Floor life. How we can use Physical Inactivity to our benefit!
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TL; DR - Prolonged sitting is bad for our health. Given it takes a high intensity of exercise to negate these effects and that sitting is unavoidable, how can we turn this situation around? Floor life is a way to regain or improve joint and muscle mobility along with the added strength needed to transition from standing to the ground. Below are resting posture examples along with some ideas for how to train getting down to the floor and back up!
Why sitting?
The act of sitting is a well discussed topic. From blog posts to journal articles, people have hoped to quantify the effects of prolonged postures! For me, I choose to talk about this topic by using a different term. Physical Inactivity (PI). Why? It is a more encompassing term. It includes all sedentary behaviours! Both domestic and work based (1). Physical inactivity is a global issue, with 31% of adults (15yrs +) not meeting activity standards (1).
*Me cheesin for the article.
Risks associated with PI (3 hours or longer per day) (2–5):
· Increased Body mass index (BMI)
· Increased blood pressure
· Increased waist circumference
· Increased triglycerides
· Increased HDL cholesterol.
· Reduced joint mobility
· Reduced muscle strength
· Increased sensitivity to pain.
While it looks pretty concrete that PI can have bad effects on your health, I think the more interesting question is whether or not more activity improves the situation? Do we need more physical activity or just improved rest? Well, a massive meta-analysis looked at the risk of mortality (read: risk of death), and how it was affected by the amount of physical activity done per week combined with the amount of sitting done per day. To keep it straightforward, if you were very active (60-75minutes/day) throughout the week then you were able to negate the effects of sitting, unless you were sitting for up to 5 hours a day. However, if you were moderately active (25-60 mins of brisk walking daily) then even 3 hours of sitting was enough to increase your risk (3).
So either be very active throughout the week or you’re in trouble? What else can we do? While activity standards are just as important of a topic, (one we will discuss in our next blog post) the focus of this blog is the other side of the coin. Physical inactivity. Since we can’t avoid sitting, how can we improve the quality of our sedentary behaviour? When can PI work in our favour?
Archetypal Postures
One model suggested by Dr. Philip Beach is that of Contractile Fields and their integration with ‘Archetypal postures’. While we can’t go into depth in this article about each contractile field and their roles in movement we’ll bring in a few relevant principles! He suggests that sitting on the ground or ‘Archetypal postures’ are innate postures built into our shared heritage and anatomy. He has postulated that the postures/positions ‘retune’ our system or contractile fields. My interpretation of this is that a floor sitting lifestyle balances out the yin within our yang. It helps us maintain our physical mobility after physical activity.
Using the resting postures as a way of regaining the mobility needed for movement, will be the focus for the rest of the article. So, what does retuning look like? Let’s have a look at these sitting postures below and connect the mobility required with some common movement patterns.
A lecture by Dr. Beach on Archetypal Postures
Self-assessment
So now you have had a look at some of the postures, maybe even tried a few. Some may have been very challenging or painful. Some may have been quite comfortable. Now that you can start identifying what was easy and what was hard, we can apply what you’ve found to movement limitations!
You’re ability to get up and down off the ground with no extra points of contact has been linked with mortality. The sit-to-rise (SRT) test was scored from 0-5 with 1 point subtracted if the subject used a strategy to get off the ground! The supports/contact points were hand, forearm, side of leg, knee or loss of balance (6). See the pictures below for how to perform the test. Of note, studies are needed to validate if reduced flexibility does indeed make it harder to get up and off the ground.
The sit-to-rise test (7)
Scoring (7)
HOW MUCH?
I’ll save you the nuances of research around flexibility and just be simple. A prescription is to just spend time sitting on the ground while you are sedentary i.e. computer time, watching TV, studying, eating, reading etc. Use a bolster as needed. Your tolerance will improve to the positions. It may take 12-18 months to really feel a significant change. A principle used in strength and conditioning is relevant here. Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands (SAID). The SAID principle states that the human body adapts specifically to imposed demands i.e. use it or lose it. You will adapt and you will maintain. Be patient and try to enjoy the process (8).
There are tricks to speeding up your flexibility gains but this requires more specific prescription with the addition of weight. A topic for another time!
Sitting postures
(both assessment and exercise)
All the upright postures require a degree of pelvic flexion so you can sit upright!
Visual of intra-abdominal pressure (corset analogy) -(8)
To be able to REST in each posture requires different amounts of mobility and an ability to dampen excess bracing (i.e. you shouldn’t have to try to hard!).
Important before continuing - One of the Contractile fields is the Radial field. It is responsible for circular contraction, visualise a corset here. It helps us create both intraabdominal pressure and aids in movement of fluids and digestion throughout our body. If breathing mechanics is of interest then head here for more in-depth information. Relevant to this article is that you use your breath and how much you are ‘bracing’ as your measure of effort during all the postures we are going to go through below. That is if you are breathing fast, bracing or holding your breath to get into a position then use some bolsters. Find a way to REST in the posture.
