I don’t know about you, but being the creative sort, I sit a lot…all day…everyday…on my butt…A LOT. And hey, turns out it’s bad for you. And not just in the ways we all knew about. I have a desk job…I have a desk hobby/writing career. So it’s safe to say my chair is ass shaped or my ass is chair shaped, one of the two. And yeah, I follow the adage get up and walk around the office every hour. But as of late I noticed it has become harder to get up and take that first step. I have a new pain. Great I’m forty-something, and all I need is a new pain. I also noticed I no longer can sit Indian style, or criss-cross applesauce depending on when you went to school. Don’t laugh I still could do that until about a year ago. And… (if you are squeamish, now is the time to skip to the next paragraph) it is getting harder to straddle my hubby. Cue gasp, but hey I am giving you golden information here and you ladies all know you’ve noticed it too. I can’t be the only one. So what is it? Are we too old for sex? Hell no! It’s a health hazard of the writing life. Who knew right? Well maybe you did, but I am aghast.
Here is the medical low down. Turns out, if we sit on our butts for over 6 hours a day (I don’t know about you, but my boss tends to like me to stick it out for the entire 8) as our glut muscles stretch in that sitting position, there is another set of muscles in the front side, our Piriformis muscles, shortening. And the two together allow for external rotation of the hips, so the saying move it or lose it springs to mind. Some symptoms of this happening are a deep ache in your hip area, a gradual loss of flexibility in the hip area, and again if you used to be able to sit criss-cross and now you can’t, you may be afflicted.
Here is the medical low down. Turns out, if we sit on our butts for over 6 hours a day (I don’t know about you, but my boss tends to like me to stick it out for the entire 8) as our glut muscles stretch in that sitting position, there is another set of muscles in the front side, our Piriformis muscles, shortening. And the two together allow for external rotation of the hips, so the saying move it or lose it springs to mind. Some symptoms of this happening are a deep ache in your hip area, a gradual loss of flexibility in the hip area, and again if you used to be able to sit criss-cross and now you can’t, you may be afflicted.
The good news…I found some exercises dedicated to reversing this. Just a disclaimer, I am not a doctor, I am not in the medical field in any way shape or form. I had a problem looked it up and figured there might be some other people out there experiencing the same thing. There are yoga poses and all kinds of more advanced stretches to prevent this, but again I CANT EVEN SIT INDIAN STYLE ANY MORE. So I am starting with two simple stretches. Maybe when I can do those without lifting my foot with my hand… I will move on to more complicated stretches. But I will tell you these felt good! I even told a girl in my office and she said her hips felt good afterward. And if you are going to try these, remember listen to your body. Stretching should feel good, not be painful.
1) Stand straight with feet pointed forward, step into a lunge position (doesn’t have to be a deep one) put your hands on your hips and tilt your tailbone forward. You should feel a stretch in the hip joint of the leg extended back. Hold it for a few seconds and then switch legs.
2) Sit on chair with perfect posture. Lift one foot and bend leg so your foot rests on your other knee. (My stretch ended there, it was enough…I hope to get more flexible and continue to the next step.) Place one hand on bent knee and one under ankle. VERY GENTLY press the knee down as you lift the ankle. Again, only do as much as feels good. Switch legs.
I felt an immediate improvement, and even more so the next day. If you want more in depth exercises just Google Piriformis exercises and see what pops up. I hope this post helps a few people get on with the writing life. Then my job is done. Happy Writing!
1) Stand straight with feet pointed forward, step into a lunge position (doesn’t have to be a deep one) put your hands on your hips and tilt your tailbone forward. You should feel a stretch in the hip joint of the leg extended back. Hold it for a few seconds and then switch legs.
2) Sit on chair with perfect posture. Lift one foot and bend leg so your foot rests on your other knee. (My stretch ended there, it was enough…I hope to get more flexible and continue to the next step.) Place one hand on bent knee and one under ankle. VERY GENTLY press the knee down as you lift the ankle. Again, only do as much as feels good. Switch legs.
I felt an immediate improvement, and even more so the next day. If you want more in depth exercises just Google Piriformis exercises and see what pops up. I hope this post helps a few people get on with the writing life. Then my job is done. Happy Writing!
