Rediscovering the known - Working From the Floor

I’ve been working in front of computers for 20+ years.

Naturally, I have had my fair share of back pain. Especially in the lower back. Many people have the same issue these days.

You won’t be surprised if I tell you that we are not built to sit all day. Our body is designed for running, walking, carrying things, and sitting. Just not sitting slouched all day on a comfy office chair.

Many offices or home offices will, in some capacity, even think about ergonomic seating. Most will be familiar with a standup desk, ergonomic chairs or the walking treadmill that can be placed under a desk.

I tried the standing desk, and it helped with my back, but I found it quite exhausting to stand the whole day. It’s, of course, a bit of getting used to, but after a year, I stopped doing it.

I went back to sitting for some time, but despite working out regularly, the back pain came back.

Then, when we moved to New Zealand, I had to get something new anyway, and as it sometimes happens, I stumbled into a whole new world by accident.

Now, after a year of working from the floor, my lower back pain has completely disappeared.

A floor desk doesn’t need to be anything fancy. I started out with a simple bedside table on which I placed my laptop.

Since then, I’ve upgraded to one of these stand-up desk extensions. They are meant to be placed on top of your normal desk to turn it into a stand-up desk, but they work well on the floor, too.

I sit cross-legged, then frequently switch to other positions. It takes time to get used to, but my lower back pain is all but gone.

Why could sitting on the floor help your back?

I’m no expert, got no medical education, but here is my layman’s take.

I have young kids, and that means spending a lot of time at their height. You’ll be squatting, sitting on the floor, lying down, and so on. As a result, young parents who are used to this have better flexibility in getting up and down from the floor.

It’s like with many things; if you look back 20,000+ years or even longer, you notice that our bodies likely aren’t meant to be doing what they are these days.

Our ancestors were most certainly also sitting a lot, but not on comfy chairs, sofas or lying on soft mattresses. It’s easy to see then why all of this soft and comfy causes issues.

From an evolutionary perspective, we’re not used to it.

The body is hyper-efficient.

If muscles aren’t needed, the body removes them. Stop working out for a while, and you’ll see.

In our everyday lives, however, this is much more critical. These are not just bigger biceps to look good; these are the lower back muscles that support our whole skeleton when standing, walking, or sitting upright.

If muscles can’t fully carry the body, bones and tissues will, and that sounds like running an engine without oil. It’ll work for some time, but it will quickly run into issues.

I’m not an expert, but I’m trying to tackle this with common sense. I was sitting on comfy chairs or sofas, sleeping on soft mattresses and that over time reduced my muscle mass here, leading to back pain.

Now that I’ve forced myself to “exercise” these muscles again by sitting on the floor, over time, the muscle mass in my back and core has rebuilt, so that I can not only sit on the floor without pain, but my lower back also won’t hurt anymore during the day.

This gain is quickly lost. I’m currently visiting my family and don’t have my floor desk, so I’ve noticed that the back pain is returning after sitting on chairs for too long.

Science behind sitting on the floor

A popular health check that physicians do to assess general fitness and flexibility is whether you can get up from the floor without using your hands. At 36, I’m glad to say that I can still pull this off, and I feel that when sitting on the floor, these same muscles are being trained.

Research shows that a proper floor posture, which you’ve gotten used to, activates 40% more stabilising muscles. That’s a whole workout. It makes sense. When you start, you likely won’t be able to sit for long periods. With practice though, you train your muscles to maintain an upright posture while sitting, and this has an impact on other aspects of your day. When you stand up, sit on the couch or go for a walk, these new muscles will improve your overall posture and hopefully reduce pain.

FloorDesk companies like https://lowdesk.com/ claim a whole set of benefits.

Here are the top benefits of sitting on the floor:

• Increased Flexibility: Promotes flexibility in hips, knees, and ankles, especially helpful for those with sedentary lifestyles.

• Better Posture: Engages core muscles and encourages a straight back, supporting natural spinal alignment.

• Improved Circulation: Frequent position changes while floor sitting help prevent prolonged pressure and boost overall circulation.

• Stronger Core: Balancing on the floor activates and strengthens core muscles, improving stability.

You likely won’t see these in any offices, but for a home office setup, there is almost no difference from a normal desk. Lowdesk is super expensive, so I’m waiting for some cheap stuff from China, but the idea of moving from floor to standup is quite cool.