It is not uncommon to feel 'wobbly' or unsteady on your feet after sitting for a long period. It can be due to reduced blood flow, tight muscles and ligaments, fluid pooled in the body's lower extremities, or pins and needles sensations in the feet.
Sitting squashes the life out of muscles that help give you hip extension (standing). These are the muscles on your back side. The glutes, the hamstrings, and the deep hip rotators all get squashed while you sit. This reduces blood flow and your brain's connection to the muscles.
Lack of movement.
Have you ever noticed stiffness in your legs after sitting for an extended period? Lack of movement can cause the muscle to tense. This leads to soreness when you begin to move again. Stay in one position too long and you may feel actual pain when getting on your feet.
Most people experience stiff knees after sitting for a long period of time. It's usually the result of inflammation and fluid build-up in the knee joint, which causes swelling and decreases your ability to freely move the joint.
Sitting for periods of time causes the low back muscles to stretch or 'creep' into a longer position. When you stand, the muscles don't retract to their normal position right away. If you have trouble straightening after you have been sitting for awhile then you are very aware of that fact.
Another contributing factor is the change in ligaments, tendons and muscles that are relatively relaxed and flexible when we are young. These lose that flexibility with ageing and disuse. In fact, many of the age-related changes in muscles, bones and joints are the result of disuse.
Now, it's important to stress that the most common source of lower back pain from sitting is caused by your posture. However, by also sitting for too long, the discs in your vertebrae might start losing their cushioning. As a result, there's sharp, chronic back pain, especially when sitting.
Exercise can prevent many age-related changes to muscles, bones and joints – and reverse these changes as well. It's never too late to start living an active lifestyle and enjoying the benefits.
Several nutritional supplements have shown promise for relieving pain, stiffness and other arthritis symptoms. Glucosamine and chondroitin, omega-3 fatty acids, SAM-e and curcumin are just some of the natural products researchers have studied for osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
The most common reason for hip stiffness is a lack of movement or sustained sitting. When we sit often and for long periods of time the muscles on the front of our hips get tight and stay tight. These muscles are called hip flexors. Our body adapts to the positions it's in most frequently.
Mobility, or full-range, exercises like walking or easy cycling lead to more blood pumping through the muscles. This increase in blood flow may help you recover from soreness sooner. That is, as long as you aren't overloading or challenging the muscles more.
Muscle weakness due to vitamin D deficiency is predominantly of the proximal muscle groups and is manifested by a feeling of heaviness in the legs, tiring easily, and difficulty in mounting stairs and rising from a chair; the deficiency is reversible with supplementation (15–18).
Weak Legs and Glutes
By sitting all day, you're not depending on your powerful lower body muscles to hold you up. This leads to muscle atrophy, which is the weakening of these muscles. Without strong leg and glute muscles to stabilize you, your body is at risk of injury.
Sitting causes your hip flexors to shorten, and your seated position can also hurt your back, particularly if you have bad posture or don't use an ergonomic chair. Also, poor posture while sitting can cause compression on the discs in your spine and can lead to premature degeneration, which results in chronic pain.
Occasionally feeling that the legs are too heavy is normal and not cause for concern. However, if the feeling does not go away or occurs alongside other symptoms like pain and swelling, it may be time to see a doctor for a diagnosis.
Taking magnesium can help to reduce arthritic pain and inflammation. It may be beneficial to take magnesium supplements or eat foods rich in magnesium if you are experiencing arthritic pain.
Consuming healthy fats can increase joint health and lubrication. Foods high in healthy fats include salmon, trout, mackerel, avocados, olive oil, almonds, walnuts, and chia seeds. The omega-3 fatty acids in these foods will assist in joint lubrication.
Joint pain and stiffness seem to go hand in hand with aging, not just old age. Starting around age 30, you begin to lose bone density and muscle mass, both of which can create strain and pain in your joints.
Most commonly, muscle stiffness can be treated at home by resting the stiff muscle, applying heat and cold, stretching, and massaging the muscle. More extensive treatments may include physical therapy and medications, depending upon the underlying condition.
Causes of common stiffness include exercise soreness, “muscle knots,” overuse injuries, arthritis and “inflammaging,” inflammation (from chronic infection, autoimmune disease), by mild widespread pain (fibromyalgia), anxiety disorder, and medication side effects.
The simple movement of walking is one of the best things we can do for chronic lower back pain. Ten to fifteen minutes of walking twice a day will help ease lower back pain. Substitute this activity for a more vigorous type of exercise if you prefer and/or are able.
If lower back pain occurs when standing or walking, the pain may be due to muscle fatigue or injury. It may also be due to conditions such as spinal stenosis, degenerative disc disease, hyperlordosis, and sciatica.