Walk Away From Seated Exercises
By, Noah Citsay, MSPT at Moore
Sitting is a normal way of life for most of us. Countless people sit as they commute to work and once they get there, spend the majority of their day sitting at a desk. Unfortunately, prolonged and frequent sitting leads to issues like chronic low back pain, neck pain, hip pain and hip tightness. In addition, important trunk and hip muscles required for overall trunk and hip stability begin to shut down. These muscles include our glute maximus, lateral glute, lower back and abdominal musculature.
When these muscles shut down, we begin to see loss of function in even the simplest activities like climbing stairs, walking, squatting to pick something up or lunging to reach something. The common denominator in all these movements is knee motion. Knee motion is dictated by stability and motion of our hip joints, as well as our ankle joints. The muscles of our trunk and hip control where our knees move in space.
To compound the prolonged sitting issue, so many people choose the seated machines at their gyms to work out their leg and hip muscles. There is a misperception that the traditional seated cable machines are just enough to reach your goals. I commonly see people form lines to use the seated knee extension machine, seated hip abduction and adduction machine, and seated hamstring curls machines as seen below:
Performing these seated exercises only adds to the problem, possibly leaving our knees vulnerable to injury as we ski, golf, play tennis or run. For some with cardio-respiratory issues, balance issues, or other condition that limit mobility, these machines have great use for them. But for everyone else, these seated exercises will not lead to the adequate strength and balance gains you are looking for, and may leave you with a false sense of security when it comes to playing your sport or participating in weekend activities.
I recommend incorporating more upright functional leg exercises that will activate our trunk and hip muscles with our quadriceps and hamstrings. Improved trunk stability will then allow our hips and trunk to communicate better with our knees and lower legs and over time lead to less risk of injury.
Another benefit of performing movements that incorporate more than one joint and muscle group is that there is a positive cardio effect. The heart needs to work harder by pumping at a faster rate as well as a larger volume of blood to the different muscles of our body that are being activated throughout the exercise. You will notice that your heart rate and breathing rate will increase resulting in more calories burned by that exercise.
Here are some examples of exercises:
Sidestepping with T Band at Ankle:
- Keep your feet shoulder width apart with an athletic based position by bending your hips back and shoulders back
- Lift only your toes up so they are touching the top of your shoes
- To step right, lead with the right foot and land flat on your foot
- Think about 10 steps to the right and left equals one lap, for about 6 laps
- Common mistakes – knees to far in front or caving in, too much arch in your lower back, poor posture
Theraball Bridges with Hamstring Curls:
- Starting Position – your heels resting on the ball and hips in the air; stomach in tight
- Keep your hips in the air as your drive your knees into your chest using your hamstring muscles
- End position – you should feel the bottom of your feet on the ball
- Perform 3 sets of 15
Single Leg Roman Deadlift:
- Starting position – balance on one leg
- Keep your upper torso stable and bend forward at the hip of the leg your are balancing on
- Return to standing by tightening your butt muscles on the leg your are standing on
- Common mistakes – loss of balance, loss of good posture, knee rotating in
- Perform for 3 sets of 15
Step Downs off Plyobox:
- Starting Position – stand at the edge of the box
- Perform a mini squat on the leg your are balancing on and tap with floor with the heel of your opposite leg
- Common mistakes – the leg your are balancing on rotates in, loss of balance
- Perform 3 sets of 15
Squat with T Band above Knees:
- Starting Position – feet shoulder width; theraband one inch above your knees, toes lifted up to touch the top of your shoes
- Perform a squat by driving your hips back and maintaining good posture
- Common mistakes
- Knees rotate in, too much arching in your lower back, heels lifting off the floor
- Perform 3 sets of 15
Single Leg Squat:
- Starting position – balance on one leg, keep hip and knee slightly flexed
- Perform a gentle mini squat while trying to maintain your balance by first driving your hips back
- Return to standing by tightening your butt
- Common mistakes – loss of balance, knee turns inward, flexed forward too much
- Perform 3 sets of 15 each leg
Train your body the way you use your body and the results will come, with less risk of injury.
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