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Physical recovery from binge TV-watching gets harder as we get older
- dleslie 9y agoFrom the it-ought-to-be-obvious department.
- kemiller 9y agoI don't know how obvious that is a priori. If you asked a subsistence laborer what the effects of sitting all day would have on their health you might get a different answer.
- jacobolus 9y agoIndeed, doing physical labor all day is also quite terrible for you. My godfather was a farmer in rural Mexico and by his 50s his body was in pretty bad shape.
- rangibaby 9y agoAnd that's why your pension was set at 60 or 65, and why developed countries are having a hard time paying for them. In the past physical work meant that by the time people were old enough to collect their pension they were worn out.
- dsfyu404ed 9y agoAttempting to quantify the obvious is noble work. Haven't you seen how popular those sorts of articles are around here.
- graphitezepp 9y agoI only use the word obvious for sarcasm. Nothing is obvious without domain knowledge.
- sattoshi 9y agoSitting all day is bad for you? Huh..
- torpfactory 9y agoAs my wife (an ER nurse) says: "Motion is the lotion"... But seriously: Keep moving folks! Immobility is a co-morbidity with so many other illnesses. Find something you love to do that makes you move and keep at it!
- scottlegrand2 9y agoI phrase it "Stop moving, start dying."
- jpm_sd 9y ago"Rest is rust" is my favorite phrasing
- sitepodmatt 9y agoIt sounds obvious but certain countries seem to need the hot coffee warning. A UK friend messaged me from Disneyland Florida yesterday with message 'Its unbelievable the amount of people in electric buggies, its almost as if 25% of population have given up on idea of walking'.
- coffeevradar 9y agoTo be clear, the hot coffee warning is there because a particular McDonald's franchisee elected to keep their coffee at boiling levels and then serve it to unsuspecting customers at the drive-thru. This practice resulted in extremely serious burns to the genitals of the woman who famously sued. I take your larger point, but I feel your example is one better suited to Seinfeld or a comedy act.
- wtvanhest 9y agoJust to add to this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebeck_v._McDonald%27s_Restaurants https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebeck_v._McDonald%27s_Restau... One of the most misunderstood cases in american history and the misunderstanding means that many states created laws to limit exposure which IMO is extremely bad for the average american.
- mitchty 9y agoYep, its really sad how people think of the hot coffee lawsuit. For a quick lightish hearted overview in video form: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9DXSCpcz9E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9DXSCpcz9E
- nradov 9y agoWALL-E world?
- stevenwoo 9y agoIn my experience a large percentage of people that are fat are in a scooter and most of the older people are either on a scooter or in a wheelchair. It definitely makes one deja vu to WALL-E. If everyone was in a scooter they would have to limit admissions even more, it's built to accommodate scooters but not for everyone to be in a scooter, yet. The fireworks show would be a total traffic jam without the mobility of walking. I used a fitness tracker last time I went and a full day at Disneyland/California was about 16 miles of walking.
- jasonkostempski 9y agoI sit most of the day but not to binge TV-view. Do I need to be concerned?
- kemiller 9y agoYes. Sitting all day at work is just as bad, though you are probably getting up at certain intervals.
- greyskull 9y agoI'm going to take a guess and saying your parent comment was being sarcastic.
- Lordsandwhich 9y agoA little. Sitting is the problem, the TV is just the means. Just remember, you can start trying to change the habit today even if a very litttle bit at a time. The past is done but now is ready and waiting.
- mewse 9y agoThough the headline does not say so, I presume that this 'toll' is only contributed to by the prolonged sitting; the "binge TV-viewing" presumably is only harmful to "ability to walk" inasmuch as it is correlated with an increased amount of prolonged sitting. One assumes that binge tv-viewing would take no toll on ability to walk (or even be beneficial to it) if one was walking on a treadmill whilst watching television?
- randomfool 9y agoReading a book is probably just as harmful to your ability to walk.
- lloydde 9y agoProbably not. Books are not hypnotic to the same extend as multimedia or interactive media.
- PacketPaul 9y agoBooks can be more hypnotic.
- ekianjo 9y agoMaybe it's because you did not find any enjoyable book then. A good book is hard to give up.
