Debunking Myths: Why There’s Nothing Wrong With SITTING

A trip down Evolutionary Lane

I'm sure by now you’ve heard:

“Sitting is the new smoking.”

Most articles tend to talk about how sitting affects your body in harmful ways and that you should not be sitting down all the time.

There is some truth to this, but I think what we have done is demonize this as something that kills when in fact, is completely normal to be seated.

Here’s why sitting is normal and how we should be looking at things…

We were meant to be lazy.

Recently, I read a book by a famous evolutionary biologist. One of the things that he wanted to focus on was how we evolved to become what we are.

Are we meant to exercise?

Are we meant to do kettlebell swings for health?

Do we need to hit the gym?

We evolved from a group of people known as the Hunter-Gatherers, and one such group that is still around is known as the Hadza tribe, living in Tanzania.

The Hadza are known to be about 12 times more active than the average American, and this might have been synonymous with how people were living thousands of years ago.

But here's the kicker.

They dont excersise.

There are claims that we were born to exercise because our ancestors did that through running, climbing, and other physical activities. But the surprising thing that I learned from the book is that we were born to conserve as much energy as possible.

Think about it.

Food was scarce and resources were limited. So most of the energy expenditure was only used for literally, hunting and gathering. That's where the high activity levels came from.

Physical Activity stemmed out of a need to survive.

The rest of the time, they were simply just resting and, well, doing nothing.

If they did this thousands of years ago, then wouldn't it mean that natural selection also took care of this?

When there was a shortage of calories, it was always a good thing to allocate energy away from nonessential activity, toward something like reproduction, or activities that ensured reproductive success.

So in essence what I’m trying to drive at is that we evolved to be as inactive as necessary, but not more.

So the next time you fall off your exercise regime and think that you're getting lazy and feel sad about it, don't! It's kind of in your DNA.

Myth: Sitting is Unhealthy

Now that we got the inactivity out of the way, Let's look at this from another perspective.

We just found out that our bodies were meant to be at rest for the majority of the time based on evolution.

So why is sitting considered bad then? It is a form of rest after all… right?

Our ancestors, back then sat on the ground mostly, since the chair was a more recent invention.

It's still pretty common in some cultures around the world too, such as in Korea, where people would sit on the floor to consume meals, similar to Japan and India as well.

If we go down the evolution chain a bit more, we can look at the mighty Chimp.

On average, they spend more than 80% of their time engaged in sedentary activities like grooming, resting, or feeding.

If you compare this to the average American, hats off to the American for winning this one!

So why then is sitting down for several hours considered unhealthy?

You are sitting wrong!

Have you ever tried sitting on the ground before?

Do you notice that you tend to move about more when you do that, getting more fidgety than usual?

The secret lies in how you sit.

When you sit on the floor you are automatically moving more because your body is trying to find the best most comfortable position to be in all the time.

As a result of this, you are also strengthening your body and your back.

How many times have you heard complaints about back pain from sitting down for too long?

This happens more often than not because you are sitting on a nice comfortable chair, where your back muscles are not engaged at all.

And now multiply that by the hours and days that you are in this position, and you get weak back muscles!

So back pain does not come from sitting down for too long, but rather from the non-activation fo your back muscles!

One more thing to take note of, that everyone probably has heard from other articles, is prolonged sitting.

When you are all nice and comfortable in your chair, you tend not to move at all, as opposed to someone sitting on the floor. This is where the trouble comes from.

This is how the body suffers from inflammation from long durations of sitting still.

If you are in a high-stress job sitting in front of the computer all day, this might make things worse because it causes low levels of cortisol which promotes obesity and more inflammation.

Active Sitting is the way to go.

The solution to all of this is simple.

The best way to get the most out of sitting is to do it how our ancestors did, by simply sitting on the ground!

Now of course we could use pillows or blankets to support us, but the point I would like to drive is a term I would like “Active sitting”, where you are still moving.

However, it's understandable that most of us probably work a 9–5 and it might be a bit awkward to be sitting on the floor while your co-workers are around.

Instead, this is where the normal advice of moving around every once in a while comes in.

This is where the dots connect where moving around leads to less inflammation and better heart health, not because you are sitting, but rather because you are not moving at all on a comfortable chair.

Final thoughts: Think about the past.

As I get back down on the floor and continue writing this, perhaps a good way for me to remind myself is to think about how our ancestors might have done things.

Sure we are not hunter-gatherers anymore, and they don't live like officer job workers, but there are always things that we can still keep that can be of use to us.

I’ve summarised these three tips for you that you can use in your daily lives as well.

• Get a standing desk if you can so that you can switch between standing and sitting
• Drink lots of water so that you’ll be enticed to visit the washroom more often → more movement!
• Keep a timer to move at regular intervals
• Sit on the floor whenever you can
• Train your lower back from time to time to make sure you've got a good back

In the end, just remember that we were born to be at rest and that there is nothing wrong with sitting. It's how you sit.