Back Pain? Stop Sitting Like A “C” And Find Your Sitting Tipping Point!

It’s something of a myth that our back problems are just because we sit too much.  Recent research by anthropologist David Raichlen shows that hunter-gathers sit about ten hours a day (while we sit an average of 9-13 hours a day). And yet, they suffer less back issues and are more active throughout their lifespan.

One of the biggest problems with our backs is that we sit incorrectly. We lounge or slouch with our pelvis tipped back and our spines like a “C”, when what we need to do is sit with our pelvis tipped forward and our spines like a small “j”.

It’s the position of the pelvis that is the key to sitting. If you have a well positioned pelvis (tipped forward) then the spine naturally lines up.

As Scott Donkin explains in his TEDx Lincoln Talk once you learn how to find the sitting tipping point of the pelvis, it becomes an aha moment.

“There’s a lip on the bone that you’re sitting on that when you cross over it, you come up, and the shoulders come up over the hips, the shoulder blades come back automatically, and the head comes up. This is called the tipping point.”

Jenn Sherer has another way to help you find your sitting tipping point.  Bend at the hips as you sit, not at your waist.  That means you stick your bottom out on the way down…

Some great NPR articles about bending and sitting.

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