5 Best Exercises for People Who Sit Too Much

Are you realizing, like so many people, that you’re sitting way too much? 

And if you’re sitting too much, are you having back, neck, or hip pain? Are your joints feeling stiff? Or are your muscles feeling tight?  You may even be having headaches.

Honestly, the human body was not made to sit all day.  We were made to stand, run, move, and play. 

So, what can you do to help alleviate back, neck or hip pain or stiff joints caused by sitting too much? Or prevent them from ever happening?

You can strengthen muscles that are weak from sitting. 

By exercising 5 important muscle groups, you’ll relieve the common problems associated with sitting too much.

What are the 5 most important muscle groups to strengthen when you have been sitting too much?

1. 1. 1. Deep neck flexors (the longus colli, longus capitus, rectus capitus and longus cervices)
      2. Scapular Stabilization Muscles – (the middle and lower trapezius and the rhomboids) 
      3. Muscles surrounding the hip and pelvis (the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus) 
      4. The Serratus Anterior Muscle
      5. The Abdominal Muscles (the internal obliques, external obliques, rectus abdominis and transverse abdominis)

In the previous blog post, I showed you how to stretch muscles that get tight when you sit too much. If you have not read it, check it out here.

Stretching is so important, but stretching is not always enough. While some muscles get tight while you sit, other muscles get weak.

You need to strengthen muscles that are weak from sitting. 

This blog post covers the 5 important muscles to strengthen and the best exercises to strengthen these muscles.

I’ve included videos to help you do the exercises correctly and safely.

Be sure to refer to them and take it slowly at first. Always consult with your doctor if anything doesn’t seem quite right.

1. The deep neck flexor muscles

• • Where are they? The neck muscles, the longus colli, longus capitus, rectus capitus and longus cervicus, make up the muscles around the back of your neck. 
  • What do they do? The job of the flexor muscles is to flex your neck. In simple terms, these muscles pull your head back. If you want to work them right now, pull your head back, so your ears are in line with your shoulders.  Feel those muscles burning? If so, you are doing it right.
  • Why are they important to exercise? The main reason to exercise your neck is to prevent injuries. When your neck muscles are weak, your head protrudes forward which can lead to neck pain. Plus, it is not exactly the best look. Technically called forward head posture, it is more commonly known as “Text Neck” or “Nerd Neck.”    This is “Nerd Neck”….

The best exercise for the neck flexors is called the Chin Tuck. The video below shows you how to do it.

2. Scapular Stabilization Muscles 

• • Where are they? Scapular Stabilization muscles consist of the lower trapezius and the rhomboids. They surround the shoulder blade and run down your back in a diamond or Trapezoid shape.
  • What do they do?  The lower traps and the rhomboids work together to retract your shoulder blades. What does this mean in English? It means that they pull your shoulders back and pinch your shoulder blades together. If you are sitting right now, raise your arms so they are parallel to the ground. Now, without bending them, pull your shoulder blades together. Feel those muscles? Those are your scapular stabilization muscles.
  • Why are they important to exercise? The reason to exercise these muscles is that they get overstretched when you sit. And as they get overstretched, they get weak. This causes your shoulders to roll forward, causing shoulder pain. Just like the forward head posture, it is not exactly a good look. This is what can happen if these muscles get weak.

Best exercises for the stabilizer muscles of the scapula:

https://youtu.be/MorP7xmdOac?t=9

3. Muscles surrounding the hip and pelvis

• • Where are they?  “Muscles of the back of your hip and pelvis” is a nice way of saying your “Butt Muscles.” The two muscles that we are going to work on are the Gluteus Medius and Gluteus Minimus.
  • What do they do?  The job of the muscles surrounding your hip and pelvis is to stabilize your pelvis and hips.
  • Why are they important to work?  Once again, to prevent injuries. When these muscles get weak, your pelvis and hips are less stable. This can cause walking and running gait problems as well as pain in the lower back. 

Best exercises to strengthen the muscles of the hip:

4. The Serratus Anterior Muscle

• • Where is it? The serratus anterior muscle is located on the side of your torso, just beneath your armpit.  
  • What does it do? It has several functions. Its main job is to get an upward rotation of your shoulder blade. What does that mean in English? I mean that it aims the socket of the shoulder up.  Why is this important? Because in order to reach your hand higher than shoulder level the shoulder blade must upwardly rotate.  
  • Why is it important to strengthen?  The main reason to work this muscle is to prevent neck pain. You see, there are two muscles that can rotate your shoulder blades upwards. The first is the serratus anterior. The second one is the upper traps. But, the upper traps are not good at the upward rotation of the scapula. So to do this, the traps have to work incredibly hard, which can be quite painful. This often leads to neck pain.

Best exercises for your Serratus Anterior:

5. Abdominal Muscles

• • Where are they?  The abdominal muscles consist of four sets of muscles, the internal obliques, external obliques, rectus abdominis, and transverse abdominis.  They make up the musculature of the front of the trunk from the chest to the pelvis.  
  • What do they do?  One of the main functions of the abs is to stabilize your pelvis. This means that it helps your body resist succumbing to gravity’s pull and keeps your spine in proper alignment.   
  • Why are they important to exercise? The abdominal muscles attach to the top of the pelvis.  So, if they are weak, if they are tight, they throw off the alignment of the pelvis causing lower back pain.

One of the best exercises for your abs is the plank. Enjoy…

Conclusion:

So, there you have it. 5 exercises for 5 muscle groups that get weak when we sit too much.

Add the 7 Best Stretches for People Who Sit Too Much, and you will stay safe and healthy with all the sitting you are doing.