- greggman 9y agoI beg to differ. I've been far more addicted to a good page turner book than I've ever been addicted to a TV show. And when I finally put the book down 10hrs later I can barely focus on anything further away than 20-30cm. With TV I can also do other things not give it my full attention by checking email or browsing the web but I can't do that with a book
- DarkTree 9y agoI really envy your ability to get hypnotized by a book, and I've heard others have similar binge reading sessions quite frequently. I love reading. I read every morning and night, but I can only read for about an hour at a time. I do read mainly non-fiction, and I'm wondering if that has anything to do with it. However, I'm drawn towards non-fiction more, so wouldn't I prefer longer reading sessions for the books I'm interested in the most?
- denvercoder904 9y agoWhat about sitting for eight hours straight and then doing a hard workout afterwards? Is that still bad?
- nradov 9y agoWell it's not great. You should really get up and move around during that 8 hours.
- prdonahue 9y agoYes, numerous studies have shown that workouts don't reverse the negative health consequences of sitting. That being said, such workouts can definitely help avoid (or at least reduce) other issues such as pain, e.g., by strengthening glutes that are weakened by sitting, etc.
- sky_rw 9y agoI attribute this to most of my lifting injuries. Unscientifically it strikes me as patently unhealthy to go from one extreme to the other without a long warm up period.
- KhanMahGretsch 9y agoIt's not the sitting itself that is harmful, rather the host of tissue impingements and unfavourable biases in your musculature caused by sitting, or wearing shoes with elevated heels, etc. Such issues cause us to compensate by adopting a different posture; one that will allow us to perform a desired movement now, but in the long run we suffer the consequences of this maladaptation. An oft-cited example of a harmful adaptation is the proliferation of "heel-striking" running technique, which is a consequence of many people having poor ankle mobility (thanks, Nike). To combat this, we can first establish what an ideal posture should be for a given movement, perform that movement under resistance, and use it to expose the areas in which we have a structural problem. We then use that information to target problem areas (e.g. stiff hamstrings, shortened heel-cord, etc) with myofascial release and stretching. Make mobility work a part of every workout you do (15-20 mins a day): use foam rollers/lacrosses balls to remove knots; use "banded distraction" to open up stiff joints. In my experience and anecdotally, such effort yields excellent results for pain-relief and improved posture. I highly recommend Kelly Starlett's book "How to Become a Supple Leopard" and Steve Maxwell's mobility programs.
- RA_Fisher 9y agoIf it's a low baseline, a 65% increase might not be all that bad!:-p
- raamdev 9y agoI work remotely 80-90 hours a week using my laptop (this is important: your screen needs to be mobile). Here's how I currently try to keep my body moving: - I don't have a desk or chair. I have a bar table and a stool. This makes a huge difference. I get uncomfortable sitting on the stool after about 30 minutes, so I get off. Then I'll stand at the bar table and work for an hour or two. When I get tired of that, I'll spend a minute or two doing a physical activity (see below). - I try to work from different physical places, e.g., cafes, different places in the house when nobody is home, the steps outside, the floor, the hammock hanging by the lake. I make it a game to come up with new and novel places to work from that don't require a lot of travel time (unless I'm walking—then it's well-spent travel time), anything to change the physical position of my body while working (and hopefully something that gets uncomfortable within an hour so I'm pushed to change again). - I have a sandbag next to the bar table that I'll pick up at random times throughout the day and do squats, deadlifts, bent-over rows, or just carry the 60lb thing up the stairs or out around the yard once. I'll also use it as a weight to hold my feet while I do sit-ups. I have a pull-up bar hanging between two trees outside. - I don't watch TV. In fact, I try to avoid anything that involves the sitting position. If I have to sit, I prefer the floor, or if I'm watching a movie or reading a book, I prefer laying down. If it's something for a few minutes and I can stand, I'll stand. I've been doing this for about a year now and it's the best I've ever felt while working this much. What I'd like to start mixing in are some runs or long walks, but right now it's a choice between those or getting sufficient sleep. I prioritize sleep.
- Nition 9y agoIf you decide you want a comfortable chair for your 30 minutess of sitting, looking into drafting chairs. They're basically office chairs with the height of a bar stool.
- WalterBright 9y agoI locate equipment some upstairs, some in the basement, meaning I am always needing to go upstairs or downstairs.
- kayoone 9y agogetting uncomfortable within an hour sounds like a lot of interruption and overhead during a full day. I try to concentrate my activity: cycling to and from work, 1 hour workout 3 times a week before or after work. During the day i sit a lot though, but i try to stand whenever i can (meetings, coworker conversations, drinking a lot of water to have to go to the bathroom every 2 hours helps too ;)
- jdeisenberg 9y agoI'm curious to know if using a standing desk for four to five hours a day (but not moving around much) is equally unhealthy.
