Get Moving!
“Me thinks that the minute my legs begin to move my thoughts begin to flow, as if I had given vent to the stream at the lower end and consequently new fountains flowed into it at the upper.”
~ Henry David Thoreau, American naturalist, poet and philosopher. 1817 - 1862. Wrote ‘Walden’ about the virtues of simple living, inspired by 2 years spent living in a small cabin on the edge of Walden pond.
Inactivity is a killer – we all know that. But did you know that regular vigorous exercise isn’t necessarily the antidote? A simpler, more modest, less strenuous pattern of movement can be just as, and some would argue more, beneficial in terms of the number of years we will be on this planet.
I am not in any way dissing exercise, but if the very word “exercise” brings you out in a rash, then forget the spandex and hundred quid shoes, cancel that unused gym membership and follow the advice below. Your health will be in good hands.
Sitting kills
Unfortunately, we have become a nation of sitters – at work increasingly, during our leisure time, and while commuting. The average British adult spends around 52 hours on their bottom in a typical (pre-lockdown) week. That sounds like a lot, doesn’t it? But if you think about, it most of us would wake up, sit for breakfast and then sit during our commute in a car or train. When we get to work, many of us will spend most of our day seated at a desk. When we get home, too exhausted to do much else, we will plonk ourselves down on the sofa for an evening of dinner in front of the TV. (During lockdown, without the commute, the stats are possibly worse). Repeat 5 days a week for the rest of your working life.
44% of adults in the UK exercise less than once a month (1) and 30% (2) get no exercise at all. This increased sitting and decreased physical activity has profound consequences for nearly all aspects of human health. Copious evidence is now impossible to ignore: prolonged sitting shaves years off your lifespan (3) and is associated with all major diseases (4).
Let’s talk a little bit about sitting. In what way does it actually harm the body?
It increases your risk of heart disease (5)
It lowers your metabolism, and therefore causes you to gain weight
It increases insulin resistance, increasing your risk of diabetes by 91% (6) (7)
It slows down blood circulation to the legs, which can lead to swollen ankles and blood clots
It slows down cognitive function and leads to fuzzy thinking (less blood pumped to our brains)
It decreases muscle mass and bone density (8).
It increases your risk of cancer, particularly colon in men and uterine in women
Are you convinced yet?
A microbiologist called Marc Hamilton PhD explains it neatly: When you park your butt in a chair, your metabolism comes to a screeching halt. This is because of an enzyme called lipoprotein lipase (LPL) which resides in the blood vessels of your muscles. “LPL captures fat in the blood and incinerates it” says Hamilton. When you’re standing the muscles that support your weight release the enzyme which goes to work burning fat. But when you are sitting still “the fat stays in the arteries and can be stored in adipose tissue – also known as body fat” he explains.
Regular movement protects us from disease in several ways, but most importantly it prevents oxidative stress and inflammation, the primary mechanisms underlying most modern, degenerative diseases.
Exercising vigorously for 60 mins 3 or 4 times a week definitely helps, but it doesn’t entirely counteract the damage that is caused by too much sitting (9) and it isn’t yet clear how much physical activity is needed to offset the health risks (10). Hamilton says the biochemical reactions slowed by sitting are completely different from the ones that are activated by your daily workout. The biggest difference between thin and fat people is how much they sit, according to James Levine, MD, an obesity researcher at the Mayo Clinic. In fact, a review in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute concluded that the link between sitting and cancer remained strong no matter how much people worked out. (11)
What can we learn from our ancestors?
Our ancestors didn’t work out, formally at least. Yet they were extremely fit and almost entirely free of the modern diseases that plague us today. Humans had to exert themselves strenuously to survive. Anthropological research suggests that our ancestors sprinted, jogged, climbed, carried, crouched, and jumped throughout the day. They also walked an average of six miles and ran half to one mile a day, usually in the quest for food. Women were as active as men. And they didn’t think of this as exercise – movement was just part of life.
Even as humans advanced, our bodies were in motion. Long days of farm work, trudging into town for school or supplies and other factors of everyday living, left little opportunity to be sedentary. But in the mid 20th century, technological advances, a rise in car culture and a shift from physically demanding work to office jobs began chipping away at our physical activity. Today, at a time when we have more choices than ever in almost every aspect of our lives, most of us find ourselves sedentary – which is a fairly new configuration for the human body, and not one that we have properly evolved to spend long periods of time in.
So what should we be doing?
