For the Love of Your Back

For the love of your back stop what you’re doing and pay attention! This is tremendously important for everyone young and old with or without pain. This knowledge is something I try to impart on all my clients, and it's better to start this practice now than wait for back pain to occur!

The low back is one of the most chronic areas of pain in our society. In a recent article on NPR title, “To Fix That Pain In Your Back, You Might Have To Change The Way You Sit” it goes into some of the current statistics on sitting. The article states that the average US citizen sits between 9-13 hours a day and only gets about 2.5 hours of exercise per week. This article states that some indigenous communities sit roughly as much as we do. However, the way they sit is significantly different, and they don't suffer from the same back ailments we do. So what’s the difference? The key is skeletal alignment and organizing your sit bones!

When you sit having an emphasis on organizing the pelvis is incredibly important.

1. Hinging at the hips is very important. Most people sit on the back of their sit bones in the "C" shape the article mentions. Sitting on the inferior tip of the sit bones and pulling the gluteus maximus tissue posterior provides the additional skeletal support to maintain this posture over long periods of time. This creates a neutral pelvis and allows you to be more on top of the sit bones versus sitting on the softer butt tissue, which will eventually lead to the dreaded "C" curve.

2. Creating a base of support with your legs. Having your feet flat and legs slightly wider than your hips creates a basis of support from the ground up and through you. Additionally, having the pelvis slightly higher than the knees oftentimes helps people with tight hamstrings and gluts. This is where some Structural Medicine work can be helpful to create more length, space, and body awareness of where your sit bones actually are in space.

3. The article also didn't mention that most people sitting at work are focused on a computer. Typically, reading and typing on a computer pulls people's attention forward and most keyboards are set up so you're arms are internally rotated and the shoulders are rounded. We literally get pulled into our work and oftentimes the stress of deadlines only reinforces this pattern. Creating a desk set up with proper ergonomics will help keep the upper end of the spine aligned as well as the shoulders.

One of the last concepts that I’ll leave you with is something Moshe Feldenkrais said, “Good posture is the absence of muscular tension”. If you have to exert yourself to “hold” a good posture you’re doing something wrong. This will only lead to creating a new layer of holding on top of an already unorganized structure. You only get one back and most back pain is caused by long-term poor organization and movement. You’re in the driver’s seat so use the steps above to create a life-long healthy back while sitting.