Standing Momentum

Updated 8.15.2013; reformatted 9.7.2015
The Economist joins the chorus of coverage about the dangers of sitting too much. They note the historical support for standing while working. Winston Churchill did so, as did Earnest Hemingway and Leonardo da Vinci.

And standing and treadmill desks are trendy in Silicon Valley. The usual points are noted, Including that prolonged inactivity has an effect on health even if you exercise vigorously.

But the really interesting tidbits in the article are that modern humans need to walk 19 km (which is over 10 miles) to get the same level of exercise as the typical hunter gatherer. That's a number I hadn't heard previously, and they provide o source for it. They (The Economist eschews bylines) do note that it is based on the few hunter gatherer tribes that remain, so that's a modern measurement.

New Meta data

Emma Wilmot of the University of Leicester in Britain did a meta-study of data related to mobility. Meta-studies combine the data from disparate studies and then try to draw conclusions. In general, the are iffy because the different studies will not have had the same criteria for subjects, nor will they have measured the same things.

All of those caveats noted, Wilmot looked at 18 studies that covered 800,000 subjects. Per the Economist, her analysis showed that people who are inactive are more likely to get diabetes and cardio-vascular disease. Nothing new there, I don't think that results will surprise anyone.

The good news is that the bad effects can be reversed quickly by simply choosing to move more. And the movement only needs to be moderate, and standing more counts. In fact, walking for 2 minutes after sitting for 20 makes a big difference. Hence the suggestion to get up from your desk and walk down the hall— just don't walk and get more food to eat.

They had to put a disclaimer at the bottom saying that moderate exercise doesn't negate the need for rigorous exercise, but I'm not convinced. Moving more simply requires moving. If walking is difficult for you, then standing is a good place to start. If you can't run because of physical limitations but you can walk, then I say, just walk. Don't worry about breaking a sweat or raising your heart rate to some particular level. Just move.

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