4 ms·
Born to move, paid to sit.
by rubicon33 2y ago
Born to move, paid to sit.
- n4r9 2y agoAlthough this is broadly true, I suspect that ancient humans (as well as those in modern hunter gatherer tribes) still spent a good deal of each day sitting. Whether it's by the fire in the evening or next to the river waiting for something to get caught in the nets. There's a lot of talk about standing more, but I wonder if a key difference is the sitting posture. Humans are born with the ability to sit into a deep squat and stay there for protracted periods. Core muscles engaged, knees apart, hips hinged. In the modern world we lose this ability at some age - maybe between 5 and 10? - and become accustomed to sitting in chairs. Core muscles lax, knees together, hips unhinged. Even so-called "ergonomic" desk chairs do not really help much I think, since it comes down to whether the sitter is really trying to engage and flex particular muscles. Since learning to squat with barbell many years ago, I sit very differently in desk chairs. Knees apart and seat low, and leaning slightly forward (no use of backrest) so it somewhat mimics a squat. It looks weird, but I've never cared much about looking to fit in. Edit - after writing the above I thought I should Google around,it turns out some modern hunter gatherers spend as much as ten hours per day in relative inactivity: https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/03/modern-hunter-gatherers-are-just-as-sedentary-as-we-are/ https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/03/modern-hunter-gather...