Is back pain caused by sitting down at work?

Yes, but only if you don’t sit up straight, with the back of your chair pressing into your shoulder blades and your abdomen pressing into the desk. And only if you don’t have a regular and systematic strength and flexibility training program.

How can I protect myself from backlpain while at work?

Sit up straight with the back of your chair pressing into your shoulder blades and your abdomen pressing into the desk: and make sure have a regular and systematic strength and flexibility training program.

My back hurts when I'm at work. Do I need a new chair?

Maybe, but most back pain is caused by a poor sitting position and the lack of a flexibility training program that's designed to keep your skeleton in good alignment. Before getting a new chair, sit in the one you have with back of the seat upright and pushing into your back and your abdomen pushing in to the the desk.

Does sitting down cause lower back pain?

Have you ever wondered if sitting down causes lower back pain?

Some time ago, I received a note from Esther asking if I had any advice on how to help a friend who thought sitting down was the leading cause of her back pain.

To cut a long story short, here’s the reply I sent back to Esther’s friend.

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Yep, you’re right. Sitting down is the killer, and here’s why.

After sitting in a chair for over twenty years, the ever-tightening calf, hamstring, and buttock muscles drag the pelvis backwards out of alignment.

Other tight muscles around your buttocks twist the pelvis or drag one side lower than the other. As a result, the bones immediately above the pelvis (the vertebrae) compensate for the pelvis’s misalignment by becoming misaligned themselves. They do this to keep your eyes horizontal to the horizon.

When the vertebrae move out of alignment, ligaments, tendons, and muscles are stretched beyond their pain threshold, and discs become herniated. If a herniated disc pinches the spinal column, it hurts like hell. If it hits the sciatic nerve, you get sciatica.

Sitting down in the ‘slump dog’ position makes the problem worse. The hollow in the lumbar spine disappears, and the nice ‘S-shaped’ curve of the back has become a ‘C’ shape.

Does sitting down cause lower back pain? - one cause of back pain

So, here’s what I suggest you do.

Make sure your chair is as close to the desk as you can get when sitting at your desk. Your abdomen should be pressing into the desk, and the back of the chair bolt upright, pressing into your back. That way, you’ll be encouraged to sit up straight with a hollow in your lumbar spine. Once you lose the hollow, you’re in big trouble!

Buy the Fix Back Pain ebook and do the exercises (below) religiously.

Follow these five principles of better musculoskeletal function

Find the cause of the problem and fix it.
Big problems are more easily fixed when they’re minor problems.
If you’re looking for a cause, start with your overall fitness. You’re asking for trouble if you don’t keep yourself in good shape.
Joint and muscle pain is usually a symptom of your skeleton being out of alignment.
Re-aligning your skeleton is something you have to do yourself. The alternative is to fork out thousands of dollars on therapies that won’t do the job anyway.

If you spend large slabs of your life sitting down, here are six types of exercises you need to do on a regular and systematic basis to keep your skeleton in good alignment

1. RELAXING EXERCISES

‘Static Back’ is the king of relaxing exercises for people with back pain. 20 or 30 minutes a couple of times daily will help settle down tight muscles attached to your pelvis and spine.