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So years of IT job have seriously tightened my hip flexors and quads, leading to anterior pelvic tilt. I do stretch and do resistance training, but was thinking about changing the way I sit or work to have an opposite effect of tightening of those muscles.

I now mostly work from home, so was wondering whether there could be a position in which I can work all day, such as deep squat, cross legged, stretched on a bed, etc., and have a similar effect of stretching my quads and hip flexors all day, or at least limiting further damage.

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Standing desks if you can. Otherwise, every fifteen minutes (or a gap of time under 30-45 min), get up, walk around (if you want), then flex your glutes, brace your core and straighten your back. Then sit down. Keep your monitor in a position where you aren't bending your neck down that much and it's at a neutral position.

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mobcity zkore gives good advice. You can also: sit on an exercise (Swiss) ball, kneel with padding under your knees, kneel on one knee with the other foot planted in front (so that everything is approximately ninety degrees from each other), and alternate with your other leg every now and again - a delicious hip flexor and quad stretch. And also mix all of the above suggestions, so you're incorporating regular movement. You can even spend some time in your chair.

If the damage you mention is back pain, when you do decide to sit on a chair, you want a neutral pelvic tilt, so make sure you are sitting on the edge of a cushion, or have the front of the chair seat lower than the back. I'm not sure why chairs continue to be designed with horizontal seats, which facilitate pelvic tucking. I also like to support my back with a cushion behind my back.

I've read that even just standing up and sitting down every 30 minutes can do wonders and add years to your life, and it's hard to talk yourself out of just standing up for a second, so think of doing this as an absolute minimum.

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  • the damage I am talking about is just the pelvic tilt. If possible, can you add an image showing the position you talk about. This part throws me off, "so that everything is approximately ninety degrees from each other"
    – Shahid Thaika
    May 29, 2018 at 9:27
  • Pelvic tilt isn't damage per se. If you suffer pain, then posture is probably not the culprit or solution. You may want to read this fascinating article: painscience.com/tutorials/low-back-pain.php?id=273683. He also mentions that posture is very difficult to correct. Of course if you don't like the way the pelvic tilt LOOKS, then that's another matter and you can take measures to correct it. As for the stretch, the image is on this page: spine-health.com/blog/essential-role-psoas-muscle, or you can just google psoas stretch.
    – MotherBrain
    May 30, 2018 at 10:35

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