Sit a Lot? Have Pain? This Post is for You!

Any of you, like myself, who works in an office type environment knows that we sit. A LOT. I work 4 11.5-12 hour shifts per week and at least 5 of those hours are spent sitting. If I wasn't dealing with patients I'd be sitting for the whole thing (used to do that when I was on the analysis side of things) and if you aren't yet aware of this fact become so now: SITTING IS DEATH.

I'm in medical but I ain't no doctor so I'll save the nitty gritty for someone else but the basic idea is that the angle of our hips is not set but actually fluctuates based on the activation (or lack thereof) of attached and surrounding musculature. What effects that is the positions we take during the day- how we sit, stand, kneel, squat, etc. Sitting forces the hip into an unnatural angle and since we are often hunched over computers we also end up overusing some of the muscles in the shoulders, mid and upper back and underusing muscles in the chest and abdomen (as well as legs for both over and underuse). You end up with a whole bunch of misaligned, over used, underused etc muscles and these imbalances lead to injury and chronic pain. Not to mention that horrible hunched over 90 year old posture with the rounded shoulders and back and forward head.

Over the last 1.5 years or so I have been developing back, hip and neck pain and I have been becoming more and more acutely aware of my posture and how tight some muscles of mine are (and how weak others are). I have also started focusing on how much I sit and taking measures to mitigate the damage done every day.

So what have I been doing/should you be doing? Glad you asked  :lol: (but wait, there's more!)

1) Work out. Focus on your core especially.

2) Stretch your chest, hip flexors, shoulders, back and legs (quads, calves and hamstrings). You can google around to find out what stretches are for what if you don't already know.

3) Sit straight. Google proper sitting posture and try to adopt it. Stand straight. Shoulders down and back (ears and shoulders aligned); chin up. Try to lead with your qroin and keep your neck exposed. "beta" hunching posture is all about protecting the neck and balls. Strut that shit.

4) Take sitting breaks as often as possible. I will get into the "third world squat" position and hold it there for 30-60 seconds, or walk around, or do other stretches (or all of the above).

The basic idea is to open the hips, strengthen the back, stretch the chest and legs (and strengthen those hammies), sit and stand straight and allow the body to hold the positions it "likes" best.

Yoga is brilliant for this shit and if you like to smoke/vape/eat/drink/whatever the fuck marijuana good LORD does it enhance things.

Good luck and let's all strive for as little pain and damage as possible as we age. These new kids coming up are FUCKED because of how much they sit and hunch over screens. Text neck indeed.

I Had a Religious Experience Thanks To A Tennis Ball, Pot and Some Stretching

Yesterday I did 90 minutes of stretching and intense myofascial release via tennis ball solely focused on my lower right side- adductors. psoas, iliopsoas, tensor fasciae latae, iliotibial band, etc after eating an edible a friend gave me and I had a goddamn religious experience. I have always heard about how intense stretching can lead to psychedelic states but until yesterday I never really went to the heights I achieved. I almost don't believe it myself (I wouldn't if I wasn't already intimately familiar with how edibles affect me; I'd just chalk it up to that) but I swear I felt like I was 20% in this world and 80% one with the universe. Pain and pleasure started to mix together with the world around me until I was swimming in sensations. I can't explain it, it was completely bananas. All I know is muscles that have been tight for like 20 years screamed at me and then released under my relentless stretching and when they did my whole body orgasmed.

I have been flirting with this stuff for a while now but I am definitely 100% on board. You all haven't felt pleasure until you release a muscle 20 years into tightening. You just have to fight through some pretty intense pain first (I had my head tilted back moaning in pain a few times).

Fuck that was amazing.