How long do you sit a day?
8-10 hours? And that every day?
Many of us will answer “yes” to this question. We sit at work, in the car, on the plane and even at home.
We all know that sitting for long periods of time every day is not really good for us and our bodies. But many people are unaware of how much damage we do to our bodies. The following points are intended to illustrate to you the consequences of being permanently sedentary in everyday life.
1) Health problems
- Weight gain because muscles use little energy.
- The risk of high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol levels, cardiovascular disease and diabetes increases.
2) Weak abdominal muscles
- Our abdominal muscles hardly work when we sit.
- This leads to weakening.
- The consequences are tension and pain in the lower back.
3) Weak glutes
- Sitting for a long time weakens the gluteal muscles.
- Difficulty activating these in order to use them in everyday life.
- Decreased stability leads to pain in the lower back, knees and less mobility in the ankle.
4) Stiff hips
- Inactivity in everyday life reduces mobility in the hips.
- The hip flexors and front thigh muscles are particularly affected.
- Difficulty standing up completely.
- The likelihood of falling increases, pain in the lower back and general limitations in everyday life.
5) Pain in the shoulder/neck area
- We pull our shoulders up, round our back, and push our head forward.
- This increases the pressure on the intervertebral discs in the cervical area.
- Mobility in the upper back is reduced.
- Pain in the shoulders when moving overhead.
Maybe some of the points described seem familiar to you because either you, a family member, colleagues or friends have had problems with them in the past or are currently having problems in the areas I have described. If this is the case, then the following exercises will help you do something preventatively about it. Do these regularly and you will soon notice the positive effect they have on your well-being.
1) Single-leg hip lift in supine position (8 reps per side)
- Place your heel a hand length away from your buttocks.
- Pull your knees towards your chest and hug with your hands.
- Tense your stomach firmly, lift your hips and tense your buttocks as much as possible.
2) Forearm support (hold 4 times for 10 seconds)
- Elbows below your shoulders, forearms parallel to each other, feet hip-width apart.
- Tense your buttocks as much as possible (crack the nut between the halves of your buttocks).
- Pull your elbows towards your toes.
- Build maximum tension throughout your entire body.
3) Head Nods (10 reps)
- Start on all fours.
- Close your mouth.
- Eyes lead the movement, alternately looking up and down.
- Don't go into painful areas.
4) World's Greatest Stretch (5 reps per side)
- Lunge forward, bringing your hands next to your front leg.
- Tense your buttocks.
- Elbow pushes knee outwards.
- Rotate your arm towards the ceiling.
- Bring your hips up, try to stretch your front leg, tip of your foot to your shin, chin to your chest.
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