Is Sitting Really That Dangerous?
First of all, sitting is quite natural. Most animals spend a lot of their lives sitting. Even cheetahs – notorious runners – spend 90% of their day on their hinds*. Our stone-age ancestors spent quite some time sitting, as well. In depictions, they are often sitting while crafting their primitive tools, processing food, ambushing animals, and so on. Sitting was no stranger to them.
So, why does sitting have such a negative reputation? Some go as far as to call it “the new smoking” or even “the new cancer.”
Of course, sitting’s association with such strong words has made a lot of people very wary of sitting too much, so they take drastic measures to avoid it altogether. For example, there was a school in California with the goal of keeping their premises furnished exclusively with stand-up desks and no chairs.
Later on, we will discuss substituting sitting with standing, as well as using standup desks and other accessories that promote an upright position while working or studying. I just want you to keep in mind that standing is not always a healthier alternative to sitting, and may require self-education and an adequate period of adjustment.
I believe there's no need to make sitting our enemy. The problem, perhaps, is that we don't know how to use it responsibly. Yes, you read that right. “Use it.” Just like you use any other tools of your trade.
At the end of this book, you will find a brief article called “Why We Sit!” which emphasizes the role sitting plays in what we do. I recommend that you read it whenever you have a chance.
If you look around, you will notice that we are surrounded by a plethora of objects and activities that can be considered dangerous. For example, a knife, when used negligently, can be quite dangerous, if not lethal – especially when used as a weapon. Every household will have quite a few of them, and, yet, we don't call them “the new bullets,” do we? We learn to use knives safely, and they become useful tools for many kitchen tasks and more.
Prolonged Sitting
Another very important thing to keep in mind is that we usually refer to the dangers of sitting in the context of prolonged inactivity. In fact, the word “inactive,” as in “inactive lifestyle,” is often used interchangeably with the word “sedentary,” as in “sedentary lifestyle.”
I'll repeat myself here because it is crucial to understand that sitting is an entirely natural activity. Sitting for extended periods of time, however, has been shown – by numerous studies – to have a significant effect on one's physical conditions, wellbeing, and health, manifesting as physiological and structural changes to one's body. You may also be surprised to learn that some of these transformations begin within hours (or even minutes) of sitting down. Therefore, it is essential to turn our attention to small changes that may lead to serious consequences in the long term.
Limited Variation in Sitting Poses
Let’s turn our conversation back to nature. As animals rest, whether they’re sitting or lying down, they rarely maintain one position for very long. That is why cat and dog owners have hundreds of images on the phones of their pets sleeping in all kinds of cute or funny poses. If there were a particular position in which their bodies would feel most comfortable, believe me, their instincts would have undoubtedly helped them to discover it. But, as far as we know, there’s no ultimate resting pose! Instead, they alter their positions while resting – even in their sleep. And why is that?
Nociceptors – sensory receptors for painful stimuli – will alert your brain when your cells are suffocating and lacking a fresh supply of blood due to excess pressure applied to an area of the body for a prolonged time. Do you frequently get jittery and restless in your chair? That's your body sending you a signal to switch poses once in a while to protect you from potentially dangerous restrictions in blood flow anywhere there’s been continuous pressure, such as your butt and the back of your upper legs. Animals definitely won't sit through numbness and pain in their buttocks or lower back. We do, however, like when our bosses or teachers expect us to submit a report by the end of the day. It is not normal, nor is it healthy.
Here comes a trick question. How many different sitting postures allow you to maintain proper alignment of your spine?
Well, if we believe what we have always been told, then there’s only one proper sitting posture. That is why, in a conventional office setup, we try to control our body positions with ergonomically-shaped things, like chairs and keyboards. We literally tell our bodies to stay in one single position at all times. Once again, as we know, this is not normal; it is unhealthy to be in one position for long.
The Contextual Definition
With this simple but hopefully visual example, I wanted to demonstrate that there’s more to safe sitting than maintaining a posture that doesn’t compromise your optimal spinal alignment. There’s also the factor of time that we usually don’t consider when we talk about the ill effects sitting has on our health.
Of course, we intuitively understand that our time spent being inactive equals reduced energy expenditure and, therefore, inactivity is when our bodies save excess calories, causing us to gain weight. That doesn’t even scratch the surface, however, when it comes to the grand collection of issues that accompany uninterrupted, prolonged sitting. We are about to dig deeper into the hidden world of sitting. First, though, we must settle on the context of our discussion and the meaning behind the phrase “dangerous sitting.”
Here, in this book, we will be concerned with sessions of uninterrupted sitting lasting for one or more hours without significant variations in the position of one’s body and without the performance of any substantial physical actions (actions which would require considerable strength exertion or elevated heart rates).
* "Cheetahs Spend 90 Percent of Their Days Sitting Around" By Rachel Nuwer, SMITHSONIANMAG.COM, OCTOBER 2, 2014