- wahnfrieden 9y agoJust look into literature on any standing occupation, not constrained to just standing desks. There are plenty of hazards to take into account.
- pipio21 9y agoI did a study of this for my University degree. There is a significant standing up hazard for women: heels. Heels long time use will deform your spine, your knee, changes the muscles that are responsible for walking, and is responsible of more ankle sprains than anything else.
- Manicdave 9y agoHigher chances of developing varicose veins?
- YorkianTones 9y agoAccording to this article, the study found those who watch 5 or more hours of TV a day while sitting were 65% more likely to lose mobility in the period tested than those who watch < 2 hours per day, controlling for all other variables. I am skeptical the study was able to control for all other variables. Maybe those who watch 5 or more hours of TV a day are less likely to get activity during the day e.g. from taking the stairs, making dinner, chores, etc. To be frank, these sound like exceptionally lazy humans. They may be less likely to cook for themselves and eat healthy meals, or to take good care of themselves in other ways also. It's hard to control a study like this for all possible complicating factors. What is clear is that if you're sitting and watching TV with all your free time instead of being active, that's probably not healthy, but hey, it's your life.
- Grustaf 9y ago> crash into your recliner for another three to four hours, Sure it's lazy, but I'm asking myself how it's even possible. If you work full time as in the example, how do you even squeeze in that much TV watching between family and various chores.
- MandieD 9y agoThe study population was 50-71 years old - for most people, those are empty nest years (no kids in the house), and far less likely to be doing unpaid overtime to try to advance a career.
- patrickg_zill 9y agoYes, you need to walk some each day, like a mile or more, go up and down some steps, etc. There are muscles located between your butt and back, like the erectors and the upper part of the gluteals. Exercise them and you will feel better. Ignore the first part of the article, but do the first 4 exercises at least: https://www.t-nation.com/training/awaken-the-glute-monster https://www.t-nation.com/training/awaken-the-glute-monster
- NEETcation 9y agoI once went on vacation for two weeks where I spent the entire day watching TV. I watched more than 26 episodes of TV shows every day from 8AM to 11PM. I could marathon through short shows within a day. I never regretted anything other than poor streaming quality. I never felt lonely because of the magic of the internet allowing me to watch movies and TV shows with internet strangers as if it were movie night, the entire day, everyday. I regret nothing, except maybe the streaming quality and not making my own clone of that proprietary service (rabb.it).
- staticelf 9y agoI sit most of the days but I also take about 12-20k steps/day walking. So basically whenever I don't sit around in front of a computer I move. Is that really so bad? I mean you have to rest sometimes.
- maneesh 9y agoI wonder the same
- wil421 9y agoI don't think casual movement or low pace walking is enough. I've been less active for a while and can feel a difference after I run.
- magic_beans 9y agoHow much of those steps are real, physical exercise? This is the biggest problem in American culture. No one actually exerts themselves physically. Take a look at the legs of a Dutch grandmother. Rippling with muscle because they bike every day, everywhere.
- staticelf 9y agoAt least 10k, walking my dog. But I also run about 2-3 times a week. I am not american.
- jbb67 9y agoEven though I sit all day and most of the evening, my 40 minute commute is mostly standing and walking, and I get up every half an hour or so to make a cup of tea, or to stretch, or so look out of the window for a minute (it helps my eyes...) I'm hoping that's enough to make a difference
- keithpeter 9y ago>> "When you have your own business, you have a little more flexibility," she says. "But I'll tell you one thing that's constant — that's eight hours, at least, of looking at the screen and sitting in the chair." << Above quote is from the case study at the end of the article. Just wondering about tablets/phones and moving people away from the PC with screen. Anecdotal Observation 1: My daily journey involves a local train ride from a large main station. The inquiry staff no longer sit at desks in a counter/office. They have 'stands' around the concourse and use tablets to query the national timetable system. The same people help with the barriers when there are problems &c. They are moving most of the day. Anecdotal Observation 2: Teaching: this time of year we are advising and assessing large numbers of prospective students. Used to be rows of PCs/monitors. Now again, tablets in use and colleagues just use their phones. Far more mobile and a lot less queuing up to see people &c. Just wondering about 'business logic' applications on a tablet? Just do your stuff while walking about?
- program_whiz 9y agoTruism: Recovery from X gets harder as we get older.