Is sitting the new smoking? Is standing better for us? We have Dr. Ashley Williams, the sitting expert, on to discuss all things sitting, standing, chairs and posture. We're getting to the root of the truths behind article claims on sitting, standing desks, treadmill desks, and how posture relates to it all. Dr. Ashley dives into how you can become good at sitting and how to support sitting to prevent tension and allow you to move optimally throughout the day. She provides perspective on standing desks and how treadmill desks affect your cognition. Furthermore, she explains the importance of breaks, pressure dispersion under your seat, and why you will be seeing the Anthros office chair in offices around the U.S. Let's dive into all things sitting and posture!
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What You Will Learn in This Interview with Dr. Ashley Williams:
4:21 - The sitting expert
4:37 - Is sitting the new smoking
17:47 - How do you become good at sitting
19:52 - What’s the best office chair?
23:54 - Should our low backs be touching the chair?
24:23 - Physioballs vs Stools vs a Chair
28:18 - Perspectives on standing desks
30:35 - Treadmill desks
32:41 - Importance of breaks
34:22 - Why are Anthros chairs functional?
37:27 - Importance of pressure dispersion on the surface you are sitting on
41:07 - Are Anthros getting into offices?
42:07 - Leading through evidence
44:07 - But posture does not always cause pain so do you need the chair?
49:22 - Investment in the office chair
53:07 - Other recommendations if Anthros is not accessible
To learn more about Dr. Ashley Williams and view full show notes, please visit the full website here: https://www.docjenfit.com/podcast/episode331
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[00:00:00] Welcome to the Optimal Body Podcast.
[00:00:08] I'm Doc Jen.
[00:00:09] And I'm Dr. Dom.
[00:00:10] And we are doctors of physical therapy, bringing you the body tips and physical therapy pearls
[00:00:13] of wisdom to help you begin to understand your body, relieve your pains and restrictions,
[00:00:18] and answer your questions.
[00:00:19] Along with expert guests, our goal of the Optimal Body Podcast is really to help you
[00:00:24] discover what optimal means within your own body.
[00:00:27] Let's dive in! in it that is gonna help foundationally with what I need in my body. Right, I mean, it's so easy, especially with the unflavored one because it dissolves so easily in cold or hot liquid. So literally put it in your smoothie, put it in your coffee, put it in your water if you just need to go. Like you can get your collagen needs to really help support your body.
[00:01:42] I mean, we have to remember that collagen is found
[00:01:45] in all our connective tissues,
[00:01:46] our tendons, ligaments and bones. vital proteins, all they have to offer, because you get 15% off site wide on your first purchase when you use code optimal15 at checkout. I'm excited to welcome our next guest on the podcast, because we're going to talk about a topic we really haven't covered before, which is sitting and how to sit well. Ashley is a doctor of physical therapy,
[00:03:01] seating specialist and chair assessment specialist,
[00:03:04] who has worked in the wheelchair industry
[00:03:06] and seating industry for 15 years. a movement expert, you are a doctor of physical therapy. But with your background in working in the space of sitting with pediatric populations, I mean populations across the physical ability and lifespan, you've worked with people who operate from wheelchairs with different physical disabilities. So today I'm calling you the sitting expert.
[00:04:20] That works extremely passionate about sitting
[00:04:25] and excited to join you guys today.
[00:04:28] Thank you for having me. and how we're sitting and what we're sitting on throughout the day. Interacting really quickly, have you tried your element yet? L-M-N-T, your electrolytes, something to use in your water so that you hydrate more throughout the day, especially if you know that you're one of those, well, you know you're not drinking enough water. Maybe you drink your couple cups of coffee in the
[00:05:42] morning, water's kind of sitting there on the of that. And I'm telling you, you won't regret it. It's gonna be the new thing that you add into your water, you're gonna be so impressed with how much water you drink throughout the day, now that you're adding this in. And if you feel like some people tell me, it's a little too much. Start with half a pack and then slowly work your way up. And sometimes I put it in my huge Stanley,
[00:07:00] which is 40 ounces, one pack and a 40 ounce.
