Sitting is the new smoking. I'd be surprised if anyone in the country hasn't heard by now that excessive time spent sitting poses risks to one's cardiovascular and musculoskeletal health. Unfortunately, we all sit a lot, and for many people, this is unavoidable. Nearly any non-labor job requires sitting in front of a computer for hours on end. Driving requires a similar position, and most car seats do nothing to foster an upright posture. Even much of our relaxation time is spent sitting on a couch or slumped over a computer. Cardiovascular risks arise from hindered circulation, and less overall calories relative to more active lifestyles means greater chance of fat accumulation.
Unless you have a FITNESS ORB
When one examines the sitting position, it becomes apparent how a slew of musculoskeletal issues can also manifest as a result of the desk job lifestyle, including the following:
1) Slumped-forward shoulders
2) Forward neck posture and increased shear forces on cervical vertebrae
3) Poor grip strength
4) Low back, hip, and knee pain. These are often connected to some degree, and may be the result of one or more of these factors:
2) Forward neck posture and increased shear forces on cervical vertebrae
3) Poor grip strength
4) Low back, hip, and knee pain. These are often connected to some degree, and may be the result of one or more of these factors:
-Shortened and weakened hamstrings, hip flexors, adductors, and even calf muscles from
spending time in a passive, shortened position.
-Lengthened and inactive glutes
-Weak knee flexors
-Improper core bracing and stabilization
A tight calf muscle can cause dysfunction in the ankle joint, which leads to compensation through
the knees and hips. This pattern can lead to excessive forces and eventual problems in the
compensating joints, and before you know it your tight calf may be causing you hip pain.
Solutions have been proposed, and the simplest and most obvious of them is to sit less. That's easier said than done when working a white collar job. Life hack enthusiasts found potential in the highly fashionable standing desk. Unfortunately, standing desks don't fully address the problem. They don't prevent a person from leaning forward (especially at the neck), and prolonged standing may be unhealthy as well. Then there are treadmill and pedaling desks, which seem great for never getting any work done, ever.
If there were a desk modification that were somewhat promising, it would be an adjustable desk that can transition between standing, sitting, and maybe even squatting positions. These do exist, and provided they aren't inconvenient to adjust, they allow you to regularly change positions. This somewhat addresses the immobility inherent in a desk job. However, you'd probably be just as well off saving $300, and simply getting up and moving around in short intervals at work. This is what spine expert Dr. Stuart McGill recommends. One would be wise to utilize the same practice when lounging about for leisure activities.
Other than minimizing time spent sitting and simply getting up and moving more (which includes cardiovascular exercise), one can take reactive or proactive measures towards directly addressing the musculoskeletal issues that often arise from excessive sitting. Let's address each issue mentioned above with some potential solutions. All exercises listed below can easily be found on Google/YouTube for execution tutorials and tips.
1) Slumped-forward shoulders
Also known as excessive scapular protraction, this can be solved with a three-pronged approach.
A) Lengthen and strengthen the anterior shoulder girdle musculature.
An excellent solution here is to utilize pressing movements that stretch the pecs and front delts, such as a dumbbell bench press. Everyone who goes into a gym does the bench press, which is a great exercise but doesn't provide a significant stretch to the pecs or front delts. Many people don't even bring the bar fully down to the chest. Using dumbbells and descending into a deep stretch at the bottom provides a loaded stretch to the pressing musculature, which will strengthen as it is lengthened. A push-up where the hands are slightly elevated, so that the chest can come down past the hands at the bottom, is another good option that also allows for more natural scapular movement.
B) Build the upper back musculature.
The lower traps and rhomboids make up the majority of the upper back musculature and are the primary muscles responsible for scapular retraction (which is the opposite of protraction, and precisely the quality we want to improve). Visual inspection of your average desk jockey will indicate a woefully underdeveloped upper back. This is a shame, because in addition to the shoulder stability it provides, a strong upper back is transformative to a physique.
Building the upper back is largely a matter of rowing. To keep the focus on the upper back muscles rather than the lats, rows should be pulled to the chest instead of the waist (lat work can be done separately). My favorite row for the upper back is the neutral grip cable row with a moderate to wide grip. Start the movement with a protracted scapula (slumped forward shoulders, but also keeping the lower back neutral or slightly arched) and initiate the pull by pulling the shoulder blades back, and then pulling the bar into the chest with the arms. Start every rep from the protracted position, and focus on initiating the pull with retraction of the shoulder blades.
C) Develop external rotation and overhead stability.
