Original article by Connor. Historical offers and dates below are archived, not current promotions.
During the beginning of each semester of my exercise science course at Montclair State University, we review spinal alignments & postures with their effects on health.
When we sit for prolonged periods of times this essentially freezes your body into a specific position: a flexed (rounded) lumbar spine (lower back) that works its way up the chain flexing your thoracic spine (upper back) and neck.
Standing posture puts 100% load on the lower back, the sitting posture mentioned above can put ~190% load on the lower back.
Compare that to proper upright sitting that only puts 140% load on the lower back.
It is reported that ~80% of adults have had at least one incident of lower back injury.
Jobs that require sitting for prolonged periods aren’t a recipe for good spine health. Here are 3-ways we can fix our sitting posture for better health:
#1 Adjust your position
We need to be conscious of our posture when we’re sitting…NO SLUMPING. Sitting as upright as possible with lower back support that provides a slight curve is most optimal. It could be as easy as putting a pillow behind your lower back. Compared to sitting in a slumped back or hunchback position.
#2 Get up & move around (preferably outside)
Set a timer for every ~60 minutes to get up and walk around. Try to hit between 150-250 steps per hour! Especially with the climate of today’s work world where many adults are still working remotely from home, there’s less activity. Grab some fresh air, take a walk to the restroom, take your dog outside, walk up and down the stairs, etc
#3 Do these exercises
Once you’ve gotten up to walk around, before you sit back down try these three exercises out: • Supine Bridge: 15 reps. These will gets your glutes activated since they are not being engaged while sitting. *Hold on to a table or wall for assistance, if needed!*
• Quadruped T-Spine Rotations: 12 reps per side. These will help open up your front side and extend your upper back.
• Split Squat: 10/side. Due to the 1-legged nature of the movement, this will take stress off the spine compared to a 2-leg squat.
We listened to the survey responses over the summer. As a token our gratitude in believing in us with your athletes development, we would like to extend a FREE 2-Week Trial to our semi-private, adult fitness program! We still have a few spots open who want to lose weight, gain muscle, look & feel better, and dial in their nutrition.
The free 2-week trial will include 6 semi-private training sessions at 7am, 1 health & performance assessment, and 1 nutrition consultation.
REPLY directly to this email or click the link below to redeem your FREE 2-week trial!
Stay fast,
Connor
P.S. If you’re still not sure, simply respond to this email and I’m happy to get on a call with you to see if it’s a good fit for you.
Watch the original demonstration video ↗
Originally published by TNL Performance. Historical training guidance is general information, not medical advice; program availability and affiliations may have changed.