My Chiropractor Tells Me To Stop Sitting Around

I went to see my chiropractor the other day and without a word of exaggeration, the conversation started something like this:

"So, how is your back, your shoulder, your calf, your knee and your foot?"

Happily, this time, he didn't say:

"Don't get old, there's no future in it."

At middle age I think it's important to have a sense of humour...something to help us appreciate the paradox of ageing. There are lots of things I like about being in the second part of my life. For instance, I don't wait for permission to do things and I have logged the miles that give me credibility in the workplace. But on the down-side, the passage of time has left its mark. Like those of us who have spent the last 20 years chained to a desk earning our stripes, I am now starting to realize my office job has contributed to my losing more than my natural hair colour.

I learned this the hard way when I started at the gym last winter. I quickly found that I was unable to do lunges, squats, stairs and other leg exercises due knee pain. I thought it was either arthritis or cartilage damage. I was referred by Matt, my trainer, to Dr. Bryan Porter, Chiropractor.

Because he treats a lot of people my age, it didn't take Dr. Porter long to figure our what ailed me. As it happened, it was not cartilage damage. Apparently my situation was not uncommon. After years of literally sitting around all day, my glutes weren't firing and my hips weren't working the way they were supposed to. Sitting had also contributed to a repetative strain injury in my lower back and with my rotator cuff. Over time, my movement patterns had become affected and this put undue strain on my knees when I tried to do certain exercises.

"Many people in their 40's have sedentary jobs" Dr. Porter said to me, "If you do enough sitting, the way your muscles function changes...things that used to work properly don't work that way anymore"

Dr. Bryan Porter

When I asked him how to fix the situation, so that I could carry on with my fitness objectives, he gave me some advice which is true for anyone starting a new fitness program.

"Get help from someone who knows what they are doing to develop a plan to help you meet your goals."

"Establish a baseline," he said, "of where you are and what you can do safely...Build up to your goal. Just going to the gym, lifting weights and running is not the only thing you have to consider..Educate yourself and do it the right way."

For me this meant lots of rehab exercises both at home and integrated into my training program to get things working again. It also meant establishing a strategy for
saving myself from the damage to the body that is intrinsic in a desk job.
When I asked Dr. Porter for his guidance in this area his answer was simple, "if there is one thing in general people should stop doing, it's sitting," he said, "Humans weren't meant to sit for long periods of time."

This is easier said than done. I struggle with this all the time. I get glued to my computer monitor and wrapped up in a deadline. One thing that has helped me greatly, though, is that I have replaced my chair with an exercise ball. I did this to alleviate back problems and it has worked very well. Using it means I have to sit up properly and I am in constant motion. I have also put on my social butterfly wings and tried to talk to people face to face instead of sending emails, where possible. When the weather is nice, I slip out for a quick walk around the block at lunch time.

In the end, there is no going back in time and fixing things. For me the only remedy is to keep moving at work and to do the rehab exercises that are part of my personal fitness plan. I do believe, however, that whether I had become active or not, the "postural aches and pains" of the having an office job would have caught up to me. While it seems that the inaction of my past made this path inevitable, I am glad about the way it worked out. I am glad that with another 20 years of working in an office ahead of me, I have the opportunity to make corrections to my daily habits. And most of all, I am very glad that I have had the opportunity to work with a professional like Dr. Porter who can make me laugh a myself at the same time as he helps me build up the strength I need to get on with the 43 Project and get on with life.


Never quit,
Mary

Coming up in future posts: Hiking, Horseback Riding and Kayaking on the Humber River