[00:07:03] So especially if you feel like it's just too much,
[00:07:05] you're not used to it.
[00:07:06] Dilude it down, use half a pack.
[00:07:08] I'm telling you, sitting is tough. You know, like the body is so smart that say we're working, right? And we're focusing on its task or we're doing a PowerPoint or an Excel spreadsheet, the body is going to seek a position of rest. Or if we're sitting on the couch watching Netflix
[00:08:22] and that position we end up in is kind of comes to posture and sitting, it's I have to pull my shoulders back. I have to tense my body. I need to stay in this aligned
[00:09:42] place rather than being able to naturally get there based on how they're putting their the rest of the building. So if we think about that, it's important to have that support lower than a lumbar support. But also when you are sitting upright, where are those sit bones driving? They are driving straight down into the surface. So those little bones on the bottom of the of thing that is pressing on us daily and pushing us forwards. And you want to get into a resting posture where that pelvis is maintaining that same position. That makes sense.
[00:12:20] So those are the components of an ideal office chair that I would be looking for.
[00:12:24] And I think probably my favorite point that you the right places that if you're on a sitting ball or you're sitting on the edge of your chair because the back doesn't quite hit you in the right places, that body is smart. And when you start focusing on something,
[00:13:40] you're going to seek a position of rest,
[00:13:43] which often ends up into these unaligned types of positions
[00:14:45] balls that people tend to think are best for our body.
[00:14:48] Yeah, I think the principles are there, right? Like because usually with the stool,
[00:14:50] it's kind of helping to support that pelvis
[00:14:53] and even some of the forward kneeling chairs
[00:14:56] that are out there.
[00:14:58] The principles are there,
[00:15:00] but it's not fully encompassing.
[00:15:02] And so for long periods of time,
[00:15:04] whenever you're focusing on something,
[00:15:06] that pelvis is going to end up seeking and sinking into that chair differently? Yeah. It's like the hands, right? Like, so if those hands are hitting you and kind of getting you. And then to your exact point, half an hour later, I would notice myself slouched over my desk with my elbows down, like peering into the screen, you know, with what people would say is like, not the optimal working posture.
[00:17:41] And I feel that, you know, I could use some of that extension in my spine.
[00:19:00] But I think standing desk are great. I think the way that one side. My elbow is on the desk because my body is smart and it's gonna seek that stability while I'm focusing on something. And so I think moderation is key. We often end up sitting. So we need to really take a look at how our office chair supports us.
[00:20:22] Yeah, in standing, I'm a knees locked out
[00:20:25] with massive extension in my low back kind of guy.
[00:21:27] in moderation, but if the majority of your day is really focusing on that computer, doing really difficult tasks, it might be to your detriment to treadmill it all day long.
[00:21:32] Yeah.
[00:21:33] I think I would definitely agree with that because I don't know how I could stay focused
[00:21:37] if I was also needing to walk even at a slow pace.
[00:21:40] I would follow.
[00:21:41] I know.
[00:21:42] I don't know if it's just the lack I think just the mental break is also important too, right?
[00:23:00] Like you are sitting there and you are so bringing that awareness to the body and kind of undoing some of that stress on our body throughout the day. I don't want Jen getting any ideas and snapping pictures of me while I'm working during the day because I'm sure it's ugly at times. The visual reference is scary. I didn't do that.
[00:24:20] Yes, you did.
[00:24:22] Exactly. We are like, do this, do that. But it's not as real world for individuals. So we got a meat at the middle, right? And I think Anthros is the meat in the middle point to take the work out of sitting and have you not have to think about it, right? Like the easy button. And who knew that we would be working with individuals with disabilities and wheelchairs?
[00:25:42] And then now we're making an office chair.
[00:25:44] So I'll tell you guys a little bit of story
[00:25:46] about how that came to fruition. And so taking that knowledge that we have from working with the most-intensators, but only 3% of the population, that's what we're giving to the world to the other 97% of individuals that sit. And those components are exactly what we talked about, supporting the spine at the base with the pelvis, right?
