Why How You Sit Matters And How It Impacts Muscle Growth
How is your seated posture? Do you accept slouching? Shoulders hunched over every time you pull up a chair? If you said yes you are similar to the old me. I would slouch or I would sink into the recliner or office chair like I hit an iceberg. Luckily, well intentionally, I have made improvements. Now it is your turn to adjust, if your seated posture is subpar.. You’re hurting your gains.
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Side Effects Of Bad Sitting Posture
“It may not be obvious to patients that poor posture can have a negative impact on the body. Poor seated posture is a common issue among Americans. The head and shoulders slump, depressing the chest and reducing room in important internal cavities. Poor seated posture can result in:
Back pain
Interference with digestion and constipation
Heartburn
Decrease in lung capacity
Migraine headaches and dental issues
Changes in testosterone and cortisol hormone levels
Over time, it can be harder to correct poor posture and patients may experience a loss of mobility when using certain joints.”[1]
Consider the chasm between standing and sitting. When upright your body is working in sweet harmony to keep your spine naturally aligned. Once seated you remove some muscles from the equation and intensify the responsibility of others, mainly the lower back (How To Treat Lower Back Pain).
Even with perfect desk posture your lower back will take a great deal of the load, but the workload is exponentially greater when your posture is underwhelming.
This causes extra wear on certain joints and ligaments in comparison to others. Along with these worries is muscular fatigue from unnecessary/excessive use. Then when it is go time at the gym you do not have the juice you would have if your posture was a smidgen better.
What may be considered the worst issue accompanying poor seated posture is weak, tight, and underactive muscles. Particularly the glutes and hamstrings, when you sit poorly or too long as a lifestyle with no compensation these instrumental muscle groups become weak and underactive.
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How Does Proper Sitting Posture Impact Weight Lifting
Good posture is important, not only does it lead to less structural issues and an appearance of confidence; it can prevent your lifts from undue suffering. Making progress on the weights is tough enough as is.. if you sit like your vertebrae was removed you put yourself at a decisive disadvantage.
We were not designed to sit, we are more wired to squat when stationary, but being that we innovate and make everything easier as the human timeline extends.. We set up a chair quite often. So lets make the best of it, rather than live with “could be better” lifts.
Example: long day on the job.. Been sitting for hours. Word, Excel, PowerPoint.. The whole works, you punch out. Head to the car a little excited, not only to be off, but it is gym o’clock.
You weave through traffic downing a pre workout: it is about to go down. Pull up to the facility, hit the locker room, change, warm up, then straight to the weights. Leg day, you are about to get busy. Time to squat.
First set boom. Second set boom. Third set.. No boom.
Lower back on fire.. Yep that is it. Shot by the chair, shot by your posture in an office chair.. you let yourself down with poor posture and this is only mentioning your lower back. Underdeveloped core muscles are another result of prolonged sitting with or without poor posture. Subpar lifts lead to subpar muscular stimulation and subpar gains.
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How To Have Good Sitting Posture
Proper sitting posture at a computer, proper sitting posture on a couch, proper sitting posture at the dinner table before you nose dive into some pasta; it’s all the same.
Have a seat, if possible ensure your knees are slightly higher than your hips, weight distributed evenly, scoot back so your glutes are touching the rear of the chair, back straight (except for the natural small curve), shoulders back, and feet flat.
Try not to sit too long at a time; get up let the blood flow a little then repeat. In situations where I am forced to sit I try to stand every 15 minutes or so. That usually works to prevent back pain too. When not possible use a heating pad on your back or try periodic hip rotations.
So, It’s About That Time
Everything counts. You’re a machine that needs to be maintained in many facets to continue optimal operative capabilities. Get up periodically and sit with a purpose. You do not want muscles to be overworked and others to deteriorate. Control your sitting time, posture, and Be Great.
Sources:
[1] se-ortho.com/poor-posture-sitting-negative-effects-ways-improve/
[2] issaonline.com/blog/index.cfm/2018/how-does-sitting-impact-my-posture