MM#303--Sitting Is the New Smoking

Welcome to the Theory to Action podcast, where we examine the timeless treasures of wisdom from the great books in less time, to help you take action immediately and ultimately to create and lead a flourishing life. Now here's your host, David Kaiser.

Hello, I am David and welcome back to another Mojo Minute. According to researchers at the Mayo Clinic, who analyzed some 13 studies all around sitting time and activity levels, they say that sitting for any extended time, such as at a desk or behind the wheel or in front of a screen, can be harmful. And actually let's grab the first pull quote for today from the research. Researchers analyzed 13 studies of sitting time and activity levels. They found that those who sat for more than eight hours a day with no physical activity had a risk of dying similar to that posed by obesity and smoking. However, unlike some other studies, this analysis of data from more than one million people found that 60 to 75 minutes of moderately intense physical activity a day countered the effects of too much sitting. Other studies have found that, for people who are most active, sitting time contributes little to their risk of death. Overall, the research seems to point to the fact that less sitting and more moving contributes to better health. You might start by simply standing rather than sitting when you have a chance, or find ways to walk while you work. For example, they recommend taking a break from sitting every 30 minutes. Stand while talking on the phone or watching television. If you're at work at a desk, try a standing desk or improvised with a high table or counter. Walk with your colleagues for meetings rather than sitting in a conference room. Stand on your work surface above a treadmill with a computer screen and keyboard on a stand, or a specialized treadmill ready vertical desk so that you can be in motion throughout the day. The impact of movement, even leisurely movement, can be profound. For starters, you'll burn more calories. This might lead to weight loss and increased energy, and also physical activity helps maintain muscle tone, your ability to move and your mental well-being, especially as you age. So that again comes to us from the Mayo Clinic. And so our negative wisdom is that if we don't force ourselves to move a little bit more throughout the day, we are contributing to our health risks similar to that of obesity or smoking, even if we currently don't have those co-morbidities. Which got me to thinking about a great book I read some time ago titled Move your DNA. It was written by Katie Bowman. Now, who is Katie Bowman? Well, she's one of the world's leading biomechanics, which is a person who helps us to integrate proper body movement to optimize our well-being. Now here's the poll quote I was thinking about when I read that Mayo Clinic research. Let's go to that book. Move your DNA. Of course, diet, stress and environmental factors can all change the expression or the physical outcome of your DNA. But it is my professional opinion as a biomechanist that movement is what most humans are missing more than any other factor, and the bulk of the scientific community has dropped the ball With respect to disease. The humans internal mechanical environment has been the least discussed environment of all. A staggering oversight when almost every cell in your body has specialized equipment just to sense the mechanical environment. Every single thing our bodies do requires movement, initiated by our musculoskeletal system, to be performed with ease. Digestion, immunity, reproduction All these functions require us to move. And here's the key nugget you can eat the perfect diet, sleep eight hours a night and use only baking soda and vinegar to clean your house, but without the loads created by natural movement, all of these worthy efforts are thwarted on a cellular level and your optimal wellness level remains elusive. Okay, so those are some pretty good, solid nuggets of wisdom. No matter if we eat the perfect diet, no matter if we get eight hours of sleep at night, no matter if we use only baking soda and vinegar to clean our houses. Now that's a little bit far for me. I am not going that far. I am not no environmental wacko, but you get the point. No matter if we do all these things, we are thwarting our efforts at a cellular level if we don't move our body more. And later on, katie gives us some solutions. She says there's a difference between movement and exercise, and actually I just experienced this as an example. I was just at a hotel conference in Alpharetta, georgia, and I didn't exercise the whole time I was there, but you couldn't tell that on my steps app on my phone, because I was doing a lot of moving all around all day long. I would go and sit in a ballroom to hear the keynote speaker, then I would get up and move with my team to a breakout session and we would walk for seven to eight minutes down a long hallway to get there. Then, after 45 minutes or so, we would repeat that over and over throughout the day by getting up and moving to another conference room, and then, when night came, we would all go out to dinner by walking down various sidewalks to our restaurant of choice. So we were moving constantly throughout the day. I was not exercising, though. So I think that's a good way to kind of get ourselves out of the comfort zone and incorporate more movement in our days. We're not just going to the gym for a 30 minute workout or a 45 or 60 minute workout and then getting in our cars to go into office and sit down for eight hours without getting any movement at all. We just have to find ways, little small ways, to incorporate more movement. Perhaps if you're talking on the phone, you can get up and move and pace back and forth if you can. Or perhaps if you're reading a book, you can get the audiobook version and walk while listening, which is always a personal favorite of mine. And speaking of walking, here's something almost all of us can do. Let's go back to the book. In addition to considering how we distribute mileage throughout the week, we must also discuss how we distribute our walking throughout the day. As I've discussed, walking all at once brings mechanical stimulation all at once. Walking uses a greater number of muscles, when done naturally, than most other activities, which means taking yourself for a walk is like taking your cells out to eat. If you walk your daily three miles all at once, then follow them up with stillness, your body will must wait the full 24 hours until its next quote feeding, the waste removal session. If you walk one mile three times a day, the cells are fed smaller amounts throughout the day and the waste is removed more frequently. If we compare not walking to walking three miles a day all at once, then of course walking the three miles is likely to leave you with better health, but remember that loads are affected by numerous factors, including the amount of time between the load cycles. Being mindful about walking throughout the day can have a positive impact on your well-being, even if your quote walks are nothing more than one to five minute laps around your home office or block. Now, quick, put down this book and go walk around the block right now. Or, better yet, get the audio book and listen to the entire book while walking. Seriously, don't read anymore unless you've walked for at least five minutes. Hold on real quick. Okay, had to do that quick. Walk around the block for five minutes. So, in today's mojo minute, as I catch my breath and keeping with, our actions speak louder than our words, so much so that we can barely hear what we're saying. Let's move our DNA more, one step at a time, one day at a time, shall we? I'm up for that challenge and I'll see you on the move, moving your DNA. Thank you.