Sitting differently

In the UK, working adults spend an average of 9 or more hours a day sitting. This number increases as we age. Sitting is not just work-related; it includes watching TV, reading, doing homework, and travelling by car, bus, or train. A vast body of evidence shows that sitting is not suitable for us, but how can we counteract this when, for many of us, sitting is one part of our daily lives that we seem to have little power to control?

Bus drivers and astronauts
A fascinating study was undertaken in the 1950s by Professor Jerry Morris. The study compared the rates of coronary heart disease between drivers and conductors of the London Transport Executive. The research found that the bus drivers were twice as likely to have heart attacks as the conductors. The drivers sat for 90% of their shifts while the conductors climbed about 600 stairs daily. A subsequent analysis was undertaken in 1952 on postal workers and telephonists in the Civil Service. In both cases, it was thought that excessive sitting slows the metabolism, which affects our ability to regulate blood sugar and blood pressure and metabolise fat, and can cause muscles and bones to weaken. Research on astronauts in the early 1970s found that life in zero gravity was linked with accelerated bone and muscle loss and ageing. While this research was observational, it has been shown that there is an association between sitting and ill health. Modern researchers have raised the point that sedentary behaviour is distinct from a lack of physical activity. You can get sufficient exercise per day and still sit for too long. The risks of sedentary behaviour are heightened for those who do not exercise enough.

Links between sitting and musculoskeletal pain
There is a massive body of research that shows that there is a link between sitting too much and developing musculoskeletal pain. One article I read while researching and writing this post listed over 100 different studies worldwide on how sitting affects our posture and likelihood of developing musculoskeletal problems, headaches, migraines, or restricted movement. And that's just one article! Not moving our bodies isn't good for us (and I think deep down we know this - do head over to Katy Bowman's website to find out more about movement and our DNA https://www.nutritiousmovement).

Sadly (or happily?!), our bodies are fantastically adaptable and will make themselves good at doing things when we do them all the time. Sitting a lot can lead us to develop a weaker bum (glutes), shorter muscles at the front of the hips (hip flexors), reduced shoulder, mid-spine or ankle mobility, etc., This all makes sense, given what we’re asking our body to do, essentially staying fixed in one position for extended periods. I have conducted my unscientific research into sitting, by simply monitoring how long it takes for my lower back to start aching when I sit - the answer was 20 mins! Have you ever stopped and listened to your body in this way?

Why do we sit the way we do?
In 1852, an English colonialist in India complained about the local workmen. He was irritated and offended by how they squatted to work and likened them to animals for choosing to do so. The colonialist moved their equipment onto tables and gave them chairs to sit on, forcing them to work in a way he found acceptable. The experiment worked for a day, but the workmen then sat on the stools to reach their tools and equipment. The colonist decided that the inability to use a stool was directly related to ‘a deficiency in their lower limbs’. He was wrong, of course, but right in observing that we often overlook the function of an artifact (in this case the stool) until we imagine or experience life without it.

The attitude of the English colonialists toward Indian workers now strikes us as disrespectful. But we all have ideas about the right way to sit that can tempt us to look down on or misunderstand the habits of others. Have you ever felt a little embarrassed when using a squat toilet? Did you think it was primitive (even though it is a very efficient position for elimination)? In the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Polynesia, people can access chairs but choose not to use them. In China, people may squat to wait for a bus; in Japan, a lady may kneel to eat, and an Arab may sit cross-legged to write a letter.

In 1955, the American anthropologist Gordon W. Hewes presented the results of a survey he undertook into the postural habits of people worldwide. It's a fascinating study that is still very relevant, nearly 70 years from publication. He identified hundreds of different resting poses, including eleven that used chairs. He explained how various factors influenced which pose was adopted, including pregnancy, body shape, taboos, gender, clothing, footwear, artificial supports (chairs, rocks, pillows), terrain (if sitting outdoors), social class and fashion. Gordon Hewes' work shows us that posture is cultural.

If we have to sit, explore sitting differently
Can we really change our practice of sitting in chairs? It seems so deeply embedded in Western culture that we could argue it is not susceptible to change. It’s the norm, right? I mean we all have to do it! But I disagree. I believe we can change our habits and unconscious practices, and even if we only manage to change our sitting habits a little by introducing some new forms and shapes, this is nothing but good for our bodies. And I think Gordon Hewes' work offers us some answers to this question: can we sit differently?

Morris, J.N., Heady, J.A., Raffle, P.A.B., Roberts, C.G., and Parks, J.W., 1953. Coronary heart disease and physical activity of work. Lancet 265, 1111-1120.

Morris, J.N., Heady, J.A., Raffle, P.A.B., Roberts, C.G., and Parks, J.W., 1953. Coronary heart disease and physical activity at work. Lancet 265, 1053-1057.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8983659

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6139309

https://reinventinghome.org/the-chair/

https://www.jstor.org/stable/666393