Now we have “Dead Butt Syndrome.”
The New York Times announced a new health concern earlier this week, called “gluteal
amnesia,” or less formally, “Dead Butt Syndrome” NY Times September 6th article
described as a numb feeling in your gluteal muscles caused by extended periods of sitting. As the
article points out, when one of the strongest muscles in your body falls asleep, the effects can be
serious, including back pain, hamstring tears, sciatica and arthritis in the knees.
Don’t be fooled. The problem isn’t that we “spend hours sitting.” It’s how we sit that makes the
difference. The underlying cause of this “syndrome” is faulty posture. You don’t need to spend
your time on exercises to wake up your buttocks. All you need is a little postural education.
Here is the image that accompanies the article.
The larger images represents a person sitting on their buttock bones. Hardly anyone sits like this in their everyday life and particularly their work life. Almost everyone sits on the back of their butt, like the people below:
Or
When Covid started in 2020 suddenly I had a ton of new students who were miserable working. It was no wonder. You cannot sit on the back of your butt and not have something break down. Now it’s “dead butt syndrome.”
What to do?
You have to sit on the bottom of your butt, the bones.When sitting on the back of the buttocks, you are sitting on gluteal muscles. Bones are made to support you and they get stronger by putting your body weight into them. Muscles are made for movement. They get weaker when they are misshappened and supporting weight.
Imitate the guy below. Lift your pelvis off the chair. Hinge, bend, at your hip sockets and sit back down. Feel your buttock bones on the chair. Don’t try to sit up straight or anything that would make you tense. Imitate the guy in the brown pants. In the beginning your bones may ache from changing how you sit. The more you sit in Balance you will get used to it, and soon it will be comfortable.The more you sit in Balance, the sooner you’ll get used to it. And no matter how long you sit, your buttocks will still be wide awake when you stand up.
Forward this to everyone you know. They will never suffer from the discomfort of “Dead Butt Syndrome!”
You can do this!
