How to stop sitting cross-legged?

August 9, 2015 4:39 AM

I like to sit cross-legged or with one leg tucked up under me. This is not doing my knees any favors. How to break the habit?

I tuck one leg up under me while sitting at my desk and I tend to sit cross legged while on the couch with a laptop, because it makes a perfect resting space for the laptop. But I need to stop. How can I break myself of this habit? From my research kneeling chairs aren't such a great idea, and that wouldn't help with the couch anyways. I have tried to google this but mostly find exhortations to not sit crosslegged/with tucked-under legs, without any advice about how to avoid this if it is what comes naturally. Apologies if my google-fu has failed.

Thanks for any suggestions as to how to stop this.

posted by 2 cats in the yard to Health & Fitness (14 answers total)

Best answer: Have you considered a laptop tray for the couch? Either one that sits over your lap (legs of tray on the sides of your legs) or had a stand for the floor and pulls over your lap?
posted by Karaage at 4:50 AM on August 9, 2015

Best answer: Morris dancer bells. Cold wet socks.* Shoes with uncomfortably knobby heels.

Find a perfect table for working while sitting on the couch and put pillows behind yourself so there isn't room in front to put the laptop on your knees.

Set up an alternative place to work with the laptop surface at a comfortable standing height.

Get a left handed mouse and you will naturally switch to tucking up the other knee, which at least will even out the strain.

Get a timer that goes ping every five minutes and train yourself to uncross your legs when it does.

Get a fairly soft ball about six to eight inches in diameter and hold it in place between your knees. If you squeeze it rhythmically you will be doing exercises that help undo the damage. You also can't tuck a leg under without dropping the ball.

*This was a side effect of my leaky boots last winter and made a difference to my habit of sitting with one leg tucked under..
posted by Jane the Brown at 4:52 AM on August 9, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Sitting cross-legged or with a leg tucked up might be hard to stop if you're feeling like it reduces stress on your core or back and is less tiring. You can get a similar effect on your body by sitting with your feet supported on a small footrest of some kind under your desk, (like a box or small carton, with the size depending on how tall you are), because (I find) it angles/supports you in a way that's similar in overall body effect to sitting cross- legged.
posted by flourpot at 5:23 AM on August 9, 2015 [5 favorites]

Skirts.

And seconding the footrest. That's why you do it. (That's definitely why I did it.)
posted by phunniemee at 5:28 AM on August 9, 2015 [1 favorite]

Sorry, instead of under your desk I should have sent in front of the couch.
posted by flourpot at 5:39 AM on August 9, 2015

Best answer: I do this too. It's because my legs are a tiny bit short and my feet don't sit comfortably flat on the ground, so now I have footrest type things all over my house. In my kitchen it's a clean plastic rubbish bin on it's side, in my living room it's a plastic storage tub. At work it's the bar on the back of the desk, but I sometimes grab boxes instead. I'd had proper foot rests too but they're often too tall. I also have a quite large chair in my living room where I can tuck my legs up more comfortably (so I'm not so squashed in) because apparently I'm never going to stop 100%. Alternatively I turn sideways on the couch so my legs are out and prop the laptop on a cushion, which is kind of hot but gives my knees a rest.

Then, to make me more likely to use the footrest, I have a laptop side table thing from Ikea which goes across in front of me with the laptop screen at the right height. Add a cordless keyboard and mouse and I can use the computer quite effectively with my feet on the footrest. It helps that my plastic bin fits perfectly in the gap at the base so everything is in the right place.

This kind of sitting only gets harder as you get older, so might as well find alternatives now.
posted by shelleycat at 5:40 AM on August 9, 2015 [2 favorites]

Are you by any chance on the shorter side? I definitely am, and I've noticed that other short people I've known are also more inclined to sit like this. I'm 5'2", so with almost all chairs are high enough that I can't comfortably place both of my feet flat on the floor at the right angle. I've had a hard time finding a desk chair that works for this, but the goal should be for your knees to be at a 90 degree angle or a little bit less, so that they're actually just above your hips.

A footrest is probably your best bet to help compensate for this. I also purchased this adjustable table/laptop desk thing. It's worked quite well for me.

As far as the couch is concerned, for me the problem with sitting so that my legs can extend lengthwise on the couch is that then I don't feel like my back is as supported. Maybe you would be more comfortable in a recliner type chair (with footstool) rather than the couch? I find I'm less likely to fold up my legs sitting in one of those compared to sitting on the couch.

Oh, and I find slippers help as well when I'm around the house, because my feet tend to get cold, which is another reason why I like to fold them up under me. Make sure to get ones with a grippier tread on the bottom, since that can help give you traction, especially on wood or tile floors.
posted by litera scripta manet at 6:44 AM on August 9, 2015

I used to do this at work and stopped when I got a Herman Miller Aeron. The mesh seat has a hard plastic pan around it that digs into one's ankle in that position.
posted by advicepig at 7:23 AM on August 9, 2015

thirding footrests. i only found out how bad it was to do this when i got tendonitis, and now a footrest is the only way i can sit comfortably. so please, change before you end up as messed up as i am :o(

(also, at work, a standing desk is another "solution").
posted by andrewcooke at 7:36 AM on August 9, 2015

Response by poster: Thank you, all. I had thought about (but then forgotten) a footrest but I hadn't thought of a table or putting a ball between my legs. Wet socks is an amusing idea, and - more realistically - I had semi-seriously considered shoes that would be uncomfortable to sit on, at least for use at work (I am usually barefoot at home).

re. this just gets harder: I'm in my mid-40s and have been ignoring this for at least a decade, so I'm now at "harder" :(
posted by 2 cats in the yard at 1:24 PM on August 9, 2015

Echoing that a footrest helps keep me from tucking my legs when I'm at my desk at work. Hell, maybe I should get one at home so I'm not always sitting bunched up on my couch.

Goes off to ice her knee again...
posted by radioamy at 1:24 PM on August 9, 2015

Yeah, me too. Here's a saddle-stool that I used back when I was doing dentals as a vet tech (sometimes I had to sit and not move for several hours at a stretch.) I bought one for my current sedentary job because it forces my feet to the floor, and it helps bend my back in the right direction. I've been pretty happy with it, although I don't use it 100% of the time.
posted by JulesER at 2:22 PM on August 9, 2015

The other angle to consider is why is it hurting your knees? Are your hips tight?

If breaking the habit is difficult, you could try adding in some daily hip stretches or runner's yoga routines to improve flexibility.
posted by tinkletown at 1:31 AM on August 10, 2015

Response by poster: Update: A footstool is definitely helping at work, and a lapdesk is kind of helping at home. I should definitely add in some exercises as well though I haven't yet. I liked the idea of a ball but I ran it by our EHS guy at work for his opinion and he said that even though it doesn't take a lot of effort, the constant tension is likely to strain thigh muscles if I do it for more than a few minutes at a time and so he advised against it.
posted by 2 cats in the yard at 6:07 PM on August 14, 2015