sitting down and its effects on performance

[jamiet]

Hey Rip,

I was reading through one of your older articles on p.j the other day about kids lifting weights and in the article you stated that the stress\adaption cycle is always taking place and that sitting down and being generally inactive in your youth has knock on effects in later years. So this got me thinking about my current situation as I have to do a lot of driving as part of job and I'm in a seated position for the majority of my 8 hour day and I was wondering what your thoughts are about sitting down and how detrimental this is to athletic performance?

I know it can't be good for me but will it have a huge impact on my squat for example in the grand scheme of things?

[Mark Rippetoe]

The seated position itself is not detrimental, despite the morons running around the internet claiming that it somehow "shortens" your hip flexors. Inactivity is time spent not burning calories. But we are training for strength here, and the workouts produce the stress that causes the adaptation, not walking around all day (which isn't hard enough to produce an adaptive stress).

[Carl Raghavan]

This is a funny topic to me actually, because there's always a few guys in the gym that give me the obligatory back slap and say "oh i'd be as strong as you if i didn't have a full time job."
It's almost as if these people think all i do with my day is strength train for 8 hours or something.
Two words, Jordan Feigenbaum studied masters in anatomy physiology and now is an MD Doctor. Who quite literally shits all over my PR lifts. I assume those subjects i.e. medicine requires ALOT of sitting down and studying.
You'll be fine, stop listening to K. Starr that shit will make you bat shit crazy.

[Shaun]

The seated position itself is not detrimental, despite the morons running around the internet claiming that it somehow "shortens" your hip flexors.

I think what they actually mean "tighten" instead of actually "shorten".

[JoshGayou]

I'm glad I stumbled across this one. It's all the rage at my office right now for everyone to have standing workstations. They are basically these large mechanical platform apparatuses that sit on top of the worker's desk. The entire thing can be elevated and swung out towards you; it'll probably get 1.5 feet of elevation and .5 feet of forward travel. The keyboard, mouse, and monitor all sit on this unit. This is so that you can comfortably stand and tap away on the keyboard. This all started maybe 6 months ago and the company provides these things to anyone who requests them as part of the corporate health initiative. Coworkers have continued to pester me about when I'm going to get one, however my wife used to work at a bank (a vocation that required her to stand for 8 hours a day) and according to her the whole school of thought that says "standing while you work is a awesome" is bullshit.

I had seen the studies that claim it is healthier for you to stand rather than sit for long periods but, not having actually read them, I kind of assumed that the studies focused on a population that lead the average sedentary life. Still, it's not as though my life is packed with physical activity. I get about 1 to 1.5 hours of rigorous barbell training 4 times a week and there is some sort of conditioning work sprinkled in between. On the other hand, I spend all the rest of my time on my ass. I'm either in a car, at a desk, or on the couch at home recovering from a long day. It has always niggled me in the back of my mind. Yes, I get lots of strenuous exercise but is the amount I'm getting really enough to counteract an almost exclusive existence of pressing my ass into various surfaces for the remainder of my day?

[jamiet]

Lol thanks. I was beginning to think I had to massage my psoas every time I sat down for more than 5 minutes.

[Mark Rippetoe]

I think what they actually mean "tighten" instead of actually "shorten".

How does this work?

[lou t]

for most people when they sit their pelvis tilts back (rounded) this can cause some discomfort to pain. MY Dr. suggested I learn to sit with my pelvis rotated forward so I am sitting under my hips. It worked. Also, I stand every 30 minutes or so and do a few reps of lean back and pushing my hips forward. that also seemed to help.

I may not have a good job of explaining this,...did my best

[Simon Rest]

I'm glad I stumbled across this one. It's all the rage at my office right now for everyone to have standing workstations. They are basically these large mechanical platform apparatuses that sit on top of the worker's desk. The entire thing can be elevated and swung out towards you; it'll probably get 1.5 feet of elevation and .5 feet of forward travel. The keyboard, mouse, and monitor all sit on this unit. This is so that you can comfortably stand and tap away on the keyboard. This all started maybe 6 months ago and the company provides these things to anyone who requests them as part of the corporate health initiative. Coworkers have continued to pester me about when I'm going to get one, however my wife used to work at a bank (a vocation that required her to stand for 8 hours a day) and according to her the whole school of thought that says "standing while you work is a awesome" is bullshit.

I had seen the studies that claim it is healthier for you to stand rather than sit for long periods but, not having actually read them, I kind of assumed that the studies focused on a population that lead the average sedentary life. Still, it's not as though my life is packed with physical activity. I get about 1 to 1.5 hours of rigorous barbell training 4 times a week and there is some sort of conditioning work sprinkled in between. On the other hand, I spend all the rest of my time on my ass. I'm either in a car, at a desk, or on the couch at home recovering from a long day. It has always niggled me in the back of my mind. Yes, I get lots of strenuous exercise but is the amount I'm getting really enough to counteract an almost exclusive existence of pressing my ass into various surfaces for the remainder of my day?

I have one of these at work. transitioning to it made no difference to my weight, my fitness, or anything else really. As Rip said, it's not enough stimulus just standing here.
It does allow me to work with better posture, and I get less frequent lower back and hip pain. I don't know the mechanism, but sitting for periods hurts my hips, and standing while I work takes that out of the equation.

[kurt1911]

I have one of these at work. transitioning to it made no difference to my weight, my fitness, or anything else really. As Rip said, it's not enough stimulus just standing here.
It does allow me to work with better posture, and I get less frequent lower back and hip pain. I don't know the mechanism, but sitting for periods hurts my hips, and standing while I work takes that out of the equation.

Same here. Setting up and using a standing desk considerably improved my lower back pain.