Movement

Many things have changed since we were hunter/gather, nomads, early man, hominid or whatever you want to call our ancestors. One of the biggest ones is our frequency and type of movement. We used to squat, sprint, jump, crouch, even walk at a slow pace, and were generally pretty agile. Nowadays, beginning around age 4-5 yrs old (or earlier), we sit for roughly 6-10+ hrs a day. Either at school, or at work, and at home.

You could very easily spend 90% of your life sitting. Watching TV, driving a car to and from work, or the grocery store in addition to a desk job… All this sitting time adds up. With our conveniences comes a reduction in movements. Our legs become stiff and weak from lack of use. The muscles, tendons and ligaments don’t get lubricated or oxygenated like they are hoping and end up deteriorating prematurely.

The idea that you can exercise or stretch for an hour, 2 or 3 times a week, and balance out all the sitting is laughable. You’re going to undo 40 hrs of desk jockeying, another 20 hrs of couch time, drive time, meal time, and seated entertainment, along with ~50hrs of sleep, with a few hours on the treadmill or lifting some dumbbells? That’s ~110 hrs of sitting vs 3 hrs of movement in an average week. That’s not what our bodies are expecting, nor want to do.

Movement needs to be a bigger part of our daily, and even hourly routines. Walking around the office building, using the stairs for no reason other than to climb stairs, or desk yoga; these are all very available options. Pick one and move!