Note that the title of this blog says "Stand up!" It does not say "Keep standing". The act of standing as well as the opposite act of sitting down fit with the work of Dr. Joan Vernikos, NASA scientist who is trying to get us to move about. Her books, "Sitting Kills and Standing Heals" and "Designed to Move" focus on the large number of activities we like that are done sitting down. Her books, including the latest "Scared Sitless" by Larry Swanson and Vernikos, are available for immediate download at low prices of $6 to $7 on Amazon.
I am interested in bargain doses in such things as meditation and exercise. I realize that if I bike 60 miles, that counts as exercise, but I suspect that without getting too tuckered out, I can benefit from stairs, and from standing. Generally, eating together is a sit-down activity as is a meeting. But the other day, I sat at a meeting and got a leg cramp. They can get severe and it is best if I do something right away. I stood up and stayed standing while I flexed and alternately tensed and relaxed the calf and thigh. No one was shocked or demanded to know why I was standing.
But I just read this in Science Table of Contents.
from the British Medical Journal publishing
Aging
Stand up for longevity
L. Bryan Ray
Physical activity brings health benefits, although evaluation of exactly how can be complicated by unreliable self-reporting by study subjects. Ekelund et al. combined data from a series of studies on middle-aged or older adults that used accelerometer measurements to record physical activity to more precisely assess dose-response effects of physical activity on overall mortality. The authors conclude that "any level of physical activity regardless of intensity was associated with a substantially lower risk of mortality." Their takeaway message from the more than 240,000 person years of participant follow-up is simple: sit less and move more.
BMJ 366, l4570 (2019).
So, throughout the day, stand up. Pull over or into a rest stop and stand up. Pause the program and stand up. You can do it!