An excellent exercise for developing external rotation of the shoulder is the face pull. It's also an excellent upper body warm-up. Developing external rotation is important to counteracting the internal rotation we often find ourselves in while sitting at a desk.
As for overhead stability, any form of overhead pressing will achieve this. Pick your favorite or favorites, and have at it. If you can't figure out an overhead press that doesn't cause you pain, try a front raise with a plate to fully overhead until the overhead position gets more comfortable for you.
B) Build the upper back musculature.
The lower traps and rhomboids make up the majority of the upper back musculature and are the primary muscles responsible for scapular retraction (which is the opposite of protraction, and precisely the quality we want to improve). Visual inspection of your average desk jockey will indicate a woefully underdeveloped upper back. This is a shame, because in addition to the shoulder stability it provides, a strong upper back is transformative to a physique.
Building the upper back is largely a matter of rowing. To keep the focus on the upper back muscles rather than the lats, rows should be pulled to the chest instead of the waist (lat work can be done separately). My favorite row for the upper back is the neutral grip cable row with a moderate to wide grip. Start the movement with a protracted scapula (slumped forward shoulders, but also keeping the lower back neutral or slightly arched) and initiate the pull by pulling the shoulder blades back, and then pulling the bar into the chest with the arms. Start every rep from the protracted position, and focus on initiating the pull with retraction of the shoulder blades.
C) Develop external rotation and overhead stability.
An excellent exercise for developing external rotation of the shoulder is the face pull. It's also an excellent upper body warm-up. Developing external rotation is important to counteracting the internal rotation we often find ourselves in while sitting at a desk.
As for overhead stability, any form of overhead pressing will achieve this. Pick your favorite or favorites, and have at it. If you can't figure out an overhead press that doesn't cause you pain, try a front raise with a plate to fully overhead until the overhead position gets more comfortable for you.
2) Forward neck position
Fixing the shoulder problem will, to some degree, solve the neck issues. For strengthening the neck, I've never found anything more effective than neck bridges. I attribute these to acquiring a 17 inch neck at 125 pounds back when I was wrestling in high school. While we aren't all trying to pop size small shirt collar buttons, a strong neck plays a significant role in cervical spine injury prevention. In wrestling, we would bridge from our backs, and then roll the head forward and back, side to side, and even turn over on our heads so that our stomachs ended up facing the ground.
Most people don't possess the neck strength required for supporting a significant portion of their body weight, especially with forward neck position. This exercise can be dangerous if your neck isn't strong enough for it. An easier variation that will be more manageable for most people is to use the hands as support on the floor, or to elevate the head above the feet, so that the feet take a greater proportion of the weight. This can be done by standing on the floor and placing the head onto a couch or bed.
3) Poor grip strength
This one is nice and simple. People today have weaker grips because they're utilized less on a daily basis. Manual labor isn't as intrinsic in our lives as it was decades ago. The solution is to work the grip more frequently. There are countless ways to do this. Farmer's walks, curls of any and every type, sledgehammer swings, all back and pulling movements, rope climbs and pulls, captains of crush, plate pinches, timed holds, and any other imaginative training modalities are valid. The key is that grip is being trained, and trained frequently. Grip training of some form can be done almost every day. Let's not forget that jacked forearms look great, too.
4) Low back, hip, and knee pain.
This one is the most complicated cluster of symptoms, because these joints are all immobilized by sitting, are connected in a sort of "kinetic chain," and are often required to work in synergy in daily activities such as walking. Note that the below training modalities should not be used by a person with severe joint issues, which should be addressed by a physician and/or physical therapist.
Weak, tight hamstrings are injury-prone and do a poor job at stabilizing the knee joint. Hamstrings can be addressed with two exercises. The first is leg curls. Any variant is fine. These should be done first, to warm up the hamstrings for the second exercise, which will involve an intense loaded stretch (and thus shouldn't be done without a warmup). This second exercise is the stiff-legged deadlift. I think this is possibly the single most beneficial exercise for the desk-bound, because it strengthens the entire backside of the body. It will effectively build the entire back, from upper traps to upper back to lats and erector spinae. It will put the hamstrings through a full range of motion, facilitate glute contraction, and serves as a good teaching tool for core bracing. Getting good at the stiff-leg deadlift can solve many of the problems associated with back, hip, and knee pain.
