Kinesiology THURSDAY – Biomechanics of Floor Sitting

Portrait of satisfied female with beautiful smile enjoying watching movie in silver computer and sitting in lotus pose on the floor over grey wall

Sitting has been called the new smoking. In other words, sitting for prolonged periods isn’t good for you. But there is a form of sitting you should attempt to get comfortable with, even if just for short periods. And that is sitting on the floor.

Two of the main reasons floor sitting is important is that you have to get down on the floor and then get back up and the ability to do that is linked to longevity. You can read more about that here.

But today’s blog is about the ability to comfortably sit on the floor. The picture above is an example of tailor sitting (it was called this because this is how tailor’s used to sit and sew). In yoga circles it is known as the easy pose or sukhasana.

Give it a try.

You should be able to sit and feel your sit bones (ischial tuberosities) on the floor.
With your legs crossed, your knees should easily approximate the floor.

This move requires adequate hip flexion, abduction and external rotation (FABER).

If you feel a jam in the hips that limits you from sitting in this way it’s most likely due to:

Tight proximal hamstrings – you need adequate hamstring flexibility to sit with your sit bones on the floor. A FIX: try doing downward dog or standing forward bend.
Tight adductors – tight adductors limit abduction. But a tight adductor magnus will also limit internal rotation of the hip (as it is an external rotator). If adductor magnus is tight, your hips are already positioned in external rotation at rest. When you attempt to tailor sit, your hips will feel jammed because they are already “bottomed out”. A FIX: This inner thigh stretch on all fours is one of my favorites to stretch the adductors.
Tight hip external rotators – For the reason stated above, if your hips jam when you try to sit in external rotation, chances are your hips are already in end range external rotation. Common signs of this are walking with your toes out or with your feet rolled to the outside edge (supinated). A FIX: pigeon pose or this osteopathic series of stretches (which includes supine 90/90 hip rotation and a standing hip internal rotation stretch).

Soft tissue and fascial releases to hip external rotators will also help improve this sitting posture. Check for trigger points in these muscles: piriformis, posterior gluteus medius, psoas major, adductor magnus, vastus lateralis and lateral gastrocnemius.

Why does this matter?

Tailor sitting is an excellent test and stretch for improving hip mobility. It seems that limitations in this type of sitting would primarily be due to tightness in the hip internal rotators, but the opposite is more often true. Tightness in any of the external rotators will cause a hip to bottom out and “jam”, limiting your ability to get your knees towards the floor.

Lack of hip mobility often lies at the root of knee pain and lower back pain. It’s worth it to unlock those hips.

Because nobody has time to be in pain.

Until next time…