[00:27:00] Getting that stability, but we know that the upper back may fall and so we have an upper
[00:27:06] back as well.
[00:27:07] And both of these are dynamic components. different option that can help them and bring that body awareness back to them and let them control and feel what's going on within their body instead of falling into these postures throughout the day. Now, I think that's very well said and I will speak to the sitting on a cloud portion because it almost reminds me of and I think that this probably comes a lot from your background in
[00:29:25] says, okay, I need a move because my sit bones are getting uncomfortable from sitting on this stool. So can you speak a little more to why it's so important to have good pressure dispersion
[00:29:32] on the surface we're sitting on? Yeah, I think, you know, that's the start, right? And you're sitting
[00:29:39] down and okay, we're getting that pelvis up. But if those IT bones aren't protected,
[00:30:51] This feels great but there is some nerdy technology going on inside that cushion that creates that feeling to get that stable base within the city of cedar posture.
[00:31:08] Which is so important because i also hear other people have you know their legs falling asleep or they get some they do have some nerve issues going down their legs so getting the support while they're sitting in a chair having to work i mean that's fantastic. And another thing that I love about how Anthros has approached this issue of office sitting is through evidence. And as PTs, we come from the space of science and the space of research. So talk a little bit about why that was so important for you all at Anthros as you were
[00:32:23] developing this chair to really lead through evidence to be able to show that some of the bring into the table and that was our foundation of our being. And we believe that the world deserves that. If you're going to invest your hard run money into a solution or a product, like you should know that the people behind it are authentic. And what they say is backed by evidence and research and studies.
[00:33:43] And they're not just bold claims trying to take advantage of you.
[00:33:46] It's not very great area. But we know as experts that long term positions that are let's say the slouch posture that everyone knows forward head posture, shrimp posture, whatever you call it, what comes with that are the muscle and balances from
[00:35:01] sitting in that sustained posture, right? Your pe the 10 man, give yourself oil whenever you're standing up and going to go
[00:36:25] about the rest of your day. I was always the person who was like, oh, yep, you just need to keep moving. You need to keep moving because that's what our body wants. But that's not reality. Yeah. And we've got research that backs it up. We've got research that no matter how well intentioned people just don't move. Or even if they have the standing desk option, they just don't use it. And so putting ourselves, like you said, in an environment that can best support us,
[00:37:42] regardless of how much we are paying attention or not paying attention to our posture is great. to you to think about how you're sitting and then not only think about how you're working, right? Like so with Anthros, we educate people about their workplace setup. How high is your desk? Where is your monitor? Because you can have the best share in the world, but if you're 5'2", and you heard you have to have your feet on the floor and you're looking at Amazon and it's $150 and it looks cute with your office. But what our bodies are touching for long periods of time is what we need to invest in. We invest in our mattress because we're sleeping on that for hopefully six to eight hours a
[00:40:22] day.
[00:40:23] I'm more on the six.
[00:40:25] But we would love to be standing for eight investing in, a chair that's not a catalog of parts. It does not exist other than what we've created don't want this podcast to come off or seem like, Hey, we're just pitching and throws. Like, we you really do. And this is one thing I really appreciate about you. You really do just want to get great information on sitting and being as best supported and as
[00:43:00] healthful as possible from the office. So for somebody who looks to that and just says, A pillow or something and place it a little bit lower on your pelvis is another good step and pay attention to where your desk height is. Make sure that your elbows are by your side and that's when your hands are there and it's kind of that 90-90. If you're finding yourself raised up, your arms raising up zombie style, raise your office
[00:44:23] chair and put a box under there so that you guys for having me. And, you know, we have some free downloadable guides on our website, www.anthroat.com, a Fix Your Sick guidebook, just to bring awareness to sitting and how you're sitting and just think about it throughout your workday and think about investing in your future self.
[00:45:40] Perfect. We'll have that linked up below as well.
[00:45:43] I hope you enjoyed that interview. And if you are interested in the chair, we're going