Increasing glute strength will help in shifting the hips out of the tightened position caused by chronically shortened hip flexors, and additional exercises should be done for the lower body to build the glutes and knee flexors (the quads, particularly near the knee insertion). Simple glute bridges from the floor serve as an excellent queuing tool for learning how to contract the glutes. Lunges and Bulgarian split squats are great for stretching the hip flexors and quads of the back leg while working the glutes and quads of the front leg. Both of these movements also provide work for the adductors and smaller hip muscles, which may become shortened during extensive sitting as well. With both of these movements, it is critical to not allow the forward leg's knee to cave inward towards the other leg. This will put unnecessary strain on both the the hip and knee joint, while making the exercise less effective. Don't use more weight or do more reps at the expense of form.
Doing regular, two-legged squats is great as well, and will simultaneously address the issues of glute weakness, knee flexor weakness, and improper core bracing. In particular, the barbell front squat is valuable, because in addition to developing the above qualities, it builds the upper back and forces upright torso and neck position. I've also found that it's often easier to learn than the barbell back squat. As a warm-up for the legs and knees before doing focused quad and glute work, I've grown to appreciate the leg extension, done on a properly adjusted machine for higher reps.
All remaining trunk bracing and stabilization concerns can be addressed with planks (done with a conscious effort to retain a braced core, and not done for increased times at the expense of positional quality), ab rollouts once planks become easy, 45-degree back extensions, and a hanging trunk flexion exercise such as toes to bar or hanging leg raises (making sure to crunch the hips up, and not just bend at the hip flexors without flexing the spine). The hanging exercises provide the added benefit of decompressing the spine, and toes to bar additionally provide a respectable lat stimulus. Keep in mind that the core should be braced during loaded exercises like squats, stiff-leg deadlifts, and farmer's walks as well.
Stable ankles that aren't excessively tight are vital to executing proper squats and many other daily movements. The simple solution here is to do calf raises with a deep stretch at the bottom, similar to how Dante prescribes for DogCrapp training. This deep, loaded stretch will provide a potent stimulus for strength and growth as it also promotes full-range ankle mobility.
The above bodybuilding-oriented exercises are excellent for building a durable, healthy body, but I do feel that they alone will leave a deficit in one's capacity for rapid muscular output. When an inactive individual plays a sport that requires sprinting, such as football or baseball, pulled hamstrings often result. Without practicing sprinting, even an individual who works hard in the gym will be at risk for muscle pulls when the time comes to do so. Training the quality of sprinting will hone one's ability to perform explosive, coordinated movement. For inactive individuals, it may even build some muscle. Sprinting uphill versus on a flat surface will decrease the risks of a hamstring pull (due to the altered stride length and path). However, even going uphill, it's unwise to go directly into 100% sprints, especially if the trainee been inactive for a long time. Start slow. These shouldn't be true, all-out sprints, but rather around 60-70% of maximum speed at first. If possible, sprints should be done on soft ground to minimize joint impacts.
For the significantly overweight, sprinting and running should be avoided completely. The joint impacts and injury risk significantly outweigh the potential benefits. Weight loss should be achieved through low-impact cardiovascular exercise, diet modifications, and a safe resistance training program. After achieving significant weight loss, higher-impact training modalities can be considered.
In the war on sitting, there's no need to raise a white flag to joint pain and chronic illness. I have utilized the above exercises for myself and others to improve joint health. A conscious and proactive approach can largely nullify the negative (physical) effects of a white collar job, and allow a person to participate in athletics and daily life without pain.
Fixing the shoulder problem will, to some degree, solve the neck issues. For strengthening the neck, I've never found anything more effective than neck bridges. I attribute these to acquiring a 17 inch neck at 125 pounds back when I was wrestling in high school. While we aren't all trying to pop size small shirt collar buttons, a strong neck plays a significant role in cervical spine injury prevention. In wrestling, we would bridge from our backs, and then roll the head forward and back, side to side, and even turn over on our heads so that our stomachs ended up facing the ground.
Most people don't possess the neck strength required for supporting a significant portion of their body weight, especially with forward neck position. This exercise can be dangerous if your neck isn't strong enough for it. An easier variation that will be more manageable for most people is to use the hands as support on the floor, or to elevate the head above the feet, so that the feet take a greater proportion of the weight. This can be done by standing on the floor and placing the head onto a couch or bed.
3) Poor grip strength
This one is nice and simple. People today have weaker grips because they're utilized less on a daily basis. Manual labor isn't as intrinsic in our lives as it was decades ago. The solution is to work the grip more frequently. There are countless ways to do this. Farmer's walks, curls of any and every type, sledgehammer swings, all back and pulling movements, rope climbs and pulls, captains of crush, plate pinches, timed holds, and any other imaginative training modalities are valid. The key is that grip is being trained, and trained frequently. Grip training of some form can be done almost every day. Let's not forget that jacked forearms look great, too.
