Review: Deskbound by Kelly Starrett
A few years ago I stumbled onto a blog that shared seven exercises to undo the damage done to one’s musculature from sitting. That blog included a recommendation of another book by Kelly Starrett called Becoming A Supple Leopard, which I quickly read and reviewed. I seriously devoured the book in a couple of days because I was so fascinated with Starrett’s findings with regard to our physiology. I also picked up a book by Dr. Starrett called Ready To Run—that book recommended some exercises and routines specific for runners to be able to run with less tendency toward injury.
In 2016, Dr. Starrett published a new book that had been highly anticipated, Deskbound: Standing Up To A Sitting World. Deskbound does not deviate from Starrett’s previous writings, but rather focuses in on what may be one of the most significant physiological contributors to poor mobility and injury today. We are a culture of sitters. We sit at work. We sit when we travel. We sit when we attend cultural events, whether sports, concerts, or movies. We sit when watching television and when grabbing a meal. We spend so much time sitting that some of our muscles are chronically tight while others are incredibly loose, and therefore incredibly weak.
The book is a combination of recommended guidelines and mobility exercises to start undoing the damage caused by a lifetime of sitting. One of my favorite aspects of each of Starrett’s books is that he gives practical suggestions and hacks for working on mobility 10-15 minutes per day. In this latest book, he takes into account that some people may be stuck in an office and has developed a “deskbound” version of some of these mobility exercises.
One of the biggest takeaways I have had since reading the book is that I am now more cognizant of (and trying to correct) my mechanics when performing certain activities. As an example, for the last few years, when possible I work from a standing desk. While the standing desk is a move in the right direction (prolonged sitting and the sedentary lifestyle are definitely terrible for us on a number of levels), Starrett’s book has made me more cognizant of my (poor) posture and I now focus energy toward correcting, strengthening, and improving mobility.
Deskbound has four main guidelines for preventing and solving problems related to sitting.
- Reduce optional sitting in your life. Some of us are stuck at a desk, or we are driving a bus or car for long periods. But, there are times when we have a choice. We can watch TV standing up. We can choose to have conversations with friends while walking. Just by getting up and moving, we can start undoing damage and prevent further damage.
- For every 30 minutes we are sitting, move for at least 2 minutes. This one is particularly helpful for me when I am away from home, and I’m sitting in a coffee shop or office space working on a project. I can get “in the zone” and sit for a long period focused on writing or working on projects on my laptop. These activities slow my circulation and I will catch myself leaning forward with hunched shoulders. Getting up for a couple of minutes every half hour helps me reset and correct. It also helps me focus too. I can jump right back into the work refreshed and energized.
- Prioritize position and mechanics when possible. For me, this is the big area of focus. Whether I am standing, walking, or running I try to think through how my body is stacked and if I need to make corrections to my stance. Sometimes when Jamie and I are walking she will poke her fingers into my thoracic spine if she sees me slouching. Her reminder helps me to focus and prioritize good position and mechanics.
- Perform 10-15 minutes of daily maintenance/mobility. This just means taking time to work through areas of tension and weakness so that physiologically the body is working better. Starrett recommends that if a person is trying to improve mobility, then a stretch or other mobility activity should be done for at least two minutes to have benefit. One of the stretches he (and I) highly recommend is the couch stretch—which does not mean laying on the couch.
I highly recommend all of Dr. Starrett’s books, but if I were choosing one based on the greatest need and area of focus for most of us, I would choose Deskbound. All of his books talk about mobility and provide helpful photos and explanations of proper positioning and exercises, but in Deskbound, Kelly takes a very close look at specific mechanical faults caused by sitting that lead us to injury in sport and in daily life and also offers a pathway to making corrections. May we each move more freely, and carve out time from behind the desk to move well!