With more people working from home, you're likely to spend most of your days on your butt. And if your home office setup is more impromptu than ergonomic, chances are you're moving from one side of the sofa to the other, to the floor, or to the kitchen table, trying to find a comfortable, sitting position.
The point is that sitting in certain positions can alter your alignment, cause postural problems, and even cause pain. You probably know that stooping, leaning back and forward are bad choices, but what about sitting cross-legged?
Children sit crisscrossed all the time, just like yogis (hello, lotus pose); Still, that doesn't mean that this knee twist position is safe for the average adult.
How does sitting cross-legged affect your knees?
The good news: If you don't experience any knee pain in this cross-legged pose, you have nothing to worry about. In fact, this pose can have great benefits for your mobility and can even make your joints more flexible , as long as you are not like this all day.
The more positions you make and undo every day, the healthier your body will be. This is because when you repeat the same movements, or stick to the same position, you put pressure on certain joints, muscles, and ligaments.
Sitting in this pretzel position (along with others) can add variety to your daily movement patterns and, as a result, help improve range of motion in the knees and hip joint . However, each person's body is different. If you experience any knee discomfort in the cross-legged pose, stop sitting that way, as it can exacerbate pre-existing knee problems.
Keeping the joint in a bent position for an extended period of time can cause fluid to build up , which can cause swelling and pain. Depending on what is wrong with the knee, the flexion and torsion that comes with this position can also aggravate a meniscus tear.
Serving as a shock absorber, the meniscus is a C-shaped piece of rubber cartilage that cushions the space between the shin and the femur. When you have a torn meniscus, the cross-legged position, which forces the knee to rotate, is not your best friend.
What to do if sitting cross-legged makes you stiff?
As long as you don't have pain, continuing to cross your legs for long periods of time won't hurt your knees if you do it occasionally. (Just be aware: Prolonged sitting is generally not great for your overall health.)
But even if you have healthy knees, you may feel a little temporary tension in your legs after resting a little cross-legged. When that happens, we suggest doing the following sequence of gentle movements before standing up to help ease stiffness in the knees and loosen the limbs.
- Slowly and gently bend and stretch your knees to help your joints move.
- Make 5 ankle circles in each direction. This will help blood flow and warm the legs and knees.
- After the circles on the ankle, rotate the entire leg in and out of the hip socket for movement and rotation above and below the knee.
- Finally, fully stretch your legs and gently squeeze your quads by lifting your kneecaps. Hold that pressure for 5 seconds, then release and repeat 3 times.
