As a musculoskeletal physio I seem to spend quite a lot of time advising my patients to try and break the habit of sitting with their legs crossed. This can be for a number of reasons – they have back pain stemming from poor sitting posture, sacroiliac joint (the bony connection between your lower back and hip) dysfunctions, and even lower leg muscle imbalances such as tight iliotibial bands (the long band-like structure on the outer part of your thigh). If your legs are crossed, your lower spine has no option but to be in a flexed (bent) position. This causes increased loading on structures such as the lower back discs and unwanted, sustained stretching on ligaments and other soft tissues. It also means that your hips are not straight which, if repeated regularly, can set you up for sacroiliac joint dysfunctions and more. Your leg bones are also internally rotated (turned in) which can contribute to the hip joints pinching (impingement) and muscle imbalances of the lower limb muscles especially the hip rotators.
However crossing your legs can be a very difficult habit to break. Also, I find patients who are quite mobile or ‘bendy’ often use crossing their legs as a means to give themselves additional support in sitting. If you try to tell yourself ‘don’t cross your legs’ I think potentially all your brain hears is the ‘cross your legs’ part. An alternative is to substitute crossing your legs for something different. Try crossing your ankles instead – this allows you to keep your back in a mid-position, externally rotates your hips (turns your legs outward) which is less strenuous on your hip joints. It also gives you some support if you’re flexible and if you sit relatively upright this posture can also help to activate your stomach muscles. Try it and let me know what you think.
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