Sitting Posture


Sitting is obviously a more common position for practicing, it’s just easier. Sitting and playing a guitar though is not something we’ve evolved to do so well and it does present us with a few problems.

The problem with sitting

  • Sitting on a flat chair tends to roll your lumbar spine back encouraging an exaggerated curve in the upper back and compensatory hyperextension high in the neck.
  • To get the guitar at a comfortable height you need to lift the leg that you're resting it on. This tends to create tension in the hip flexors, straining the lower back.
  • Lifting the leg tends to roll the pelvis back, we need to be aware of this and continue to lean forward into the guitar, sitting on the front of the ilium (pelvis).
  • There’s a greater tendency to lean over your guitar (due to the position of the pelvis) which makes it impossible for the shoulder to position the arm correctly.

Excess thoracic curve - Lateral ViewExcess thoracic curve - Lateral ViewThis degree of thoracic forward bending will lock the scapula and strain the AC joint.Previous Image 1/5 Next

And how to tackle it

  • Start with the relaxation program and make sure you’re comfortable with the sitting exercises in the last module.
  • If you need to raise your guitar you can get it to the correct height with a footstool under your right foot (unless of course you're playing a classical guitar).
  • Tuck your guitar into your lower abdomen, at a slight angle so that the guitar is facing either straight aheaad or slightly down. This will make it easier for both hands but particularly your left wrist.
  • Push your lower abdomen forward so that your sitting on the front of your pelvis. This will open your lumbar spine and support it’s natural curve.
  • Be aware of the muscles on the inside of your legs, they should be as relaxed as possible
  • The hip flexor on the right will be short in this position, if it is having to hold your leg up it will cause a significant strain on your lower back. Make sure that your leg is heavy on the footstool as if it were on the floor.
  • The femur tends to rotate as it flexes past 90˚, this can cause tension in the muscles stabilising the hip joint.

So this position can potentially generate myofascial tension at the front, side and back of the pelvis. The following exercise will help you relax the structures that tend to be stressed in this position and help you load up your skeleton rather than the myofascia. It relies on the focused awareness technique that you learned as part of the relaxation program.

Dynamic relaxation exercise

  • Begin by focusing on the outside of your left foot and be aware of releasing any tension up the side of your leg all the way to your hip. Do the same with your right leg.
  • Bring your focus next to the gluteal muscles, your sitting on them, and release any excess tension there.
  • Go back to your feet, this time on the top, and relax from there to the lateral part of your shin, to your knee and up to the front of your leg where it meets the lower abdomen (the inguinal ligament). Do the same on the right leg.
  • Go back to your left foot and release any tension in the calf, behind the knee and the back of the leg up to your gluteals. Repeat on the right side.
  • Be aware of releasing any tension around your sacrum and loosen the connective tissue belt that runs around the top of your pelvis and descends into your groin.
  • The hip flexors run from the front of your legs, through your lower abdomen onto your anterior spine and take the most strain in this position. As you consciously release any tension around the groin be aware of allowing your pelvis and lower back to fall into a new position.
  • This will allow you to relax the larger lumbar stabilisers in the small of your back as well as the small muscles deeper to the spine.

This sort of exercise relies heavily on your ability to relax specific muscle groups. If you’re having difficulty with it then revisit the relaxation program, particularly the focused awareness exercises.

This video will take you through a number of options for seated positions. Classical guitarists many years ago developed an efficient way of sitting that allows the upper body to relax. Unfortunately for us the larger size of most steel string instruments makes that position just too cumbersome. The guitar's body doesn't fit in the lap as easily and the left hand is simply too far away.

So we did the things that we humans do best, we adapted. The most common position now has the guitar on the right leg, avoiding the excessive leg abduction that this size instrument would require, and bringing the left hand closer to the middle. Unfortunately it also takes the right hand away from the midline creating all sorts of contorsions in the right shoulder, more on that in the next module.

We examine three common ways of holding the guitar in a seated position: on a strap and on your right leg with and without a footstool. The aim of all of these positions is to achieve a stable spinal curve and a relaxed open upper body. You'll see how the angle of your pelvis on the chair dictates the shape of the spine above it and a number of ways to sit with a healthy spinal curve.

 

Myofascial imbalances in the lower body will add to the strain caused by this seated position. The following exercises will are helpful, particularly if you uffer from low back pain or are having difficulty maintaining this recommended seated position.

Sitting relaxation exercise These are an advanced part of the relaxation program and a precursor to the above dynamic relaxation exercise.
hamstring stretches Short hamstrings are commonly related to low back pain and postural adaptations such as a sway back. When you’re sitting however knee flexion creates considerable slack in the hamstrings and their shortness is less of a direct issue. Their considerable affect on the lower body however does mean that you when you sit down they have already caused strain in your lower back (which is probably why you’re sitting), and possible thickness of the sacral connective tissue.
hip rotators Flexion of the right hip above 90˚ will induce lateral rotation of the femur. If the medial rotators are short they will pull on the sacrum – not good.
Hip Flexors The hip flexors need to maintain your sitting position. They are usually not strong enough to maintain a healthy sitting position and often shorter on on e side than the other. This sitting position will shorten the right hip flexors which should be gently mobilised before playing and adequately stretched afterwards.
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