Sitting for hours can cause the so-called “office bum” - according to experts, the phenomenon poses health risks and can result in chronic pain throughout the body.
Munich – Most people with an office job sit in front of a computer for several hours a day. While many professionals complain of eye problems or back pain due to constant sitting and working with monitors, it is now a new phenomenon that is causing concern among health experts. The so-called “office bum”, translated in German as “office butt”, can lead to chronic pain. An expert explains where the phenomenon comes from and how an “office bum” can be avoided.
Sitting for hours can lead to “office bum” – experts warn of the resulting syndrome
Sitting for hours every day can lead to health risks, warns weight and nutrition consultant Annabelle Smith to the British portal
Mirror
. A sedentary lifestyle reduces the firmness of the buttocks, resulting in a flatter buttocks, the “office bum”. Anyone who is not particularly active outside of everyday office life and does not train their glutes runs the risk of suffering from the phenomenon, especially in combination with poor nutrition. While many people find a butt that is too flat to be unaesthetic, the consequences of the phenomenon can also go beyond appearance: In more serious cases, “dead butt syndrome”, also known as buttock amnesia, can develop.
“Office Bum” can lead to buttock amnesia and pain throughout the body
As a US health clinic explains, buttock amnesia means that one of the three main muscles in the buttock forgets how to activate properly. Although the butt itself may not hurt at first, the pain can affect the legs, feet, back and hips, and other areas of the body, according to health experts. According to the health clinic, if “dead butt syndrome” goes unnoticed, it can also lead to reduced freedom of movement.
With these exercises you can avoid an “office bum”.
In order to prevent an “office bum” from developing into “dead butt syndrome”, the expert recommends several exercises in an interview with Mirror. Regular training and short exercise breaks during the working day can counteract this. The exercises for at home:
Squats
Side supports (side plank)
Lunges
Pelvic Raise (Glute Bridge)
Beetle exercise (Dead Bug)
9.2 hours a day: Germans are sitting even more after the pandemic
How much Germans sit was recently made clear in a report published at the end of 2023 by DKV Deutsche Krankenversicherung AG and the German Sport University Cologne. The editors of the study say it is particularly worrying that Germans spend an average of 9.2 hours a day sitting, half an hour longer than during the pandemic. 18-29 year olds even sit for more than 10 hours a day.
Although the report does not explicitly warn against “office bum” or “dead butt syndrome”, the health risks are also the focus here. “Reducing daily sitting times through exercise significantly reduces the risk of death,” explains Ingo Froböse, professor at the German Sport University in Cologne.
(nbe)