“Sitting is the new smoking.” This was the headline of an article I read a while back that described the deleterious effects of sitting on your body. “Your hip flexors get super glued down, your core turns off, and you’re essentially the lowest scum of the earth if you decide to sit” (Okay, the article didn’t explicitly state that last part, but I felt like that’s what they really wanted to say). After reading it, I made every effort to avoid sitting entirely except for two situations – driving and my sacred toilet time. I was the quirky guy, always standing on airplanes or trying to sit in the lotus position at restaurants… I got some looks.

But there was always a method to my madness. Just as your body adapts to strength training by building muscle, it adapts to the postures you put it in. In fact, right now, as you (hopefully) are reading this newsletter, your body is adapting. If you’re sitting, it’s one adaptation; if you’re lying flat on your belly, a different adaptation; and if you’re listening to an AI-generated summary of this newsletter while your kids are “helping” you fold the laundry, still adapting.

Let’s say you’re reclining on your couch at the end of a long day, and your butt is sinking deeper into the cushions. After about half an hour, you’re in your groove. The kids are asleep, and you and your spouse are watching reruns of your favorite early-2000s sitcom. But then you need to get off your throne and attend to the unforeseen situation on the baby monitor (if it’s anything like our house, it's your toddler frantically trying to escape his bed). You try to “spring up” from that position, only to realize your “spring” doesn’t feel like it was loaded properly. Not only does this remind you that you need a new couch, but it also reminds you of a very important process your body is undergoing. A process called creep.

Creep is the gradual lengthening and deformation of tissue over time. Huh? Layman’s terms, please, Nick! Your body adapts to the positions you put it in. I say gradual, because it’s barely noticeable at first – after a few minutes on the couch, you don’t notice any change in your hips. But hang out there long enough – say 30 minutes – the muscles, ligaments, and tendons around your hips have adapted to their new position. As you’ve become more glued to your show, so have your hip flexors and anterior joint capsule. And how do things feel when glued together? Remember how it felt to “spring up” from the couch?

“Okay, so then if I were sitting for 30 minutes, can I just stand for 30 minutes and unglue my hips?” I love the way you’re thinking. Answer: kind of. My friend Daniel had a similar thought. He was having some “tight hips” from sitting a lot, so he decided to get a standing desk for his home office. He saw a problem and took the initiative to try to change something; much respect. Instead of sitting for 8 hours, he split it so he stood for half the day and sat the other half. 4 hours sitting, 4 hours standing, tit for tat. What did he notice? “My hips feel better, but now my knee doesn’t feel great.” I asked him how he split his sitting and standing: “I’ll sit for 2 hours, stand for 2, sit for 2, etc.” 2 hours in any one position is a lot for the body, regardless of how “great” the posture is.

We pondered and developed a strategy in which he’d switch positions more frequently: 20 minutes sitting, 20 minutes standing, and 20 minutes lying on the floor. Two weeks later, Daniel comes in all smiley and excited, “You won’t believe it, my knee pain went away.” Then I explained to him the process of creep, how your body adapts to the positions you’re in, and how frequently changing positions forces your body to adapt differently, keeping things unglued. In his case, changing postures that frequently keep any Elmer's products away from his knees and hips.

So if you’re looking for the best posture, I believe it’s achieved by switching positions frequently. The best posture is your next posture. If you sit all the time, try standing up every half hour for several minutes. If you always stand for work, try sitting or lying on the floor occasionally. If you frequently find yourself in the strangest positions, such as trying to change your son’s diaper at swim school, maybe sitting for a few minutes here and there won’t be the worst thing. That’s right, you just heard a Chiropractor say sitting might not be the worst thing for you. It all depends on your unique situation. And if you’re going to stand on airplanes, make sure it’s not when the flight attendants are giving out drink orders that include hot coffee, just saying.