so the sequence that I follow is very important. For example, it would be pretty pointless to start addressing imbalances in my calves and feet (which I certainly have), before I have fixed my hips!

About me and this blog.....

So.....Hi to anyone who might be reading this. I'm kind of new to all this 'blogging' malarkey, I have never kept a diary or really documented any aspects of my life before. I don't study academically and never really have, at least not successfully, so writing up assignments/essays in not something I have much experience of either. The only writing I do is really just work related e-mails or texts, so this does all feel a bit foreign to me, writing I mean, especially about myself. So please bear with me while I get used to this.

I'm Alex by the way, I'm 36 and live in Rugby (in the UK) with my gorgeous family. I work in IT and always have done, pretty much since I left school at 16. So I spend most of my days sitting down, whether at my desk, or in my car, or at the airport, on an airplane, etc, etc....I sit a lot!!

In my spare time I try to stay fairly fit and healthy and cycling is my favourite form of both fun and fitness! I really love it, especially mountain biking! But of course cycling puts the body in a similar position to sitting down at my desk all day, i.e. there is a lot of hip activation and flexion going on! So even my 'healthy' exercise habits do not really do anything to help alleviate the problems I have caused to my body by being in a seated position for most of the day. Which kind of leads me onto the main topic of this blog.......Fixing my body!

The fact that I have spent most of my life in a sedentary position (as a lot of us do) has caused some bio mechanical limitations and dysfunctions within my body, which I am only just starting to understand and that is really the purpose of this blog. To document my journey in understanding, learning and fixing my body with correct posture and efficient, but most importantly, pain free movement.

But before I get started on my journey of fixing my body, I just want to summarise my current bio mechanical complaints and my motivation for fixing them.........

Since I turned 34 ish, I started to notice some slight aches and pains in my body. Nothing chronic or debilitating, just little niggles here and there, mostly in my lower back, or shoulders and less frequently in the knees and calves, depending what I had been doing. Just slight pain/discomfort when doing simple daily activities like getting up from the toilet, getting in and out of the car, getting out of bed. Like I said, I am not talking chronic pain here, but certainly small levels of discomfort, let's call them 'niggles'.

I also started observing small niggles in my body when exercising or after exercising, like increased lower back stiffness for example the day after a workout, even though I always maintain 'good form' while lifting or whatever! Running always strains my groin as well, especially sprint sets or shuttle runs etc, not to mention tight calves and 'dodgy knees'! Pretty typical running complaints, I know! But they don't have to be! Then cycling, my favourite past time, I was suffering with lower back pain and hip stiffness on long rides, especially on big climbs. Now this is all quite common for cyclists because of the position cycling puts the body in, but even so, there must be a way to fix this and be more comfortable on the bike for longer periods?

And that's basically it, my motivation.....I was/am sick of the 'niggles' and discomfort and I want to fix it!!.....

So  I started to consider that actually, just because I attended a 60 minute circuit class or went and rode 50 miles on my bike, or ran round the park, whatever, that I wasn't actually doing my body any real favours, in the long run! Yeah ok, my heart and lungs would get a good workout, but from a functional movement and longevity point of view, there was nothing of real benefit going on in any of my exercise choices. I was really just building on the dysfunctions in my body, increasing the problem and risk of more serious injury!!

So....how am I going to fix my bodily complaints?

Well, for me, it requires a complete fitness regression and step 1 is just learning how to stand properly, that's it! Just stand (and breathe!) with correct posture and form by activating and integrating the '3 pillars of posture', those pillars being The Pelivc Floor, Transverse Abdominis and Thoracic Spine. I now know that proper activation of these muscle groups is key to standing upright with correct posture and efficiency. Sounds simple right.....? Well, I suppose it is. Standing, walking, running...... is what we as humans, a bi pedal species, are designed to do. But we are very good at teaching our bodies how to forget to do this properly, for example, by sitting down all day long!!

Well that pretty much concludes 'about me and this blog' ....I am not really expecting anyone to read this, if I am honest, it is just for me. I am starting a journey in self discovery here and I want to document it because I can feel already it is going to have a big significance on my life and movement going forward! But I'm afraid I am going to share it anyway and put it out there anyway! If you have got this far and read my ramblings above, thank you very much for your time! But do you not have anything better to be doing? ;-)

My next blog will be an introduction to the subject of Fascia, Self Myo Facial Release (SMFR) and the Hips. The hips are where building a correct and efficient posture has to start from......so this is where I have to begin fixing my own dysfunctions!

to be continued.............................