Modern life wraps us in our well-protected, comfortable nest. We no longer walk to work, harvest our food, or spend hours washing our laundry in the river. As the world has industrialised over the last 150 years, technology has improved so much to save us most of the hard work. Our human species did a tough job for thousands and thousands of years, to simply survive. Geological upheaval, dinosaurs, plagues!
Maybe we just deserve well-earned break? Shouldn’t we be content enjoying the advantages of living in the best future our great, great grandparents, our great grandparents and our grandparents could ever imagine? Well, think again - there’s one problem that we should stand up and take notice of….
As inventions have made our lives easier, we are clearly becoming more sedentary as a species. I write this, obviously, sitting on a chair! We are becoming fatter, slower, weaker. According to the 2018 report of World Health Organization, 17 millions of people are dying every year due to heart diseases and strokes directly as a result of sitting too much. That’s the entire population of the Netherlands - poof- gone.
In 2015 the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges published a study stating that regular exercise can assist in the prevention of strokes, certain cancers, depression, heart disease and dementia, reducing the risks by at least 30%.
Scientists make clear that our sedentary behaviour increases back pain, anxiety, depression - conditions most of us will have suffered from at one time or another. But that’s merely the tip of the iceberg. Sitting too much increases blood pressure, obesity, osteoporosis, diabetes, heart disease, breast and colonic cancer. In fact, sitting is the leading cause of disability globally.
Over the last century, modern medicine progressed so much to cure most of the diseases that used to kill our forebears. But unfortunately, that same modernity is the very monster hunting us, slowly, down the path of drugs and devices.
The magic sword to slay the monster? Walking to work? Taking the stairs rather than elevator? Wearing an activity tracker that reminds us to move? Jumping on a cycling machine over lunch? Balancing out the ready-made meals with some veggies? Maybe a yearly subscription to the local gym?
Healthy human habits.Reconstructing some of the habits that have defined us humans for thousands of years will make our nature glow and our body rejoice.
So stand up and be counted! Make a small commitment to reduce your seated time each day! This is how we can rebuild and reprogram our lives, communities, nations and race - one day at the time.
Have a fantastic, upstanding day!
Andrew
