People who sit for about 40-50 hours a week usually have complaints about hip pains. Hip pains are usually associated with long hours of sitting that lead to the weakening of the hip region and poor sitting posture.
This is also often a result of maintaining the same position for a long period. When you are in a sitting position, your knees assume a bent position and this causes your hamstrings to relax and shorten, the hip flexors also shorten to their maximum length.
When you eventually stand up from the sitting position, the core, glutes and hip extensors and flexors have maxed out their strength from the long hours of sitting down and they grow weaker and when you stand, the hip region feels weak. Now that we have an idea what hip pain is about, let us look at the reasons why recliners could be bad for your hips.
Reasons recliners can be bad for the hips
Okay, let me explain. Recliners themselves are not bad for your hips, what might affect your hips is the way you use the recliner or if you are unlucky enough to purchase a recliner that isn’t suited for you. There are several ways to use recliners that would make it bad for your hips and I will list out some of them in this article.
1. A recliner that is not your size
Getting a recliner that is not the right size could have the same effect on your hips as it would on your back. The size of the recliner aids in providing comfort to users and this would determine if you would either sleep or sit comfortably in the recliner.
Some recliners do not afford users to change positions throughout their stay in the chair and this can keep them immobile for a long time and this could lead to hip pains and even back pains.
2. Wrong angle
As you must know, the entire point of recliners is for the user to be able to recline the backrest as desired and at convenience. Upright chairs have a standard angle of 90 degrees and sitting at this angle for a long time would lead to chronic back pain and hip pains.
Recliners afford users the ability to recline at an angle that affords maximum comfort and provides relaxation similar to lying in a bed. Many studies have come out to say that the best position to sit is a 135 degree reclined body thigh position.
This sitting angle removes a lot of pressure from your back and hips but you would find that some users are not aware of the right angles for their chair and sitting positions. Using your recliner at the wrong angle could make your recliner bad for your hips.
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3. Footrest
The footrest of recliner chairs is one of their strongest selling points. The footrest pushes up and out for the user to fully recline in a relaxed and comfortable position. However, the elevated footrest could pose a problem.
There are two major things that that users have to be mindful of when it comes to using the footrest of recliners.
A reclined position should have an elevated footrest on the heart’s level. The legs should also extend slightly and hang over the footrest, this way, the pressure is evenly distributed along the legs. This takes a lot of pressure off the heel of the feet and the backbone which eventually spreads across the hip bone area.
4. Poor lumbar support
A recliner with poor lumbar support would always hurt the back and the hip region. Lumbar support is meant primarily to support the lower back region and when the chair lacks this it becomes a major problem for the user.
Essentially, recliners would not be bad for your hip except when they are used incorrectly. Maintain a good sitting position and angle. Elevate your feet and always try to change positions.