4) Low back, hip, and knee pain.
This one is the most complicated cluster of symptoms, because these joints are all immobilized by sitting, are connected in a sort of "kinetic chain," and are often required to work in synergy in daily activities such as walking. Note that the below training modalities should not be used by a person with severe joint issues, which should be addressed by a physician and/or physical therapist.
Weak, tight hamstrings are injury-prone and do a poor job at stabilizing the knee joint. Hamstrings can be addressed with two exercises. The first is leg curls. Any variant is fine. These should be done first, to warm up the hamstrings for the second exercise, which will involve an intense loaded stretch (and thus shouldn't be done without a warmup). This second exercise is the stiff-legged deadlift. I think this is possibly the single most beneficial exercise for the desk-bound, because it strengthens the entire backside of the body. It will effectively build the entire back, from upper traps to upper back to lats and erector spinae. It will put the hamstrings through a full range of motion, facilitate glute contraction, and serves as a good teaching tool for core bracing. Getting good at the stiff-leg deadlift can solve many of the problems associated with back, hip, and knee pain.
Increasing glute strength will help in shifting the hips out of the tightened position caused by chronically shortened hip flexors, and additional exercises should be done for the lower body to build the glutes and knee flexors (the quads, particularly near the knee insertion). Simple glute bridges from the floor serve as an excellent queuing tool for learning how to contract the glutes. Lunges and Bulgarian split squats are great for stretching the hip flexors and quads of the back leg while working the glutes and quads of the front leg. Both of these movements also provide work for the adductors and smaller hip muscles, which may become shortened during extensive sitting as well. With both of these movements, it is critical to not allow the forward leg's knee to cave inward towards the other leg. This will put unnecessary strain on both the the hip and knee joint, while making the exercise less effective. Don't use more weight or do more reps at the expense of form.
Doing regular, two-legged squats is great as well, and will simultaneously address the issues of glute weakness, knee flexor weakness, and improper core bracing. In particular, the barbell front squat is valuable, because in addition to developing the above qualities, it builds the upper back and forces upright torso and neck position. I've also found that it's often easier to learn than the barbell back squat. As a warm-up for the legs and knees before doing focused quad and glute work, I've grown to appreciate the leg extension, done on a properly adjusted machine for higher reps.
All remaining trunk bracing and stabilization concerns can be addressed with planks (done with a conscious effort to retain a braced core, and not done for increased times at the expense of positional quality), ab rollouts once planks become easy, 45-degree back extensions, and a hanging trunk flexion exercise such as toes to bar or hanging leg raises (making sure to crunch the hips up, and not just bend at the hip flexors without flexing the spine). The hanging exercises provide the added benefit of decompressing the spine, and toes to bar additionally provide a respectable lat stimulus. Keep in mind that the core should be braced during loaded exercises like squats, stiff-leg deadlifts, and farmer's walks as well.
Stable ankles that aren't excessively tight are vital to executing proper squats and many other daily movements. The simple solution here is to do calf raises with a deep stretch at the bottom, similar to how Dante prescribes for DogCrapp training. This deep, loaded stretch will provide a potent stimulus for strength and growth as it also promotes full-range ankle mobility.
The above bodybuilding-oriented exercises are excellent for building a durable, healthy body, but I do feel that they alone will leave a deficit in one's capacity for rapid muscular output. When an inactive individual plays a sport that requires sprinting, such as football or baseball, pulled hamstrings often result. Without practicing sprinting, even an individual who works hard in the gym will be at risk for muscle pulls when the time comes to do so. Training the quality of sprinting will hone one's ability to perform explosive, coordinated movement. For inactive individuals, it may even build some muscle. Sprinting uphill versus on a flat surface will decrease the risks of a hamstring pull (due to the altered stride length and path). However, even going uphill, it's unwise to go directly into 100% sprints, especially if the trainee been inactive for a long time. Start slow. These shouldn't be true, all-out sprints, but rather around 60-70% of maximum speed at first. If possible, sprints should be done on soft ground to minimize joint impacts.
For the significantly overweight, sprinting and running should be avoided completely. The joint impacts and injury risk significantly outweigh the potential benefits. Weight loss should be achieved through low-impact cardiovascular exercise, diet modifications, and a safe resistance training program. After achieving significant weight loss, higher-impact training modalities can be considered.
In the war on sitting, there's no need to raise a white flag to joint pain and chronic illness. I have utilized the above exercises for myself and others to improve joint health. A conscious and proactive approach can largely nullify the negative (physical) effects of a white collar job, and allow a person to participate in athletics and daily life without pain.
