The influence of different sitting postures on head/neck posture and muscle activity
Document Type
Journal Article
Publisher
Elsevier
Faculty
Faculty of Computing, Health and Science
School
School of Exercise, Biomedical and Health Science
RAS ID
10860
Abstract
To date the influence that specific sitting posture has on the head/neck posture and cervico-thoracic muscle activity has been insufficiently investigated. Therefore the aim of this study was to investigate whether three different thoraco-lumbar sitting postures affect head/neck posture and cervico-thoracic muscle activity. Twenty (10 men, 10 women) asymptomatic subjects were placed in 3 standardized thoraco-lumbar sitting postures (lumbo-pelvic, thoracic upright and slump) to investigate their influence on cervicothoracic muscle activity and head/neck posture. There were significant differences in lumbar and thoracic curvatures in the 3 different sitting postures (P< 0.002). Slump sitting was associated with greater head/neck flexion, anterior translation of the head (P< 0.001) and increased muscle activity of cervical erector spinae (CES) compared to thoracic and lumbo-pelvic sitting (P ¼ 0.001). Thoracic upright sitting showed increased muscle activity of thoracic erector spinae (TES) compared to slump and lumbo-pelvic postures (P ¼ 0.015). Upper trapezius (UT) demonstrated no significant difference in muscle activation in the 3 sitting postures (P < 0.991). This study demonstrates that different sitting postures affect head/neck posture and cervico-thoracic muscle activity. It highlights the potential importance of thoraco-lumbar spine postural adjustment when training head/neck posture.
DOI
10.1016/j.math.2009.06.002
Comments
Caneiro, J.P., O'Sullivan, P., Burnett, A., Barach, A., O'Neil, D., Tveit, O., & Olafsdottir, K. (2010). The influence of different sitting postures on head/neck posture and muscle activity. Manual Therapy, 15(1), 54-60. Available here.