How to Deal with Having to Sit All Day

Audio Transcript

Coach Jeff: Happy Wednesday everybody and welcome back to the Runners Connect Extra Kick Podcast. I’m with you here today and I hope you’re having a good week, looking forward to the weekend, and overall getting through this week.

We’re excited to be chatting with you today because we have a good question that I think a lot of you will relate to. Today’s question is from Jara.

Jara: I assume that most of the Runners Connect members have a full-time job like I do. I hunch over, all day, at a computer and I drive an average of two and a half hours a day which affects my running form.

What do you over do to overcome this huge dilemma that we all face? Any advice?

Jeff: That is a great question because you’re right. I would say that most people who listen to this podcast and are fans of Runners Connect are probably working full time jobs and deal with the same issues that you do.

The first thing I recommend is; what’s going to probably bother you the most is going to be your hip flexors. If there’s probably any part of your body you want to focus on most it’s going to be hip flexors and hamstrings.

Your hamstrings are the muscles in the back of your legs as the hip flexors are the muscles that are between your quad and your torso. Both can get very tight because when you’re sitting down, they are in a non-stretched position.

Your hip flexors are not stretched at all when you’re sitting down and your hamstrings are usually not stretched at all as well.

That puts them in a shortened position and therefore over time, your body learns to develop that and kind of learn to stay in that.

Those are probably going to be the areas that you want to focus on. They’re both important because the hip flexors in the hymn strings are both major power generators for a running stride.

They really help give you the power the hamstrings bring when you’re pulling your leg back and your hip flexors creating a structurally flex after your hip extension. Both are very important in that way.

Obviously if there’s anything that doesn’t bother you in general, you want to work on that too but those are going to be the two areas generally that you want to focus on the most.

Here’s how I approach the next thing. You’re going to have to do some type of active stretching and make it a consistent part of your routine. For you to be successfully long term and healthy, that is going to be something that you should do.

The way I look at it is that we all have strengths, weaknesses, advantages, and disadvantages when it comes to training. Your disadvantage in this case is that you’re sitting around all day.

From the opposite side, there could be somebody that works in construction all day and they’re just exhausted when they get home from lugging heavy things around all day. Everybody deals with realities and we just should figure out how to solve them.

The reality is that we need to make stretching a consistent part of your routine. I recommend doing some active stretching. You don’t have to do it for long and doesn’t have to be more than 5 or 10 minutes a day.

You could get away with as little as five by doing what we call like an essential routine which hits all the major muscle groups. Then you can do a longer routine for any specific injuries you have or in this case like looking at your hip flexors or hamstrings, doing maybe a specific routine for that.

I think sometimes when we say like, “Oh well, you need to add active stretching” to your routine, I think we just assume that’s going to be 10-20 minutes a day but that’s not the reality.

You can really get it done in three to eight minutes, maybe 10 minutes. Make sure you focus on that and make it part of routine. If you’re running in the morning, do it before you run or after you run and then maybe another session in the evening before you go to bed.

That way you’re getting kind of hitting your muscles at least a couple times a day with some good stretching and that’s going to help a lot.

Finally, during the workday, you’re just going to want to try to do as many things as you can that are going to be able to get you up and moving. Take the stairs, if it’s possible maybe buy a standing desk so at least you can switch.

I haven’t tried them yet and I’m considering it but nowadays we are getting some pretty cool ones where they’re just adjustable.

It’s a little expensive, but it’s basically a remote control and it will adjust up and down. You don’t need to have a separate desk or move your computer if you’re on like a desk top.

Consider maybe a standing desk if that’s an option for you both price wise and given your office environment. That’s something.

Another idea is to just set a timer so that you’re at least going for a walk break maybe every hour.

It doesn’t have to be long, maybe five minutes.

This is a time where you could do some active stretching like bring an extra stretching rope into and maybe there’s some grass outside or you have an office that isn’t being used then you can maybe just jump in to do some active stretching.

But worst case, you can at least walk around and get some blood flowing and that’s going to help get you up and moving a little bit. It’s not anything necessarily you really have to add. Just try to be conscious of getting up every hour at work.

It doesn’t have to be long maybe just even a walk around your office space just to get the blood moving that will help a lot.

Those are my three main recommendations. I think if you implement those, they’re going to help a lot.

Again, the main thing is just getting on a very consistent active stretching routine. It’s going to help a lot and it’s going to give you that flexibility that you’re going to need.

Finally, let me tell you a little bit about how we’re trying to change our sponsorship of this podcast.

Instead of doing traditional sponsorships like we have in the past, we’re going to turn the show into a show sponsored by our listeners.

If you get value and enjoyment from the show and you believe in what we’re doing here, please consider joining our awesome community of patreons.

Not only will your support help us keep the show going and cover the production costs, it’s also going to allow us to completely do away with advertisements on The Daily Show that cut into your valuable time.

It’s a win-win, right? With your support you’re going to get access to amazing bonus content with new stuff added all the time.

This includes access to all our 30-day challenge like our Weight Loss Program, Kettlebell, Score challenge etc., New and Archive Summits, discounts on essential running products, weekly videos, and more.

Basically, you can think of your pledge as a much-appreciated financial support to keep the show a flow and an all access behind the scenes pass for tons of bonus content and a chance to shape the future of the show.

If you’re interested in joining our incredible team for patrons check it out at runnersconnect.net/pledge. Your support will go a long way and we really can’t thank you enough.

Thank you so much for listening to today’s podcast. I hope you got a lot out of it and got some good ideas.

I’ll be back tomorrow with you to answer another question. Have an awesome run today.