Living In a Flexed Posture
I’m sorry for the disappointment but this is not going to be a post on how to go through your day flexing your muscles to looked jacked 24/7.
If that is something you really want to know I guess Ill do that article soon. I want to talk to you about living in a flexed posture or about always being force to stay in flexion. Posture is an important aspect of physical and emotional well-being and the unfortunate truth is that our postures are being decided for us and not helping us stay healthy, strong and independent.
Those annoying pains in your neck, upper back, lower back, shoulders, hips, ankles and feet that have you religiously popping Advil and Aleve ever 4–6 hours for, should not be your “normal”.
Are you asking: WHAT IS “FLEXION” and HOW AM I IN IT?
Here are some instructions of what sitting in a flexed posture might look like.
1st- by making of your back like the letter “C”. Let your back round and tuck your pelvis(if your sitting) If standing Stick you butt out.
2nd- Shrug your shoulders like you don’t know the answer to a question then roll them slightly forward.
3rd- try and stick your chin out at far as you can and look slightly up.
We have been forced to sit all our lives and even if you try really hard get out of these positions it is very difficult to execute on a daily basis. We sit a lot and its a lot more than we really think about. Someone growing up in the american school system will have sat a lot and then the same in college and again in the typical work place.
On the bus or car to and from school you sit (unless you were a walker)
Then you sat at those desks all day from kindergarten through high school outside of maybe a phys ed class and recess.
In college you sit down for every lecture.
The Commute to and from work you sit in your car with your arms out and a rounded back similar to the way you sit at a desk.
If you ride public transport you still will sit and either read a book or watch/use your phone in your lap.
Sitting in a long boring meeting in those big plush office chairs.
You sit at your work station on a computer
you sit while attending lectures and conferences
etc.
Regardless of the type of schooling or job you have a typical american life outside of school/work is still majority of the time sitting down.
We sit more often than we stand when eating every meal throughout the day.
Going to the bathroom(on the phone if there’s a network connection/WIFI)
When we watch movies
when you binge watch tv shows
When you are gossiping with friends.
When we play video games
etc.
The main point is that we sit a lot more than we would often like to and its going to change how your body operates in normal tasks and in the gym. When you finally stand up for more than a minute you might be resting into one of these postures that has become your default standing position. Next time you are out look around and see how many people have these 2 examples of poor posture compared to the good posture in the middle. You will need at least a third hand to count on depending on the size of the crowd.
Why sitting so much is hurting you more than helping you.
To make a long story short, sitting puts your muscles and joints in a fixed position for long periods of time to try and maximize work output. In reality the long time spent in these positions is exercising and teaching your body to adapt to these positions better so you can stay in them for longer and longer. This is just like what happens when you try to get better in the gym you practice an exercise at a certain weight until it becomes easy for you then you try to do more weight or more reps. It’s just with sitting your body will adapt to sitting the best it can and then forget about functioning well for everything else.
Some Common muscles and joint positions that are directly affected by sitting too much.
Achilies Tendon/Ankle- Sitting in a chair keeps the angle of your ankles at or larger than 90 degrees which never really brings it through full dorsiflexion which keeps the Achilles tendon in a shortened position.
calves/knees- Again like the ankles you usually sitting with your knees at or larger than 90 degrees. This position can just like the ankles has the same issues and since the calves connect at the back of the knee they are in a position to be inactive and unused.
glutes/hips- Oh look another 90 degree position… sitting forces the muscles in the front of your hits to shorten while the ones on your backside will be elongated and in more of a stretched position. So the front is being over active and the back is being over stretched.
abs/low back- since we typically round our backs like the letter “C” this creates again a shortened or tight anterior core and stretched spinal erector muscles.
chest/upper back- Since we typically are using our arms in front of us we are creating some tightness or shortness in muscles of the shoulders and chest while the upper back and rear shoulder muscles are being stretched.
neck- This one is a whole mess because typically in the sitting flexed posture your head will migrate in front of your shoulders instead of resting on top of them. This actually makes your head “weigh more” because its out in front of your body. Think of it like holing a 10lb weight in your hand at your side compared to holding in front of your at shoulder height.
