I grew up in the 80s in a rural area and if I wasn't sleeping, eating, or in school, I was outside, even in winter. As a teen, we mostly went hiking and tubing, we didn't have malls to hang out in. Into my early 30s, I worked jobs that required unloading trucks, climbing ladders with big boxes, and 15,000 steps a day. Then I took an office job that improved my finances and benefits...and took a huge toll on my body and mental health. It's been a battle since (I am 48 now).
One of the things I realized I need to do is to build activity into my day specifically. I do all the things you mentioned in the post, but I need physical labor outdoors because that is how my body grew up for most of 30 years. We have a small but usable piece of land, so I am going to work to cultivate a solid garden and fruit tree setup, for starters. That really only covers May-Sept where I live (Minnesota) but I love having work to do outside plus there's nothing more satisfying that eating food you just picked from your garden. I'd also like to go back to small game hunting and more fishing. Basically a double bonus of outdoor exercise and self-sufficiency.
But what I really came here to say is one thing I've noticed since I grew up is our homes. We had a decently nice house. But the function of our home was to support us when we weren't doing other stuff. We ate there, we had family gatherings there, and we slept there. But mostly that was it. If we weren't doing one of those things, we were not home. On weekends our family was busy hunting, trapping, camping, walking in rivers looking for rocks. We didn't LIVE at home. We lived in the world and home supported our needs for food and comfortable rest. The past 25 years especially there seems to be a big shift to homes being where we live, and the outside world being something we visit for a few minutes a day. Our homes are bigger, they are extra comfortable, we often work in them (both my husband and I WFH permanently), our entertainment is the too-many-choices life of streaming. It's like we're now so used to living in our homes that doing anything else is too hard. It's such a change from the way I grew up.
Such a great comment—and a great observation about how the relationship to our homes has changed. I think you're right.
Leah and I both WFH too. Even the act of having to go to the office did add extra activity into the day. Now my "commute" is 25 steps to my office. You really have to actively find ways to add more activity—and, to your point, find ways to get out and be active!
Leah's been out of town the last week and I've left home in my car, like, once lol. But I have been outside every day—hiking, mountain biking, running, exercising in the back yard, etc. It takes effort.
“The cubicle is the new coal mine”. That’s so heavy man. You nailed it. Did you come up with that based on the correlation? Or is that referenced from someone else making the comparison?
Sounds like a 2% T-shirt or bumper sticker I’d buy ; )
I love that I'm now WFH 100%, which means I can move a lot more than I did when at the office. I'm a natural fidgeter (is that even a word? 😄), but at home I can do some housework as a break or take the dogs outside for a few minutes of play time. I also keep 10-lb dumbbells in my office for when I have to stay close to the computer.
If you're gonna sit all day, at least get yourselves an active chair: no back or armrests and ideally one that keeps your core activated and posture upright - and is not too comfortable. You'll automatically want to get up every 20-30 minutes.
I've been using one for a year now and it's made sitting on long mediation retreats so much easier! 🧘♂️
I'm old enough that I worked in an office before email (late 1980s/early 1990s). Even sedentary desk jobs were less sedentary back then. I was a fidgety, hyper sort so I always walked around to distribute memos rather than waiting for the mailroom cart to come around; I was regularly hopping up to run over and check the fax machine, make copies, get office supplies from the storeroom and get my reports out of the printer. If I had a question for someone, I usually got up and walked to their office to ask it (people often used to set their phones to "Do Not Disturb" mode, so you'd get a quicker response if you went to ask them in person). We had an elevator and stairs in our building; I hated waiting for the elevator so I was always running up and down the stairs. And on payday, you had to leave the office and walk over to the bank to deposit your paycheck (and had to do it before 3 pm or you'd have no money for the weekend!). It wasn't a LOT of activity - I remember discovering with horror that I gained 5 lbs. when I started working in an office; but it was more than most office workers get nowadays as a lot of modern jobs can be done without leaving your chair at all for 8 hours straight.
Having a labor-intensive job doesn't necesarrily make one more healthy. Have you seen all the fat asses on the typical jobsite? I understand the point of this post, but one must have an attitude and mindset geared towards health, also.
