If you keep up with health news, you know that sitting is one of the worst things that you can do for your health. In fact, many of our loyal visitors at Essential Massage Therapy in New Jersey complain about the aches and pains in their bodies after sitting at an office desk for long hours each day. But did you know that sitting can affect your massage as well? Read on to find out how!

1. Declining reflexes and feedback. Some studies show that a sedentary lifestyle, marked by plenty of sitting and little activity, can cause pretty much every measure of physical health and wellbeing to decline. One of the most obvious is that those who are inactive start to lose their reflex muscles—as if the body has simply gotten tired of never being “talked to” or receiving stimulus from the outside world. When you get a massage, this can cause you to miss your body’s signals that an area is sore or in need of attention, simply because your body has more or less checked out.

2. Fatigue. While it seems counterintuitive, if you are not active, your body will become more tired, instead of less. Think of a car that gets left in the garage all winter, never being driven. How do you think that car performs in spring? It is probably creaky, stiff, and hard to get going. Your body works the same way, which means you may feel “too tired” to do anything, not because your body is exhausted, but because it is unused.

3. Chronic Pain. Whether it is the combination of the above factors or something else, those who sit for longer periods of time report higher levels of chronic pain. This can interfere with your massage by making it uncomfortable or difficult to massage the areas in which you need it most. While working and communicating with your skilled massage therapist can reduce some of this pain, it can be hard to motivate yourself when everything hurts.

Do you sit all day at work… and then maybe at home? Think about all those hours sitting, and see if you can add just 5 minutes of standing for each hour. This helps your blood to start flowing again and starts you on the path to feeling better. For a full-body wake-up call, schedule a deep tissue massage at Essential Massage Therapy in New Jersey.