3 Important Health Tips for Those Who Sit All Day

If you sit down all day for work, you can end up with pain or chronic stiffness. My name is Kristen, and I’m one of the therapists here at Full Potential Physical Therapy located in Holland, Michigan. I’m excited to talk to you today about some healthy tips for people who sit all day long, whether that’s for work or if you’re in school. 

When we sit for long chunks of time, that can create a lot of stress on our bodies and cause things to tense up over time. Those patterns can lead to pain in our bodies or chronic stiffness. That’s why today, I’d like to give you three simple, healthy tips that can help you avoid what happens when you sit for too long. 

Tip #1: Maintain Good Posture

Posture is super important. How we sit and hold our bodies can reduce the amount of stress on our muscles and joints. When we sit in a forward position (i.e., hunched over), that actually increases the stress and the load on our bodies. When you relieve that stress while sitting and maintain better posture, it can help every joint in your body. 

Two Ways to Maintain Good Sitting Posture

There are two simple little tools you could use. First, you can grab a towel and roll it up so it’s a couple of inches thick. When you sit in your office chair, sit all the way back in your seat and put the towel roll at the small of your back. This will help support your lower back, and you can make the roll bigger or smaller depending on what’s the most comfortable for you. 

Or, if you’d like a product that will achieve the same result, you can get a lumbar roll online. This also supports your lower back and helps you maintain good sitting posture, but the neat thing about lumbar rolls is they typically have an elastic strap to wrap around your chair. That means it will stay in place even when you get up and move.  

Tip #2: Take Movement Breaks

Our bodies were designed to move. We want to get that body moving if we’re stuck behind a desk chair, in school, or especially for people who drive for a living. Getting out and moving around is important, and the general rule of thumb is to do it every 30 minutes or so. This doesn’t have to be complicated, you can: 

• Go take a walk
• Go to the bathroom
• Grab some water
• Do a few exercises
• Do a little bit of stretching

The point is to do something to promote movement to negate the forces of sitting. 

Tip #3: Be Aware of Your Breathing Patterns

When we sit for chunks of time, or if we’re in a stressful situation, it can cause us to breathe more from our chest instead of taking in a deep breath and using all of our lungs. There’s a simple exercise that you can do if you feel yourself clenching up, or if you’re noticing that you’re in the middle of a stressful situation. 

1. Place one hand on your chest and one on your belly. 
2. Take a deep breath in so that your belly expands. 
3. Slowly exhale to let out all the breath. 
4. Repeat this for about 3-5 minutes with slow, controlled breathing.

Doing that once or twice per day can help us relax, reduce tension, and reduce the stress of sitting. 

Call Full Potential Physical Therapy for Personalized Support

I hope that you found these tips helpful. If you happen to have any current pain in your jaw, neck, back, hips, or knees and you spend most of your time sitting, physical therapy can help. Our experts can help you promote healthy movement through stretching and strengthening exercises, and we’d love to help you out. Give us a call at (616) 537-2837 to get started.