In short, we should move like our ancestors. They performed low-intensity movements on a regular basis. These periods of low-intensity activity were punctuated with brief periods of much higher-intensity activity such as hunting, running from a predator or fighting for survival. This is the type of movement our bodies are adapted for, and so this is what we should aim for in our daily lives.
The accepted wisdom from most top health and fitness experts is to be active every day and to aim for moderate to high intensity exercise throughout the week, with 150 mins of moderate activity, 75 of vigorous and 30 mins of peak, or some combo of these. Such a program will have a significant impact on your health: blood pressure, cholesterol levels, energy and stamina, your mood, mental wellbeing and sleep quality.
We’ll look at the higher-intensity exercise in another article, but what should the rest look like given today’s lifestyle, conveniences and, for those who are desk bound, constraints?
Standing instead of sitting
Simply standing burns over 50% more calories than sitting (12), and it is more effective than intense exercise at undoing the harms of excessive sitting. (While I am at it, light activity burns nearly double the calories of standing (13))
You should take standing breaks for at least two minutes every 30 to 45 mins (I have a reminder on my phone), go for a 2 minute walk every hour, and stand up during long meetings.
Have you thought of using a standing desk at work? (Please note that this is just to give you an idea of what they look like; I am not recommending this one in particular). Many employers are now allowing and even encouraging standing desks because of the studies that have shown that they can increase productivity and employee satisfaction.
Standing in one place for eight hours straight isn’t natural for our bodies any more than sitting, so working at a standing desk has some clear benefits but you want to make sure to get plenty of walking movement throughout the day as well.
Walking and low-level activity
Light movement throughout the day has been shown to be more effective for promoting good health than only doing a mix of high intensity exercise and sitting. A sensible goal is 10,000 steps (5 miles) of movement a day. If you are starting from a completely sedentary lifestyle and maybe carrying some excess weight, a lower goal will be more appropriate – just start with around 4-5000 steps a day and build up slowly from there. Health benefits will kick in way before you get to 10,000.
In order to get the steps in, try to integrate this type of movement into your daily life: use the stairs whenever possible even if there is a lift or an escalator, park in the furthest not the nearest slot at the supermarket, and walk or cycle to work. Few of us love chores, but studies of the Blue Zone populations leave no doubt that gardening, shopping and cleaning, are universal among people who live long, healthy lives. (14) Then of course there is nothing like getting a dog to make you go out for a walk every day. The more you can do this type of activity outdoors the better.
There is so much evidence to show that walking and low-level activity is associated with lower all-cause mortality that I wasn’t sure which piece of evidence to pick.
Tom Yates, a professor at University of Leicester, who studies the impact on health of sedentary behaviour and physical activity, conducted a study that was reported in Mayo Clinic Proceedings in May 2019 which provides one of the most dramatic links yet between walking and longevity. Researchers looked at data across seven years on 474,919 people in the UK, during which time 12,823 died. The subjects defined their own walking pace as slow, average or brisk (c110 steps per minute). No surprise the brisk walkers had longer life expectancies on average. But the number of extra years is dramatic. And most interesting: brisk walking was linked to longer life regardless of weight – including not just overweight people but across all categories of obesity. “Increasing your walking pace in everyday life is a good way to increase fitness levels, particularly in those who are slow walkers.” Tom Yates
Consistency is the key here. Just as the effects of too much sitting do not come from a single day or week, it takes more than a day or a week to reverse the effects.
Summary
Stand (or rather don’t sit) for as much of your day as you can. Take a standing break every 30 to 45 mins if you are in a sedentary job. Set a reminder on your phone or smart watch
Aim for 10,000 steps a day (or lower if you are just starting out). Consider a FitBit (or similar) to measure it
Integrate as much light activity into your day as possible, whether that is chores or walking to work, taking the stairs or walking the dog. You will be amazed at how your fitness increases and those steps add up
If out walking, increase your walking pace as much as you feel able
Aim for 150 mins of moderate intensity exercise (brisk walking at a pace where you can hear your breathing but you’re not out of breath) spread throughout the week
Don’t be too ambitious. Make small changes and do them regularly. Consistency is key
Conclusion
A sedentary lifestyle increases the risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, poor circulation, fuzzy thinking and loss of muscle and bone density. Sitting is a killer, and long periods of sitting should be avoided at all costs. (15)
Movement throughout the day is every bit as important (and some would argue more important) for your health as exercising vigorously several times a week.
It’s never too early or too late to start to make positive changes for your body. Why not start today? Your body will thank you for it.