Revive Your 9 to 5!

Action Magazine - January Edition 2004
By Ben Vincent, BKin., CFC

As we continue to hyperspace into the future, technology keeps finding new ways to lower our daily levels of activity. Our day has become an accumulation of non-active events and the biggest of those non-active events is the time we spend at work. A typical 8-hour workday represents one half of our waking time! For many of us, this huge chunk of our day is spent in an office environment sitting in a chair and clicking a mouse - which is about fifty thousand heart beats away from breaking a sweat!

The chair is one of mankind's worst inventions. From an evolutionary standpoint, mankind is not designed to sit. There is actually more strain on our back when we sit than when we stand! Also, since a chair supports our spine, we are not required to use our postural muscles - muscles that stabilize the segments of the spine that are essential to the foundation of our body. If we are not using them for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, they will shrink and become weak, which places our spinal stability in jeopardy. Imagine what would happen to the muscles of your body if you were to lie in bed 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. They would deteriorate, and this is exactly what happens to your postural muscles when you sit in a chair! With our spinal stability in such a wobbly state, back injuries are inevitable.

Have you ever wondered why your back is so stiff after sitting for a period of time? A chair is a rigid structure, and when we sit on it, it does not allow any movement to occur in our pelvis and back. This lack of movement creates a lack of blood flow to the area so that the joints and muscles become stiff. We are finally starting to realize the detriments of sitting in a chair and how it has become a liability to our long-term health. This has created a paradigm shift in the way we approach sitting. We are now trying to find ways to create office environments that are an asset to our health and well being and not a liability. Australia has actually passed a law that addresses a Duty of Care concept. It states that 'an employee must be able to leave the workplace at the end of the day in the same, if not better, physical and mental condition than when they arrived'.

'Active Sitting' has provided a phenomenal solution to the problems that were created with traditional passive chair sitting. As the paradigm shift changes our thinking, more and more people are sitting on active sitting surfaces such as Fitter Ball Chairs or Swopper Chairs. By sitting on something that is unstable, it forces us to activate our postural muscles while we sit. This prevents the postural muscles from deteriorating so that we are able to maintain strong spinal stability. Because we are able to move on the Ball or Swopper, our joints are never stuck in one position. The ability to move while we sit maintains blood flow to the muscles and joints, thereby allowing us to sit for 8 hours without back stiffness occurring.

Additional benefits to 'Active Sitting':

Provides a fun, energized experience
Strengthens core muscles of the back and abdomen
Enhances your balance and overall relationship with gravity
Improves circulation to the lower extremities
Improves nourishment to the intervertebral disks
Assists lymphatic flow
Provides relief from back pain

With all these benefits in mind, many Corporations have already begun to re-create their employee's workspaces to accommodate a better and healthier environment. Many of us have already seen office staff sitting on a ball, and this will become more common place in the near future. Instead of saying 'let me grab you a chair' you'll be saying 'let me roll you a ball'! So go ahead, have a ball, and revive your 9 to 5!