C'mon, sit up!

Stop sitting like that! Sit up straight!!!

Sound familiar?!!! Here's the scenario: Get out of bed, sit down to breakfast, and recline in the car on your way to work. Then you sit behind a desk until lunch. Back home, it's more of the same: Settle into that chair in front of your pc or in front of the TV until bedtime.

"But I'm tired, and my back hurts!" "Sitting is terrible," says David J Doperak, owner of All-Star Chiropractic, Inc. A. White, founder of the North America Spine Society, agrees. According to White, "People can sit and waste away. Posture is a big part of that."

Alright, before you get that "deer in the headlights look," there's good new! Research from the Spine Institute supports the notion that proper sitting actually burns twice the calories as slouching.

So, the first step is to learn what kind of sitter you are. Most folks fall into one of the three following categories: the "slinkers, the hunchers and the crossers." "Slinkers shove their hips forward in the chair and round their lower backs, actually sitting on their spines. Hunchers, often computer users, round their shoulders and push the chin forward, creating neck and shoulder tension. Crossers cross their thighs, reducing circulation and throwing their spine a curve."

So, we've identified a problem. Naturally, we seek a solution. First, uncross your legs. Next, sit on your hands to find your sitting bones. These are the large and "pointy" bones you sit on cushioned by the gluteal musculature. Now, sit on top of these bones, not behind them. Your head and shoulders should be in line with, not in front of, not in back of, these pointy bones! Last step: push the top of your head toward the ceiling lengthening your spine. Now hold that position in an attempt to teach you muscles where your spine belongs.

Yeah, I know, its rocket science. NOT! Sorry, but it's not! Save Your Spine, Save Your Life!!! Fight De-Evolution!!!