Let’s face it, most of us spend way more time at our job in a seated position than we would like. At a recent conference I attended, Dr. Michael Frogley, DC, mentioned that sitting, even in great posture, puts the discs of the spine (think the cushioning between the bones) under more pressure than standing. Sitting with poor posture placed the discs under even more pressure. Numerous health issues are also associated with prolonged sitting (organ damage, weight gain, loss of muscle mass). From a performance standpoint, sitting too much leads to tight hip flexors, and gluteal amnesia (or your body has forgotten how to make your glutes fire). This can be a real impediment to on-hill performance since so much of our lower body control is driven by the glutes. Here are a few tips to help if you are stuck in a sitting position most of the day.

1 min every hour, stand up, put your the outside of one ankle and knee on your desk and stretch out the hip.
Spend 3-4 minutes a night on each leg rolling out your hip flexors. If you stand up and put your hands on your waist, your hip flexors are the muscles under your fingers.
Work on strengthening your glutes with step ups, glute bridges and lunges. As an added bonus these exercises are great for improving strength in the muscles you need for skiing.

Stay Strong,
Scott