WE WERE MADE MOVE

In 2012, researchers from Loughborough University

and the University of Leicester in England assessed nearly

800,000 people from a range of countries

And studied the effects of our sedentary lifestyles

The results

confirmed our worst fear.

Sitting was hurting us and was actually speeding up the aging process and breakdown in the body.

According to the Loughborough and Leicester study,

those who sat for long periods

had a two fold increase in their risk of

diabetes, heart disease and death.

This huge study was unfortunately just the tip of the iceberg. The evidence since that study in 2012 has begun piling up along with the stresses in our body mind.

Lack of movement is the common story we all share of the overwhelmed, tired human being, with knees flexed, ass down on a seat of some kind, arms forward, back curled up, head protruding out, tensed and fighting with the pressures and responsibilities that have and taken over.

Sound familiar?

HOW LONG DO WE ACTUALLY SIT?

The average American according to recent studies, spends on average

7.7 hours/per day sitting and so called “resting” on their ass!

That’s not including sleep!

Thats 15 hours not moving half of which are bent and curled up

This leaves us about 9 hours of movement out of 24 hours, which means

we rest more than we move.

Sounds like we are morphing into trees!

From increased cholesterol, cancer, diabetes, and depression, to blown discs and bad backs, the negative effects of sitting down or “taking a break” too often and designing our lives around the chair or the couch or car instead of around moving is taking us down...literally.

"Sitting is more dangerous than smoking, kills more people than HIV and is more treacherous than parachuting. We are sitting ourselves to death,"

Dr. James Levine, a professor of medicine at the U.S.-based Mayo Clinic, in his book "Get Up!: Why Your Chair is Killing You and What You Can Do About It".

Levine's claims are based on a study of

"non-exercise activity thermogenesis"

or

NEAT

which is the amount of energy we use

doing everything

except sleeping, eating and exercise.

So when you're not burning energy in a deep slumber, using your chompers, or trying to set a new treadmill record then the body either rests or performs lighter to more moderate types of movement which stimulate thermogenesis in the body and keeps the metabolism efficiently burning calories.

Examples of movements

Associated with NEAT

*walking to work

*typing

*performing light to medium yard work

*cleaning the house

*organizing things

*fidgeting

These activities that require the body to “move more” consistently throughout the day using multiple muscles and joints with relative light and moderate exertion

produce NEAT.

These activities add substantially to the overall metabolic rate and increase a person’s flexibility and adaptability.

Constantly moving your body and using multiple positions and ranges not only increases flexibility and adaptability, but it keeps your body alert and with a capacity to respond to outside forces.

We are meant to move

John Buckley, a professor of applied exercise science at Britain's University of Chester and chair of the International Council of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation Published an article in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in 2015 on the Sedentary Office. Here is the abstract if you are interested.

https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/49/21/1357.short

He explains that people who have an office job or sit all day long should begin with a goal of standing and doing light activity for at least 2 hours in the day broken up into small moments. He believes a person should then work on the goal of getting up to about 4 hours of this type of movement

“Bouts of activity can be short. If you're just standing, you need to do so for five or more minutes at a time”, says Buckley, “but if you're moving, two minutes is enough to give benefits”

Before the start of the Industrial revolution over 200 years ago we moved constantly. We worked in agriculture and most of the days were spent on our feet in constant motion, certainly not flexed forward “relaxing” often or “taking frequent breaks. This is a new time for us as humans. There are serious consequences to this 200 plus year onslaught of the comforts of man in the seated position. The foundation for that comfortable lifestyle has gone unchecked until now...until we now can’t ignore the science and the accumulated consequences of sitting.

We must realize that we were meant to move constantly all day long.

Not just when we feel like it, but most of the time. It's the way we were designed. In fact it's the reason why we have a brain in the first place.

According to researcher Daniel Wolpert

British medical doctor, neuroscientist and engineer

We as human beings have a brain for one reason only

“To produce adaptable and complex movements”

...all movements require some form of muscular contraction (except sweating)

Sounds too simple?

It is actually and that is why

More movement is one of the most revolutionary acts of staying healthy that we can do. Movement wakes up and engages every part of the brain and therefore every system, organ, and cell is affected through movement

Check out Daniel’s 20min Ted Talk on the real reason for our brains and to go deeper into this new understanding of the brain.

So now we know a little about the problem, how can we begin to move more so we can benefit from everything it sets in motion.

Getting up and Moving more is the simple answer. Nike said it best…”JUST DO IT”

But what if you are stiff, full of tension and stress, or experiencing pain in your body and have trouble moving even a little bit?

What if you are moving less and less everyday because the body is injured or can't recover from an activity or series of activities?

Then you must find ways to soften tired and strained tissues, increase blood flow to areas that need it, decrease pressure in the joints so you can move more and with greater ease. It makes the process alot easier if you have some help from a trusted natural bodyworker such as a Chiropractor or Massage Therapist with natural health knowledge that can help get the process started. But if REAL CHANGE is desired and you want to be in control of your body, , then there is no replacement for self care at home which includes stretching, self massage, and exercise. This blog and the information on this site is meant to guide you in that process...to take control of your health which is in your hands and can be controlled through your lifestyle choices.