Sit correctly

Badal Upreeti, a fitness trainer shares some tips that can reverse the damages from prolonged sitting by suggesting some workouts

After sitting for several hours a day, your posture changes permanently. Long hours at the desk does unwanted damage to your bones and joints. If this was not alarming enough, long sitting can also lead to cardiovascular, Diabetes and other related risks. The problem is that even if we do take into account the number of hours we spend sitting at work, we forget to account for the number of hours we sit while travellingand the harm this is causing our body daily.

One can’t obviously decrease working hours but you can certainly keep your bones and joints from getting affected due to long sitting hour jobs or just sitting and relaxing. Here are some damages prolonged sitting does to our body and the workouts which can help in reversing the effects.

• Sitting lowers the core strength and posture: We all know how to sit and maintain the correct posture but we all slouch. This affects our body posture. Bringing movements that can isolate the mid-section muscles into a workout routine will help build core strength.

Exercise: Side planks, flutter kicks and V-ups, we can improve posture.

• Sitting wrongly and slouching down puts pressure on spine: Spine contains stacked discs that are meant to stretch and expand. While doing so, they absorb nutrients and blood that is required for its proper functioning. But, if you do not move your spine and surrounding tissues, it will not function properly. In this case, it can even lead to cause a herniated disk.

Exercise: To reverse the affects try to include exercises likebridges, planks and core area workouts. These exercises will benefit glutes and abs and actively work for the spine. This works best with spine movement because the  back supports the other muscle groups in the body to hold these positions and the core includes the lower back or lumbar spine.

• Sitting makes your legs and glutes weak: The glutes and leg muscles like the hamstring, inner thighs and quads get affected when one sits for long with zero movement. The worst case scenario is living a largely sedentary lifestyle which could pave the way for decreased muscle mass and loss of overall strength. It is important that one gives the legs and glutes the much needed attention after a long day’s sitting.

Exercise:There are exercises which can reverse the effect, however like squats, lunges, and bridges targets and activates the major muscle groups.

• Sitting affects hip joints and bones: If one is  sitting for too long, one may experience pain in the hip region. This is because sitting causes the hip flexors to shorten.

Exercise: There are several moves which can reverse the pain of hip joints and bones caused by prolonged hours of sitting like lunges, fire hydrants, and squats. A good leg workout and a good amount of stretching is just as good.

• Sitting causes stiffness in the neck and shoulders: The dangers of hunching and craning the neck to look down at the laptop and phone causes stiffness and pain in the neck and shoulder joints.

Exercise: Reversing the effects of the stiffness there are certain recommended exercises like rows (any variation), dumbbell shrugs, push-ups, and high planks are the ones which work to strengthen and prevents muscle imbalances, strain, and soreness.