What Hunter-Gatherers Could Teach Office Workers.
What Hunter-Gatherers could teach office workers - spoiler alert - stop sitting on chairs so much!!
Sitting is a bit of a modern day curse, particularly for office workers who often spend long hours each day sat in front of their computers. The human body was never designed to sit in an awkward 90 degree position with certain muscles completely shutting off, and others being over-stressed. There’s now pretty clear evidence that being sedentary (which usually means sitting) increases your risk of developing cardiovascular and other diseases.
Neanderthals were hunter gatherers that died out about 40,000 years ago, and although they are not around anymore, there is one group of humans who still live authentic hunter-gatherer lifestyles similar to them - the Hadza tribe in Tanzania.
The Hadza are pretty unique in the modern world because they still don’t use chairs, and what’s more, they also don’t suffer the same signs of cardiovascular diseases that plague modern societies.
The Hadza tribe in Tanzania still have a hunter-gatherer lifestyle.
In 2020 a team of scientists looked at the Hazda and the unique absence of chairs in their lives.
This study found out some interesting things;
During the day, the Hazda actually had a similar amount of downtime (when they weren’t on their feet) as people in modern societies. This was averaging out around 10 hours a day.
When not on their feet, the Hazda tended to be in ‘active rest’ positions, either squatting, kneeling or sitting directly on the floor.
These ‘active rest’ positions required a higher level of muscular activity than chair sitting.
A group of Hazda boys in a characteristic squat position.
What can be learned from this study?
The most surprising thing for me was that the Hazda have as much sedentary down time as modern workers, they just spend those hours in positions that require slightly more muscular effort, like kneeling, squatting, or sitting on the floor without back support. This small amount of extra muscular effort appears to be protective in terms of cardiovascular and other health outcomes.
People who have jobs where they are sitting all day may want to consider breaking up the sitting with some short periods of ‘active rest’ positions. Of the three different positions, squatting appears to offer the most potential benefits, and is something that all of our ancient ancestors did. We know this because the skeletons of Neanderthals, Homo Erectus, and early anatomically modern humans all show tell-tale signs of knee joint wear and tear from squatting habitually.
Achieving The Squat Position If You’re British!
The full squatting position with the feet flat on the floor is known by the names ‘Asian Squat’, ‘Slavic Squat’ or ‘Resting Squat’. It’s believed that most westerners can’t easily adopt this position because of stiff ankles and shortened achilles tendons, mainly because of years of sitting on chairs and wearing shoes with heels.
If (like me) you lack the hip and ankle flexibility needed to drop easily into the resting squat there are ways of working your way towards the position. The first method is to place something under your heels and progressively reduce the height of the object as you get better at the position. See the video below.
Heel Raise Squat Progression
The second assisted squat position is by holding onto something sturdy in front of you as you squat down. This is my preferred way of squatting. See the video below.
The Supported ‘Resting Squat’.
Please note that like any exercise I mention, don’t perform the squat if you experience any pain beyond a gentle stretching sensation, or if you are not sure if it’s the right exercise for you. In particular, people with hip or knee injuries will need to be careful with squats.
Cliff Russell, Registered Osteopath
Osteo Studio serving the areas of East Grinstead, Forest Row, Lingfield and the wider West Sussex area.
