Spine Health 101: Don’t just sit there…maintain good posture!
How many times have you received excellent advice, but failed to take it?
Eat more spinach. Walk 10 000 steps per day. Maintain good posture!
If you’re like most humans, that’s often the part where your eyes glaze over, head involuntarily nods and your brain checks out. Usually to a villa in Tuscany.
We understand! It’s not easy to accept guidance and change your habits. Especially when the prescription sounds kinda basic and boring.
Like, sit up straight!
Snooze! You learned that as a kid, right?
Perhaps.
But perhaps it wasn’t entirely chiro correct.
Or maybe you find yourself regularly hunched forward at your desk, crossing your legs and squeezing your shoulders, feeling about as supple as a wombat.
Today, we want to give you actionable tips for good posture. Advice that will stick. New habits to help you stay mobile, limber and protect your spine.
And we promise it’ll be more enjoyable than writing lines.
What’s wrong with sitting, anyway?
Aussies park their butts anywhere between 10-15 hours per day. Yikes!
Sitting all day is not only bad news for your back, but also the rest of your body too.
The spinal column and associated muscles, ligaments and tissues were designed to move. When you remain seated, ESPECIALLY in an awkward position, the following can occur:
- misalignment of bones and joints leading to abnormal wear, tear and degeneration.
- increased stress on ligaments (the tiny tissues holding spinal joints together) which can predispose you to injury.
- overuse of certain muscles and joints, leading to pain and loss of function.
- negative affects on your whole body, such as the inhibition of proper circulation, digestion, metabolism and function of vital organs.
Not only that, but the long-term impacts of sitting are starting to make news, and they ain’t pretty.
Sitting for more than 6 hours per day has been found to:
- Increase your risk of heart disease by up to 64 percent.
- Put you at greater risk of certain types of cancer.
- Shave 7 quality years off your life.
Why office workers need to pay special attention to the spine:
Here are some seriously un-fun facts about spinal health and back pain in the workplace (or home office):
- Back and neck pain is one of the most common reasons for workplace sick leave.
- 50% of the working population will experience back or neck pain symptoms at least once per year.
- In a recent study low back pain ranked as one of the most “disabling” conditions and sixth in terms of health fund usage.
What can you do to reduce pain, stiffness and the negative effects of sitting?
Two things:
- Maintain good posture while you are sitting
- Sit less often
Easy!
Let’s start with posture.
What does good posture look like? Should you be balancing a teacup on your head? Crossing your ankles? Stroking a cat?
Here’s what it doesn’t look like. Do you recognise your usual position in any of these pictures?
How can you change it?
We created a fun mnemonic device to help you remember.
FLAG SHIP.
Yep. That’s right. Flag ship.
Whenever you sit down at your desk, we want you to say it. Let it be a prompt to remind you to conduct a full-body scan and rearrange yourself.
Why FLAG SHIP?
Because both flags and ships are supple – even in the face of high winds and swell. They retain their integrity. Plus, masts and flagpoles are relatively spine-like. See where we’re going with this?
Also, it’s hard to find acronyms that make perfect sense. Three cheers for poetic license!
Here’s what it stands for:
F – Feet flat on the floor, or a foot rest.
L – Legs. Keep them uncrossed.
A – Ankles in front of your knees.
G – Gap. Keep a gap between the backs of your knees and the front your seat.
S – Shoulders. Down and relaxed.
H – Hips. At the same height as your knees.
I – Innie. Suck your belly button in and keep your mid-back supported (try a pillow or rolled-up towel).
P – Parallel forearms to the floor.
You have our permission to print this out and blu-tac to your computer (just in case you couldn’t memorise it first time round!)
Now you’ve got the seated posture down pat, aim to sit less.
Get up and move, regularly. Here’s how:
Commit to hoisting yourself out of your chair, standing up and moving for 10 minutes in every hour.
These short intervals confer profound health benefits. In fact, an Australian study proved that small chunks of movement throughout the day effectively counteract the detrimental effects of sitting.
How to make it fun:
Set a timer on your phone for 50-minute intervals, blasting your favourite song when it’s time to get vertical.
Anything from the 80s, 90s or Footloose soundtrack will do nicely.
While you’re up there, here’s the right way to stand to protect your spine: 
The take-home message?
Sitting is bad news for your spine. It can lead to pain, dysfunction and long-term negative health impacts.
If you can’t escape the need to sit, we recommend at least doing it properly. Remind yourself to assume the correct posture using FLAG SHIP and check in regularly to rearrange yourself.
Better still?
Sit less. Break up your day with standing, moving intervals. 10 minutes every hour does the trick. Find creative ways to get up and out of your chair, and allow your spine to do what it does best: move!
Thanks so much for reading another installment of your Spinecare monthly newsletter.
Remember to check out www.worldspineday.org for extra resources and inspiration, or get in touch with us to comment or ask a question.
Happy World Spine Day!