Ultra Sitting

I’m spending my afternoons this week engaged in an online course about coaching, teaching and practicing weightlifting. The class was going to cut into my workout time, and I knew just sitting on a computer for that long was going to make me feel stiff and achy. I decided I would try to take the entire course sitting on the floor.

This lets me sneak in mobility work. By fidgeting, and moving in to and out of positions constantly I’m exposing my body’s tissues and joints in a really passive way supported by the floor. When I get uncomfortable, I move positions. I can sit in 90/90, on my shins, criss-cross apple sauce, straddle position, legs straight out in front, half kneeling, and so on.

As I like to remind people, I like dabbling in the extremes. Running ultra marathons and lifting as much weight as possible isn’t for everyone, and I don’t think it should be either. However, the way I think about me doing these things, and I suppose you may put sitting on the floor for 3 hours straight in that slightly extreme category, is that I can distill best practices out of these experiences to help the everyday person get more fit.

The lesson here is to get down and spend some time on the floor. Just 5-10 minutes every day can make a huge difference in how your body feels. It’s an excellent, sneaky way to get some restorative, recovery focused movement in without adding anything else into your day. Next time you’re watching TV, messing around on your phone, playing with kids or grandkids, get down there and spend some time getting comfortable.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain