Active rest at its best!
Greetings WNYMMA community! And those visiting the post 🙂 How are we all feeling today? Comment below and let us know!
Funny question… are you sitting right now reading this?
Coach Hanna here to discuss the benefits of choosing other “resting” positions over the modern day habitual sitting!
Squatting and Kneeling
According to the research, squatting and kneeling (over sitting) are so much more beneficial for our overall well being 🙂
This conclusion was founded by researchers who studied how sedentary behavior has evolved over time. They studied a group of Tanzanian hunter-gatherers called the Hadza with old fashioned lifestyles compared to the Western world✨
They used specific tools to monitor physical activity and resting time which led to their discovery. The Hadza had activity levels 3 times higher than the USA’s federal health guideline yet also had pretty high levels of inactivity as well. Averaging 9-10 hours of sedentary time, why do the Hadza have drastically lower levels of chronic disease?
What makes it possible?
The answer to that seems to be their choice of resting position! They prefer to squat and kneel which involves more muscle activation rather than merely sitting 😎
Using equipment measuring muscle activity in the lower limbs, the researchers concluded more muscles were activated in a squatting and kneeling position versus sitting. Therefore, between the higher activity level and resting positions (that aren’t actually fully resting), this could explain the lower risk of disease😎
The alternative to sitting
“Even though there were long periods of inactivity, the Hadza are often resting in postures that require their muscles to maintain light levels of activity,” explains Professor and researcher David Raichlen, Ph.D. “Being a couch potato—or even sitting in an office chair—requires less muscle activity. Since light levels of muscle activity require fuel, which generally means burning fats, then squatting and kneeling postures may not be as harmful as sitting in chairs.”
Because of this, researchers are hoping sustained active rest postures will become more common. So let’s become a part of the movement y’all and get squatting!
Below is a super insightful video discussing the importance of moving our DNA 🙂
Witness and enjoy!
Thank you kindly for tuning in for another week dose of wellness goodness! I enjoy sharing knowledge with you that we can all benefit from 🙂
Til next week! May life hold you favorably in every way,
