“Lord, you have examined me and know all about me. You know when I sit down and when I get up. You know my thoughts before I think them.”
Psalm 139:1-2 (NCV)
Believe it or not, the average American employee will sit anywhere from 7.7 to 15 hours a day without moving. Researchers are now beginning to unravel the catastrophic impact that sitting for long periods of time can cause to human health. Experts have coined the phrase “sitting disease” to describe it.
This disease is easy to prevent. People who move just a little bit—even fidgeting or getting up from their desks on a frequent basis to get a cup of coffee, or taking a flight of stairs—significantly improve their health.
Source: Exercise Physiologist Sean Foy
as quoted in an E-mail from The Daniel Plan, 12/09/2015
When I worked for IBM in Poughkeepsie, NY and my parents had a summer home on Cape Cod, I would drive 6-hours to go home to the Cape for the weekend. I found that driving long distances put a strain on my legs and I frequently stop at a rest area every couple of hours. Even when travelling with my family I would do this; get out of the car, walk around for 3-5 minutes even if I didn’t need to go to the rest room in the state hospitality building. In a like manner on long airline flights, I will get out of my seat and walk around, talking to the flight attendants. At work, I sometimes just lift my legs up to horizontal and hold them there for 15-20 seconds once in a while to keep the blood flowing. Often I take the stairs even if an elevator is available.
So, get up out of your seat, at least once in a while; you don’t want to get “sitting disease”!
David Robert Lambert 