Now, the joint positions and muscles affected are more complex than that but ,you get the idea that a flexed posture while sitting creates some imbalances front to back.
So, How do you make changes to see improvements?
Make changes where you spend the most time first!
I could say you should change to something like a standing desk like this whole school did but, that is probably a harder process to start with. Start by addressing the areas that are in your control of first then move down across the spectrum towards things you need some outside help with changing. For instance you probably can’t change the type of desk you sit in really easily but you can adjust the way you sit at you sit at the desk and the layout and height of the components on your desk. It might even be easier to change the type of seat you are sitting in. The same thing goes for your car or public transit commute, it is a lot easier to adjust your seat than buy a new car or its easier to stand on the train than it is to start riding a bike to work. If you find that the majority of your sitting happens when you are at home or out of work then you can make adjustments there as well.
These seemingly small changes can make all the difference because of how much time you typically spend in those positions.
Second, Adjust your workout accordingly to get your our of a flexed posture or sitting.
If you sit all day at home, work and out for entertainment; do you really want to continue sitting while at the gym?
Weight Routines
The truth is that 99% of the machines that are in gyms are made to put you in a sitting position. Outside of machines like “The Smith Machine, Cable Stacks and T-bar Rows almost every other piece of equipment has you in an upright seated position. Most people use these pieces of equipment because they have 1 very specific focus and it has instructions labelled on the machine on how to setup and use it. Even though these machines were created for bodybuilding muscle specific lifting culture, people often use them thinking they are the safer alternative to the free weight options that have zero instructions on them.
Cardio Routines
I you are getting on a cardio device to watch TV then you are probably familiar with the stationary bikes of upright, spinning and recumbent styles. Like I had stated in a previous article about spinning. There is potential for injury with an overuse of these machines simply because of the various styles of sitting that are encouraged when using them. Don’t get me wrong, I really love the bike but, if you tend to sit a lot using one is not going to help you stay out of those same sitting positions long enough to make some significant changes.
Instead of using the bikes and machines for your workouts you might want to migrate towards pieces of equipment that offer a broader range of movements and positions; like using dumbbells, kettlebells, medicine balls weight plates and barbells.
Third, focus on some mobility and stretching outside of your gym time.
If you work 40 hours a week in a flexed posture and then at home your in a flexed posture another 20 hours a week; do you really think that the 7 hours a week at the gym is going to be enough practice for your body to make some postural changes?
When you are doing mundane or mindless tasks like binge watching the latest episodes of your favorite shows you can do some hip mobility on the floor instead of becoming engulfed by your couch cushions.
Simple Checks to See if you are suffering from a flexed posture
***The EASIEST CHECK IS TO TAKE A PICTURE/HAVE SOMEONE TAKE A PICTURE OF YOU AND SEE IF YOU look like either of the “poor postures” in the picture above then you are stuck in a flexed posture.***
1st- Can you sit on the floor with your knees bent and feet flat without slouching/leaning? if you cant have your knees bent can you at least sit on the floor with your legs straight out without slouching/leaning? THIS SHOWS TIGHTNESS IN THE HIPS AND WEAKNESSES IN THE CORE MUSCLES.
2nd- Grab a broomstick and stand against the wall(or lay on the floor with your legs slightly bent) While holding the stick can you raise your arms over your head placing the base of your wrist on the wall/floor without making or exaggerating an arch in your lower back( making a gap between your back and the floor)
- Can you perform a wall angel?THESE BOTH SHOWS A LIMITED RANGE OF MOTION OR FLEXIBILITY IN THE MUSCLES AROUND THE SHOULDERS.
3rd/final- Do you “hold a lot of tension” in your neck and upper back?
Can you tuck your chin to your chest without feeling a pain in the back of your neck and upper back? THIS SHOWS WEAKNESS IN THE NECK MUSCLES AND LIMITED FLEXIBILITY.
Originally published at fitletes.com

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