I worked incredibly physical jobs for the first 15 years of my career, sailing and hauling 100lbs boats on soft sand in the Florida humidity. Transitioning to an “indoor” job was so physically detrimental for my health. I hadn’t realized how much my workday contributed to my physical movement, step count, and overall mood. Five years later, I’m still struggling to find the equilibrium and lose the weight that accumulated as realization kicked in.
This also applies to school children. My street is .25 miles long and it had, until this year because of a bus driver shortage, three bus stops. Crazy!
Sharing a vehicle with my husband supports my daily movement.
Yesterday, when I needed a dozen items from the grocery store, I walked there and rucked back (25 minutes each way plus walking around inside the store).
And I take the bus a few times a week which allows for standing in transit and adds at least 5 - 10 minutes of walking to get to and from each bus stop.
Years ago when I was the clinical director at an outpatient physical therapy clinic, we purposely avoided using pagers so that the front office staff needed to interrupt their sitting to tell PTs when their next clients had arrived in the waiting room.
The BMI is grading on the cure. A 5'6" woman at 185 pounds is NOT obese according to our dear CDC. Why? Because then the real obesity rate of 65% would mean we can't coo about Eat Healthy Exercise More. People were NOT fat because almost everyone SMOKED. We have been smoking for at least 4000 years. John and Matthew smoked . Maybe C.
1. Motion & Locomotion - walk, steps, stairs, chores, manual tasks & projects; ‘slice & dice’ the heck out of sitting & screen-time.
2. PLAY - move for the sheer enjoyment of it; sport, adventure, recreation, dance, hobbies … FOUR seasons GO … for decades to come!
3. We TRAIN so we CAN …. live, work, play, care-give and compete for ALAP with confidence & competence in our environments of choice. In a screen-stuck movement-sucking lifestyle, it’s a non-negotiable to fill & maintain ALL 7S Functional FREEDOM Training Buckets, the path towards Robust Aging! 👍🏔
I grew up in the 80s in a rural area and if I wasn't sleeping, eating, or in school, I was outside, even in winter. As a teen, we mostly went hiking and tubing, we didn't have malls to hang out in. Into my early 30s, I worked jobs that required unloading trucks, climbing ladders with big boxes, and 15,000 steps a day. Then I took an office job that improved my finances and benefits...and took a huge toll on my body and mental health. It's been a battle since (I am 48 now).
One of the things I realized I need to do is to build activity into my day specifically. I do all the things you mentioned in the post, but I need physical labor outdoors because that is how my body grew up for most of 30 years. We have a small but usable piece of land, so I am going to work to cultivate a solid garden and fruit tree setup, for starters. That really only covers May-Sept where I live (Minnesota) but I love having work to do outside plus there's nothing more satisfying that eating food you just picked from your garden. I'd also like to go back to small game hunting and more fishing. Basically a double bonus of outdoor exercise and self-sufficiency.
But what I really came here to say is one thing I've noticed since I grew up is our homes. We had a decently nice house. But the function of our home was to support us when we weren't doing other stuff. We ate there, we had family gatherings there, and we slept there. But mostly that was it. If we weren't doing one of those things, we were not home. On weekends our family was busy hunting, trapping, camping, walking in rivers looking for rocks. We didn't LIVE at home. We lived in the world and home supported our needs for food and comfortable rest. The past 25 years especially there seems to be a big shift to homes being where we live, and the outside world being something we visit for a few minutes a day. Our homes are bigger, they are extra comfortable, we often work in them (both my husband and I WFH permanently), our entertainment is the too-many-choices life of streaming. It's like we're now so used to living in our homes that doing anything else is too hard. It's such a change from the way I grew up.
Such a great comment—and a great observation about how the relationship to our homes has changed. I think you're right.
Leah and I both WFH too. Even the act of having to go to the office did add extra activity into the day. Now my "commute" is 25 steps to my office. You really have to actively find ways to add more activity—and, to your point, find ways to get out and be active!
Leah's been out of town the last week and I've left home in my car, like, once lol. But I have been outside every day—hiking, mountain biking, running, exercising in the back yard, etc. It takes effort.
“The cubicle is the new coal mine”. That’s so heavy man. You nailed it. Did you come up with that based on the correlation? Or is that referenced from someone else making the comparison?