Japanese sitting
Mobility challenged: Requires ankle plantarflexion, knee flexion and tibial internal rotation, heel eversion, foot inversion.
Elbow propped position
Mobility challenged: Requires spinal extension with a neutral pelvis and mobile ribcage, ankle planterflexion, hip internal rotation and shoulder stability.
Cross legged sitting
Mobility challenged:
Requires hip flexion, abduction and external rotation
Forward ankle requires foot inversion
Back foot requires heel eversion
Modified cross legged sitting
Mobility challenged:
Top leg – requires heel and foot inversion, ankle plantarflexion and hip/knee, flexion and external rotation.
Bottom leg same as the top but less hip external rotation.
Side saddle sitting
Mobility challenged:
Back foot is turned in with heel out (heel eversion, foot inversion).
Front foot is the same as the cross legged position
Side-lying position
Mobility challenged: spine in neutral (not flex/extended), shoulder external rotation, hip flexion
Supine lying
Mobility challenged: spinal, pelvic and ribcage mobility, heel inversion, hip external rotation.
Prone lying
Mobility challenged: spinal, pelvic and ribcage mobility, hip rotation and extension
Prayer/drinking position
Mobility challenged: Hip flexion, ankle plantarflexion, spinal flexion, knee flexion, heel eversion, foot inversion.
Toe sitting
Mobility challenged: Toe extension, dorsiflexion, knee flexion, pelvis/spine neutral
Long sitting
Mobility challenged: Pelvic flexion i.e. hamstring extensibility, spinal flexion
Half squat
Mobility challenged:
Raised leg – dorsiflexion, knee flexion, hip flexion
Lower leg – plantarflexion, knee flexion
Resting squat & Prying squat (3-5minutes)
Mobility challenged: Hip flexion, pelvic flexion, knee flexion, dorsiflexion, spinal flexion/extension/neutral
*Prying squat note – aim to feel your lower back muscles tightening. If they can’t then don’t get so deep. A great supplement to this is the seated good morning exercise.
Further ideas for resting postures
Archetypal postures (10)
Ground transition exercise ideas
Toe kneeling transition - see our video on sissy squats for technique progression and regressions. Reps 3x15-20 reps a couple times a week!
Fall matrix ~choose 2x locations per session. That equals 16 different movements. Or time yourself for 5-10 minutes and freestyle.
Conclusion
SO what is a potential solution? Well, we have to sit. It is normal to sit. It has a purpose, which is rest. Think back to our original question. How can we improve the quality of our sedentary behaviour? Less overall volume of sitting, frequent changes in position and an ability to get up and down off the ground are good ways to lessen the negative effects of sitting along with improved mobility and strength!
Let me know how you get on.
Stay inquisitive!
Ciaran
References
1. WHO | Physical Inactivity: A Global Public Health Problem [Internet]. WHO. World Health Organization; [cited 2020 Apr 2]. Available from: https://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/factsheet_inactivity/en/
2. 4364.0.55.004 - Australian Health Survey: Physical Activity, 2011-12 [Internet]. [cited 2020 Apr 2]. Available from: https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4364.0.55.004main+features12011-12
3. Ekelund U, Steene-Johannessen J, Brown WJ, Fagerland MW, Owen N, Powell KE, et al. Does physical activity attenuate, or even eliminate, the detrimental association of sitting time with mortality? A harmonised meta-analysis of data from more than 1 million men and women. The Lancet. 2016 Sep 24;388(10051):1302–10.
4. Publishing HH. The dangers of sitting [Internet]. Harvard Health. [cited 2020 Apr 2]. Available from: https://www.health.harvard.edu/pain/the-dangers-of-sitting
5. Dunstan DW, Kingwell BA, Larsen R, Healy GN, Cerin E, Hamilton MT, et al. Breaking Up Prolonged Sitting Reduces Postprandial Glucose and Insulin Responses. Diabetes Care. 2012 May 1;35(5):976–83.
6. Leonardo Barbosa Barreto de B, Djalma Rabelo R, Denise Sardinha Mendes Soares de A, Plínio Santos R, Jonathan M, Claudio Gil Soares de A. Ability to sit and rise from the floor as a predictor of all-cause mortality. European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. 2014;(7):892.
7. Simple Sitting Test Predicts How Long You’ll Live [Internet]. Discover Magazine. [cited 2020 Apr 3]. Available from: https://www.discovermagazine.com/health/simple-sitting-test-predicts-how-long-youll-live
8. SAID principle. In: Wikipedia [Internet]. 2018 [cited 2020 Apr 3]. Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=SAID_principle&oldid=873740868
9. Should we engage the abdomen all the time? [Internet]. [cited 2020 Apr 3]. Available from: https://sequencewiz.org/2015/11/11/engage-the-abdomen-all-the-time/
10. Muscles and Meridians [Internet]. Elsevier; 2010 [cited 2020 Apr 3]. Available from: https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/C20090385694
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