If your whole body aches after a long day at work, you may not be doing the right thing. For example, are you sitting comfortably right now? Stop for a moment and observe your posture.
How are your legs right now? Are they crossed? Which one is on top of the other? That's a lot of questions. About 62 percent of people cross their legs from right to left, 26 percent do it the other way and 12 percent have no preference, reports ” Science Alert” .
In general, there are two ways to sit in a chair and cross your legs: one at the knee and one at the ankle. This may be comfortable, but is it good for your health and posture? Let's take a closer look.
Advantages and disadvantages
First, research shows that sitting cross-legged can increase misalignment of the hips, with one hip higher than the other. It also changes the speed at which blood flows through the blood vessels in the lower limbs, which can increase the risk of blood clots. Crossing the knees appears to be worse than crossing the ankles because, according to research, it can lead to increased blood pressure due to blood pooling in the veins, forcing the heart to work to counteract this.
This can lead to an increase in blood pressure due to the accumulation of blood in the veins, forcing the heart to work to counteract this phenomenon.
For this reason, when you take your blood pressure, your feet should be flat on the floor.
If you sit cross-legged too often, there's bad news. You are more likely to experience long-term changes in the length of your muscles and the arrangement of your pelvic bones. In addition, because of the way the skeleton is attached, crossing your legs can also cause misalignment of the spine and shoulders. The position of the head can potentially be misaligned due to changes in the neck bones, as the spine compensates to keep the center of gravity above the pelvis.
In addition, the neck can also be affected by one side of the body being weaker than the other. The same imbalance can be seen in the pelvic and lower back muscles due to poor posture and the stresses and strains caused by sitting cross-legged. The pelvis can also become misaligned due to prolonged stretching of the gluteal muscles on one side, which weakens them.
Prolonged cross-legged sitting increases the risk of scoliosis (abnormal alignment of the spine) and other deformities.
If you're still not convinced, know that prolonged cross-legged sitting increases the risk of scoliosis (abnormal alignment of the spine) and other deformities. It can also lead to greater trochanter pain syndrome, a common and painful condition that affects the outer hip and thigh. Some research also shows that the peroneal nerve may be injured. It can even affect sperm production.
It should be noted that due to anatomical differences between men and women, it is easier for women to sit cross-legged because they have a reduced range of motion at the hip.
However, all is not lost if this is your preferred position. Some research suggests that sitting cross-legged may be beneficial for some people. A 2016 study found that for people who have one leg longer than the other, sitting cross-legged can help adjust the height on both sides of the pelvis, improving alignment.
Some research suggests that sitting cross-legged may be beneficial for some people.
Sitting cross-legged also seems to reduce the activity of certain muscles, especially the oblique muscles (those under the skin where you put your hands on your hips), compared to sitting forward. This can help relax core muscles and prevent overexertion. Similarly, sitting cross-legged has been shown to improve the stability of the sacroiliac joints (responsible for transferring weight between the spine and the legs).
And of course, there is the famous yoga or meditation posture (lotus position) in which people sit cross-legged on the floor. There is little data on whether spending long periods of time in this position can cause some of the problems caused by sitting cross-legged in a chair. In fact, for many people, yoga offers tremendous benefits, even for those who already have knee problems.
You may be wondering what the verdict is: if you can avoid crossing your legs, maybe it's better.
Many of the risk factors associated with leg crossing are likely to be exacerbated by other underlying problems, such as a sedentary lifestyle and obesity.
So, the verdict? It's probably best to avoid crossing your legs if you can. That said, many of the risk factors associated with crossing your legs are likely to be exacerbated by other underlying problems, such as a sedentary lifestyle and obesity. With this in mind, it may be more helpful to not stay in one position for too long and to stay active as much as possible.
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