10,000 Monkeys and a Camera

I’ve got a high counter (a bar) that sits between my kitchen and dining room. A while ago, when I threw my back out, that counter became my office, because while my back was healing, sitting was not an option. I put my laptop on the counter and pushed the bar stools out of the way and just stood there, tapping away at the keyboard. Eventually, my back got better, but I still do the standing-at-the-counter thing a lot anyway. It’s comfortable. Turns out, I’m not very good at sitting still — I fidget, I itch, I rock, I pace — and standing makes it easier to wiggle around. Have to stop for a minute to try to think of that word I’m after? I walk over to the window and stare at the trees while I’m cogitating. Waiting for the computer to finish uploading those images? I stretch my back or go rub the dog behind the ears.

Well, it turns out, this is a good thing. Your chair is your enemy.

It doesn’t matter if you go running every morning, or you’re a regular at the gym. If you spend most of the rest of the day sitting — in your car, your office chair, on your sofa at home — you are putting yourself at increased risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, a variety of cancers and an early death. In other words, irrespective of whether you exercise vigorously, sitting for long periods is bad for you.

Not only is it good to get up and move around, but if you’re doing something boring, it might be far more enjoyable to do it while you’re huffing away on the treadmill. And especially if you’re trying to memorize stuff, it might go quicker if you’re walking while learning.

Maybe the practical lesson is that we enjoy learning dry stuff when walking but not when stationary. Pity the 99.9% of students who study stationary. Ideally you’d listen to a lecture while walking somewhere, perhaps around a track.

Now, that guy I just linked to might be a little batty, but he also might be right (the idea goes way back). I mentioned last week that I’ve been watching videos on the treadmill. Well, here’s what I did in our little home gym (the view is pretty much the same from the elliptical machine, which sits right next to the treadmill). It’s a basic DIY setup:

It’s all in a little room on the back of the house that used to be a porch (hence the brick wall). I think the strange little bookcase used to be an entertainment center back before we bought the house. I filled it in with shelves and that’s where I keep all the wonderful books Emmie and I used to read together when she’s was a wee one (I miss reading with a little kid at bedtime!). Anyway, it’s got a wider shelf part way down and I stuck a folding table on that, and bungeed it down, to be sure my computer won’t go flying if I spazz out while exercising (which is a pretty regular occurrence). We’ve got either some big wireless headphones or an extension cord for actually stringing earbuds over to the computer’s jack, so that it’s possible to hear the audio over the noise of the equipment. And voila! I can operate it all using my little apple remote! And between TED and Lecture Fox, I have to remember to stop when I’m working out. I suppose I could also throw in a DVD, stream something from Netflix, or fire up some Hulu too… ack!! someone get me off of this thing!

OK, so anyway… seriously, before you move on to your next thing, get up and move around a little bit. Stretch your back. Take a few deep breaths. Wiggle your legs. I have a friend who sets an alarm when she’s working at the computer — just a reminder to get up at least once an hour. Apparently she’s on to something. (I wonder if there’s an app for that?)