The number one cause of low back pain is job dissatisfaction.
Prolonged sitting has become the norm in our modern society. Most individuals are sitting for 8 hours, 5 days a week in their corporate desk jobs. Over the years, this results to the prevalence of low back pain. In fact, low back pain has become a common endemic in modern culture. In this blog post I will discuss the physiological impacts of prolonged sitting as well as how to alleviate low back pain.
How Is Prolonged Sitting Affecting Our Body?
According to Wolff's law, the bone grows and remodels itself depending on the forces that are placed upon it. What this means is that you can morph your body into bad posture and dysfunction by prolonged sitting.
Let's paint a picture of the modern archetype:
Motion is Lotion
The best way to alleviate low back pain is through movement. According to the pain gate theory, mechanoreceptors (movement receptors) move at 300 mph, while nocireceptors (pain signal receptors) move at 2 mph. This means that mechanoreceptors close the pain gate because they are faster then nocireceptors. In addition, movement releases endorphins which can muffle the pain signals. Regular mobility and the release of kinetic energy is important for people that live a sedentary lifestyle as it unlocks any stiff tissue and fascia that have been accumulated. Luckily, we can mould our body out of the modern archetype posture and back to a being tall and aligned so that we can enjoy our bodies full potential and range of motion, pain free!
Hanging
Hanging is an amazing way to create space in your body. According to movement activist Aaron alexander, hanging for 90 seconds everyday has immense benefits on the body. When you hang on a pull up bar, you are stretching your shoulders which is reverting the forward shoulder pattern. Moreover, it opens ups space in your ribcage and lungs so you can breathe efficiently. It also decompresses any tight and sticky tissues that have been accumulating. Lastly, hanging stacks your body nicely so that you can stand upright and be more confident.
References
Alexander, A. (2019). The align method. (1st ed). NY, USA: Hachette book group
Mendell, Lorne M. (2014). Constructing and Deconstructing the Gate Theory of Pain. U.S. National Library of Medicine National institutes of health
Wolff, J. (1986). The Law of Bone Remodelling. Berlin, Germany: Springer