Author: Jonathan Wong, Singapore Personal Trainer And Fitness Expert
Why I sit on a Swiss
ball?
Here is a picture of my desk at home (And obviously at my gym I have all the Swiss Balls I might need to sit on...). The Swiss ball helps me to keep moving constantly even when I sit. This is important to help the back stay healthy.
Back pain is a terrible thing to have and makes even the fittest person feel weak and clumsy.
One of the keys to keeping your lower back pain free, happy and healthy is to keep moving.
In fact research shows that 50 min is the MAXIMUM that you should spend seated at one time. I know many people who sit at office or school desks a lot longer than that!
NOT GOOD
The thing is, that when we are sitting, there is NO PERFECT SITTING POSTURE. We need to keep adjusting at least every 10 mins, because whenever we stay in any one position, the tissues in our spine "creep" and end up imbalanced. And the spine ends up less stable.
So in reality, what we need to do to help prevent back pain is to keep changing position every 10 min, and also to get up every 50 min (at least) to do a bit of stretching. Stand up, reach both hands to the ceiling and try to make yourself as "tall" as possible. Do this several times and sit down again.
There are many factors that go into preventing back pain, and lower back problems. But sitting habits (and I should also add getting up to stretch habits) are a good place to start.
Contributed to Coachjon.com, site of Singapore Personal Trainer and Fitness Coach Jonathan Wong
Written For www.CoachJon.com Singapore Personal Trainer & Fitness Expert
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