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TLDR:

Your movement is a lot like the nutrition in your diet – if you only eat chicken (sitting), you’re going to have health issues eventually. If you add sweet potato (standing), you’re going to feel a helluva lot better initially, then the health problems will return (thank you Nutritious Movement – Katy Bowman).

Only stand or sit as long as you’re comfortable. As soon as you *think* you’re uncomfortable – switch positions. Repeat as needed – you will gain improve endurance in either position over time.

Ideally, we want a movement diet with your staple (macronutrients) movements, including lesser common smaller movements to add what you’re missing in those staple movements (micronutrients).

You should stand at your desk instead of sitting. This will fix your back/neck/shoulder pain.

Except there’s a good chance it won’t – it will help, but not fix it. Here’s why:

We’ll use the back as an example.

Your back, for a variety of reasons*, aches when you sit for 45 minutes. If you sat at 9am, that means by 10am, you’re already in pain.

You take a quick break to go to the toilet, and the 5 minutes of standing/moving makes you feel better. Then the pain returns in 30-45mins.

By the end of the day, your back is cooked. Achey, sore, didn’t appreciate the car drive home either.

Insert the sit-stand desk. You feel so much better for standing, you decide to stand as much, and often, as long as you can.

Suddenly you’re getting back pain when you stand.

Back at square one.

Here’s the key piece of advice to get around this issue.

Your movement is a lot like the nutrition in your diet – if you only eat chicken (sitting), you’re going to have health issues eventually. If you add sweet potato (standing), you’re going to feel a helluva lot better initially, then the health problems will return. (Thank you Nutritious Movement – Katy Bowman)

Only stand or sit as long as you’re comfortable. As soon as you *think* you’re uncomfortable – switch positions. Repeat as needed – you will gain improve endurance in either position over time.

Ideally, we want a movement diet with your staple (macronutrients) movements, including lesser common smaller movements to add what you’re missing in those staple movements (micronutrients).
You need more than just sitting and standing in your daily movement. I get it – before we start the smart comments about “where does it stop? Typing with one hand whilst hand-standing?”, we can mix it up.

You go into pain at 45mins of sitting. So stand up about the 30min mark. Don’t like setting timers? Easy, stand as you soon as you think you feel uncomfortable. You’ll know because it your focus will draw away from your work, or you’ll begin to fidget, or you’ll move yourself into an awkward looking position.

And when you begin to feel uncomfortable standing – hit that sit button on the desk. Over time, it will become instinctual to stand or sit when you feel comfortable. This behaviour should also help you reduce your pain, so over time you might increase your endurance for sitting or standing. E.g. Instead of 45mins, maybe you can tolerate sitting for 60mins. Maybe after three months you can tolerate sitting for 90mins.

Maybe that means in 6 months, that trip down south where you sit for 2 hours at a time won’t result in needing painkillers and rest when you finally arrive at your holiday spot. You also won’t think twice about going to the movies, restaurant or dinner night with friends, or lose any sleep because your back is still aching from sitting at work that day.
But why would you like me to increase my sitting time? Isn’t that bad for me?

No. Sitting isn’t bad, but the amount of sedentary time share your sitting takes up, is.

If this helps get you out of pain – I’m going to promote it. I’m damn well going to cheer you on for it.

It’ll also give me potential opportunity to encourage you to introduce more movement into your movement ‘diet’. More variety – more tolerance for a variety of positions – more endurance in those positions over time – more likely you’re going to keep moving and moving well to the end of your life.

Variety, like what? Read the next blog chapter. I’m also working on your focus endurance.

*History of back pain, deconditioning of the core, effects of compression over the years, lack of flexibility in the hamstrings and hips, new exercise regime that your body is being pushed beyond what it can recover from, movement pattern that is slowly causing a pattern of injury. The list goes on.

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