Ergonomic or Not, that chair isn't good for you
Consider the following,
Regardless of how much you weigh, your torso is the heaviest portion of your body.
The body's largest and strongest muscles are located in the hips, for the purpose of moving and supporting the torso.
Many people spend the majority of their day in a seated position.
Now let us have a look at what happens to the major muscles of the body in a seated position.
The hip flexor, which is a combination of the illacus and psoas major muscles, lies on the front side of your hips and is the primary flexor or "bender"*. In the seated position it is shortened and in constant passive flexion. The gluteus maximus, located on your backside, is the primary extensor or "straightener" of the hip. In the seated position it is flaccid and passive, resting on the seat. Test this right now by sitting down and poking your butt cheek you will not find any tone there.
What do you suppose is the end product of hours spent this way without adequate intervention to fire up the gluteus maximus and lengthen out those hip flexors?
Experts describe it as The Crossed Pelvis Syndrome**. Besides a weakened gluteus maximus and tight hip flexors, the muscular systems becomes plagued by weaker abdominal muscles, overworked spinal extensors and tight overdominate hamstrings. Structurally this leads to a tilted pelvis and overarched lower back. Unfortunately, the common routine of lots of seated upper body and lower body exercises, crunches and low impact aerobic exercise will do little to correct it.
Some of the best preventative work can be done by including lifting, squatting, lunging and running into your workouts. For the new exerciser, try pairing a static hip extension bridge, also known as a Gluteal or Reverse bridge, and an active hip flexor stretch.
For the Gluteal Bridge, lie on your back and bend your knees, keeping your feet firmly on the floor. Squeeze your buttocks together as your raise your hips from the floor, feeling a gentle stretch. Do not stretch to discomfort. Beginners should hold for 10 seconds, rest for 10 seconds, and repeat. Do this three times, then rest for 60 seconds. Perform the whole two-minute sequence twice. As you improve, gradually decrease the length of rest time between bridges, until you are holding the bridge for 30 seconds, and resting for 60 seconds. When you can do 3 sets of 30 second hold/60 second rest, start decreasing your rest time. Your eventual goal is 30 second hold with 30 second rest.
For an active hip flexor stretch, try the Prone Cross-Body Hip Extension (also known as a Reverse Scorpion). Lay face-down with your arms out and palms resting on the floor. Raise one leg, activating your gluteal muscles, and pull it back over your other leg, and try to touch the floor with your toe. Bring the leg back to the start position. Try doing this ten times with each leg, and gradually work your way up to 15 times.
These exercises will help to rebuild gluteal action and hip flexibility. For the seasoned exerciser it can be a good warm up for those larger lifting, squatting, lunging and running movements, and a good cool down to open up your hips once your workout is complete.
*Chaitow, L., Delany, J. W., Clinical applications of neuromuscular techniques. (2002). Elsevier Science limited, pg 410.
**McGill, S. Low Back Disorders 2nd Edition. (2007). Human Kinetics. Pg177. (Extracted from Google Books)
December, 2009, Mike Scarlett, BSc.Kin
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