Crossing your legs is a fairly common reflex. But even if for some this posture is ordinary it remains a very bad habit according to an English specialist. We explain to you!
It’s a habit that many people have without even noticing it. Crossing your legs once properly seated is a harmless gesture, but according to an English specialist it could have harmful consequences for our body. It’s in the magazine The Conversation that Professor and Director of the Clinical Anatomy Learning Center at Lancaster University, Adam Taylor, warned readers about this posture. In this study, he explains the different variations that can be found in the crossing of the legs, but also what this generally entails.
Generally women cross their legs by placing one knee on their second knee while men cross them more easily by placing their ankle on their knee since they have less mobility than women at the hips. But this mobility is not necessarily good to take, since the specialist affirms that his various research shows that sitting down and crossing the legs increases the loss of alignment of the latter. One hip being higher than the other, this therefore causes a misalignment which also affects the pelvis: “Due to the way your skeleton is linked, crossing your legs can also lead to misalignment in your spine and shoulders.“, he explains in the review.
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A position that does not only have bad consequences
Adam Taylor also indicates that in some cases the sitting position with a cumulative crossing of the legs can impact the peroneal nerve: “This typically manifests as weakness when trying to lift the little toe side of the foot, as well as a more concerning foot drop, where the entire foot hangs“. Also according to this study, the professor reports that this posture can reduce the quality of sperm for a man. He explains that to produce good sperm, the testicles must have a temperature between 2 and 6 degrees above that of the body, but when the man crosses his legs his temperature increases by 2 to 3.5 degrees.
But be careful, it is necessary to measure the negative consequences of this posture since it also has positive effects in certain cases. People with one leg shorter than the other will find themselves in this posture since it allows the height of the hips and pelvis to be adjusted. Crossed legs also allow the abdominal muscles to relax andimproves the stability of the sacroiliac jointsaccording to specialist Adam Taylor. So even if you are used to crossing your legs it is not very serious either, the whole thing is to pay particular attention to a regular change of position.