Ok I want to live so how do I Sit?
In the last blog I went through the cons of sitting too long and on the whole it didn’t make comfortable reading.
So much so that in the last week I am sure many of you have resorted to become like horses in a state of perpetual standing and only when exhaustion takes over do you take or fall into a seat or even a recliner due to fear.
Certainly Medical Studies do suggest that all standing and sitting postures are often accompanied by pains. These pains can come from many anatomical structures including joint, connective tissues and muscles.
As in all good research its the detail that counts. Fear not your sitting days will come back and you will not have to suspend yourself in mid air for eternity.
This is because it is now fairly well established that these symptoms only establish themselves if there is already an underlying weakness, and may also be the symptoms of chronic diseases attributed to rheumatic disorders.
What seems to occur is that when sitting or standing incorrectly leads to a rise in intra – discal meaning the pressure in the shock bearing discs can increase leading to both disc wear and degeneration and in some cases may increase the likelihood of disc prolapses which in turn can cause such painful conditions as back pain and Sciatica (pain running down the leg from pressure on the Sciatic nerve)
Sitting causes the pelvis to rotate backwards and the lumbar lordosis to reduce.
So it now becomes straightforward to start recommending the type of seating that may benefit your sitting habits as it is shown beyond doubt via electromyogram studies (these studies show how much a muscle is contracting) that lumbar support and also armrests both have the function of reducing disc pressure
The Best Type of Seats
So the nuts and bolts are as follows:
The optimal seat would have an adjustable seat back inclining backward to 100 degrees from horizonal, an adjustable height, and also something to help you adjust the inclination of the bottom of the seat. To help the pelvis it is also important to be able to adjust the edge of the seat bottom. It is also important to be able to adjust the arm rest.
if you really want to go hight tech you could add some pulsation to the lumbar support as this additionally helps to reduce static load.
And....Finally
Finally the good news is that ultimately what constitutes a good seat is the one in which you feel comfortable. Certainly you can add specialities to it but this is obviated if you are not comfortable, and the additional price tag will add discomfort.
So go out and buy a reasonable chair make sure it has some lumbar support and arm rests as a minimum. Above all don’t forget to get out of your chair as this is by far the most important aspect!
