Sitting and back pain: what you can do at home
Sitting takes a toll on your back when you spend the day in a chair and your hips never get a chance to fully extend. In short: your glutes become inactive, your hip flexors tighten up, and your lower back starts to pay the price.
This is more than dry theory. Many of us experience it every day: desk, car, sofa, phone. By evening, your back feels stiff, your hips feel tight, and your body is less willing to cooperate when you stand up from a squat.
Why does sitting affect your back?
Your body maintains good posture through opposing movements. Some muscles flex, while others extend. When these opposing groups work in reasonable balance, your pelvis, hips and lower back move naturally. When one group stays shortened for a long time and the other grows weaker, an imbalance develops.
When you sit, the pelvis and hip joints play the leading roles. The hip joints are formed by the pelvis and the thigh bones. Lifting your thigh up in front of you is hip flexion. Moving your thigh behind you or standing up from a squat is hip extension.
The main muscles that extend the hip and move the thigh backward are the gluteus maximus and the biceps femoris muscles. The main hip flexors are the iliopsoas, sartorius and rectus femoris.
Sitting, your pelvis and lower back pain
Spending long periods sitting often leaves your glutes weak and inactive. It is as though they have been switched off all day. Meanwhile, your hip flexors remain in a shortened position and tend to stay tight.
So what actually happens? Your pelvis starts to tilt forward. This, in turn, can cause the muscles of your lower back, particularly the erector spinae, to become shortened and develop excessive muscle tone. Meanwhile, your abdominal muscles remain lengthened, with reduced muscle tone.
This position can give rise to problems affecting your back, hips and eventually your entire musculoskeletal system. An excessive inward curve begins to develop in the lumbar spine. The discs between the vertebrae move into a less favorable position and may start to put pressure on nerves. This can manifest as back pain.
Your body does not work as a collection of separate parts. Your hips, knees, pelvis and spine form a chain. If the same imbalance persists around your hips for years, you may eventually feel its effects in your knees or upper back as well. What happens in your trunk, spine and major joints is particularly important.
How does sitting switch off your glutes?
When your glutes have no work to do, they gradually become sluggish. Years of sitting can even make your buttocks look flatter. This is more than a matter of appearance. Your lower-body muscles become less active, begin to atrophy and lose strength.
The simple truth is that your body maintains what you use. If you spend all day in a chair, your body adapts to the chair. If you walk, extend your hips, squat and do light strength training, your body adapts to movement.
This does not mean you need to launch straight into a demanding training plan. Start by standing up more often. Take a short walk. Extend your hips. Consciously squeeze your glutes to engage them. Small amounts of regular movement are better than a heroic effort once a week.
Sitting: what can you do for your back?
My message is clear. First, move. Throughout history, humans have not survived because life was easy and comfortable. We have moved, carried, lifted, walked and adapted to physical discomfort.
Second, reduce the time you spend sitting without a break. If your work requires you to be at a computer, break up your sitting time. Stand up, even briefly, do a couple of gentle hip circles or walk up the stairs. Your back does not always need a big workout. Sometimes it simply needs a change.
Third, work on your posterior chain, especially your glutes. Choose exercises that allow your hips to extend and make your glutes work: hip thrusts, squats, lunges, deadlifts and simple glute squeezes. Perform them at a controlled pace with proper technique.
Do not forget proper exercise technique!!! Poor technique will not improve your posture. It may simply create another problem. Start with a light training load, get a feel for the movement and let your glutes do the job they are meant to do.
FAQ: sitting and back pain
Does sitting itself always cause back pain?
Not necessarily. The problem is more likely to arise when you sit for too long day after day without enough movement to counter it: hip extension, walking and work for your posterior chain.
How often should you get up from your chair?
A good practical goal is to break up long stretches of sitting as often as your work allows. Even standing up briefly and taking a couple of steps changes the load on your hips and lower back.
Is stretching alone enough?
Usually not. Stretching your hip flexors may help, but your glutes and the muscles at the back of your thighs also need strength. Balance comes from a combination of movement, strength training and less time spent sitting.
Author: Janar Rückenberg
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