In a recent research article published in the Journal of Physical Therapy Science, the authors looked to modify an exercise I had published in 2010 in both the Journal of Bodywork and Therapies and The Spine Journal.

In our original papers, the arms were used to “off-load” the spine in an exercise I called chair-care exercise. However in the methods of this 2015 manuscript titled :

Immediate effects of dynamic sitting exercise on the lower back mobility of sedentary young adults

they recruited young adults between the ages of 18-25 and were randomly placed in two separate groups to test and see if they could see a range of motion differences between the dynamic exercise group and the ones that did nothing in comparison.

One group sat for two hours and the other group performed extension and stomach tightening every 20 minutes. You can see the exercise they did here.

What they found:

“In conclusion, dynamic sitting exercises were performed during a 2-hour sitting session and improved lumbar mobility, whereas prolonged sitting without exercise decreased lumbar mobility.”

OVERALL it is exciting to see other researchers looking to build on the research my team had conducted. It is the reason why I do research on simple ways to keep the spine healthier for those that have to sit for prolonged periods of time for work and other reasons.

Dynamic off-loading is something these researchers did not address but that is just fine. Abdominal tightening is thought to be a benefit by engaging muscles and this looked to provide a benefit to the range of motion they tested.

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