Comments on: Questioning the ideal sitting posture http://bodyinmind.com.au/questioning-the-ideal-sitting-posture/ Research into the role of the brain and mind in chronic pain disorders Thu, 09 Sep 2010 12:03:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Andrew Claus http://bodyinmind.com.au/questioning-the-ideal-sitting-posture/#comment-37 Andrew Claus Fri, 25 Sep 2009 03:34:00 +0000 http://www.bodyinmind.com.au/?p=1087#comment-37 Thanks for the feedback comments. Indeed, a few good research teams around Australia and overseas are taking an interest in how the spine is used in sitting. A problem that we are working to overcome is that many past studies assumed that momentary measures with radiography or photography were an accurate representation of typical posture behaviour. New tools mean that we can (and should) study actual behaviour during functional tasks. The article was a foundation for more recent and on-going work measuring postural behaviour while using a computer over an extended period, and leading to clinical trials that will examine the merit of our clinical theories concerning posture, performance, comfort, discomfort and health. Thanks for the feedback comments. Indeed, a few good research teams around Australia and overseas are taking an interest in how the spine is used in sitting. A problem that we are working to overcome is that many past studies assumed that momentary measures with radiography or photography were an accurate representation of typical posture behaviour. New tools mean that we can (and should) study actual behaviour during functional tasks.

The article was a foundation for more recent and on-going work measuring postural behaviour while using a computer over an extended period, and leading to clinical trials that will examine the merit of our clinical theories concerning posture, performance, comfort, discomfort and health.

]]> By: Hans Albert Quistorff, LMP Antalgic Posture Pain Specialist http://bodyinmind.com.au/questioning-the-ideal-sitting-posture/#comment-35 Hans Albert Quistorff, LMP Antalgic Posture Pain Specialist Tue, 22 Sep 2009 07:35:11 +0000 http://www.bodyinmind.com.au/?p=1087#comment-35 I find that guided position and movement after restoring functionality is very important. A common condition in my practice is psoas minor insufficiency due to T11/12 injury or subluxation. Though the range of lordosis kyphosis alterations can be found in both male and female; females more frequently develop anterior pelvic tilt with lower lumbar hyper lordosis and kyphosis starting at L1; males more frequently stabalise the pelvis with the rest of the core muscles and have a lordosis loss. Interestingly I had one elderly slender client that had lumbar kyphosis. Her mother had taught her to always pull her navel toward her spine. I suggested that her mother had the right idea but had stated it backward. When she began to pull the spine towards the navel her lordosis developed, her digestion improved and she had more stamina to do energy work with her clients, I find that guided position and movement after restoring functionality is very important.
A common condition in my practice is psoas minor insufficiency due to T11/12 injury or subluxation. Though the range of lordosis kyphosis alterations can be found in both male and female; females more frequently develop anterior pelvic tilt with lower lumbar hyper lordosis and kyphosis starting at L1; males more frequently stabalise the pelvis with the rest of the core muscles and have a lordosis loss.
Interestingly I had one elderly slender client that had lumbar kyphosis. Her mother had taught her to always pull her navel toward her spine. I suggested that her mother had the right idea but had stated it backward. When she began to pull the spine towards the navel her lordosis developed, her digestion improved and she had more stamina to do energy work with her clients,

]]> By: Susan Peterson, LMT http://bodyinmind.com.au/questioning-the-ideal-sitting-posture/#comment-34 Susan Peterson, LMT Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:07:37 +0000 http://www.bodyinmind.com.au/?p=1087#comment-34 Excellent article -- with prolonged computer-sitting, commute-driving and recreational computer use, I am seeing more people in my massage practice with probelms related to long-term static muscle postures. It's quite possible, seems to me, we just aren't designed to sit still! I've taken lately to asking people to use the ball for sitting, then switch to the chair, and throw in a lot of walk-breaks to water cooler, copy machine, or anywhere they can push away from the keyboard for a few minutes and use their muscles.... Excellent article — with prolonged computer-sitting, commute-driving and recreational computer use, I am seeing more people in my massage practice with probelms related to long-term static muscle postures. It’s quite possible, seems to me, we just aren’t designed to sit still! I’ve taken lately to asking people to use the ball for sitting, then switch to the chair, and throw in a lot of walk-breaks to water cooler, copy machine, or anywhere they can push away from the keyboard for a few minutes and use their muscles….

]]> By: admin http://bodyinmind.com.au/questioning-the-ideal-sitting-posture/#comment-20 admin Mon, 14 Sep 2009 04:37:53 +0000 http://www.bodyinmind.com.au/?p=1087#comment-20 Thanks Simon -- good to know the research is getting out there. Thanks Simon — good to know the research is getting out there.

]]> By: Simon Borg-Olivier http://bodyinmind.com.au/questioning-the-ideal-sitting-posture/#comment-19 Simon Borg-Olivier Mon, 14 Sep 2009 00:24:36 +0000 http://www.bodyinmind.com.au/?p=1087#comment-19 I am thrilled to read news of this recent research from this much esteemed research group. As a physiotherapist of 15 years and a hatha yoga teacher of 25 years I am constantly faced with this phenomenon. One can speculate many reasons for it, such as hip or spinal stiffness, or even the prevalence of the so-called Scheurmanns Kyphosis (predominantly in the thoraco-lumbar region in men). It is only ongoing research that will give us the real answer. However, it is clearly observable in a clinical setting that men (more than most women) have extreme difficulty in achieving and maintaining a natural spinal curvature in sitting. If these postures are forced especially when sitting on the floor cross-legged (something many Western adults just can’t do) it appears to be a cause of knee problems, hip and trunk muscle spasm, breathing difficulties and a range of nervous system disorders that often manifest as stress and discomfort. I think the best general advice for most people is to sit comfortably as tall as you can but as relaxed as you can. Let the spine adopt the shape you feel most comfortable in with an ability to have your abdomen relaxed enough to be able to do relaxed diaphragmatic breathing. For most people to do this is usually best to sit with the knees slightly below the groin level, and for most people a comfortable sitting posture does not have the same spinal curvature that appears when standing. I am thrilled to read news of this recent research from this much esteemed research group. As a physiotherapist of 15 years and a hatha yoga teacher of 25 years I am constantly faced with this phenomenon. One can speculate many reasons for it, such as hip or spinal stiffness, or even the prevalence of the so-called Scheurmanns Kyphosis (predominantly in the thoraco-lumbar region in men). It is only ongoing research that will give us the real answer. However, it is clearly observable in a clinical setting that men (more than most women) have extreme difficulty in achieving and maintaining a natural spinal curvature in sitting. If these postures are forced especially when sitting on the floor cross-legged (something many Western adults just can’t do) it appears to be a cause of knee problems, hip and trunk muscle spasm, breathing difficulties and a range of nervous system disorders that often manifest as stress and discomfort. I think the best general advice for most people is to sit comfortably as tall as you can but as relaxed as you can. Let the spine adopt the shape you feel most comfortable in with an ability to have your abdomen relaxed enough to be able to do relaxed diaphragmatic breathing. For most people to do this is usually best to sit with the knees slightly below the groin level, and for most people a comfortable sitting posture does not have the same spinal curvature that appears when standing.

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