Sounds like a 2% T-shirt or bumper sticker I’d buy ; )
I’d buy a one too!
Me three ✋
Maybe we'll make a sticker, shirt, or desk sign happen.
I came up with it. At its most basic level, my job is to organize words haha.
Yeah, and you're pretty damned good at it to, my frined!
Ditto
I love that I'm now WFH 100%, which means I can move a lot more than I did when at the office. I'm a natural fidgeter (is that even a word? 😄), but at home I can do some housework as a break or take the dogs outside for a few minutes of play time. I also keep 10-lb dumbbells in my office for when I have to stay close to the computer.
If you're gonna sit all day, at least get yourselves an active chair: no back or armrests and ideally one that keeps your core activated and posture upright - and is not too comfortable. You'll automatically want to get up every 20-30 minutes.
I've been using one for a year now and it's made sitting on long mediation retreats so much easier! 🧘♂️
I'm old enough that I worked in an office before email (late 1980s/early 1990s). Even sedentary desk jobs were less sedentary back then. I was a fidgety, hyper sort so I always walked around to distribute memos rather than waiting for the mailroom cart to come around; I was regularly hopping up to run over and check the fax machine, make copies, get office supplies from the storeroom and get my reports out of the printer. If I had a question for someone, I usually got up and walked to their office to ask it (people often used to set their phones to "Do Not Disturb" mode, so you'd get a quicker response if you went to ask them in person). We had an elevator and stairs in our building; I hated waiting for the elevator so I was always running up and down the stairs. And on payday, you had to leave the office and walk over to the bank to deposit your paycheck (and had to do it before 3 pm or you'd have no money for the weekend!). It wasn't a LOT of activity - I remember discovering with horror that I gained 5 lbs. when I started working in an office; but it was more than most office workers get nowadays as a lot of modern jobs can be done without leaving your chair at all for 8 hours straight.
Having a labor-intensive job doesn't necesarrily make one more healthy. Have you seen all the fat asses on the typical jobsite? I understand the point of this post, but one must have an attitude and mindset geared towards health, also.
I worked incredibly physical jobs for the first 15 years of my career, sailing and hauling 100lbs boats on soft sand in the Florida humidity. Transitioning to an “indoor” job was so physically detrimental for my health. I hadn’t realized how much my workday contributed to my physical movement, step count, and overall mood. Five years later, I’m still struggling to find the equilibrium and lose the weight that accumulated as realization kicked in.
This also applies to school children. My street is .25 miles long and it had, until this year because of a bus driver shortage, three bus stops. Crazy!
That is also an issue with liability. School boards are afraid of their own shadows.
Sharing a vehicle with my husband supports my daily movement.
Yesterday, when I needed a dozen items from the grocery store, I walked there and rucked back (25 minutes each way plus walking around inside the store).
And I take the bus a few times a week which allows for standing in transit and adds at least 5 - 10 minutes of walking to get to and from each bus stop.
Years ago when I was the clinical director at an outpatient physical therapy clinic, we purposely avoided using pagers so that the front office staff needed to interrupt their sitting to tell PTs when their next clients had arrived in the waiting room.
The BMI is grading on the cure. A 5'6" woman at 185 pounds is NOT obese according to our dear CDC. Why? Because then the real obesity rate of 65% would mean we can't coo about Eat Healthy Exercise More. People were NOT fat because almost everyone SMOKED. We have been smoking for at least 4000 years. John and Matthew smoked . Maybe C.
But who actually did labor today?
8 hours of butchery from the dark and early hour of 0500 here. Nice hour long gym sesh next.
Thank you to all who worked today to keep this country and society moving along.
There are 3 Big ROCKS in the Movement Pillar:
1. Motion & Locomotion - walk, steps, stairs, chores, manual tasks & projects; ‘slice & dice’ the heck out of sitting & screen-time.
2. PLAY - move for the sheer enjoyment of it; sport, adventure, recreation, dance, hobbies … FOUR seasons GO … for decades to come!
3. We TRAIN so we CAN …. live, work, play, care-give and compete for ALAP with confidence & competence in our environments of choice. In a screen-stuck movement-sucking lifestyle, it’s a non-negotiable to fill & maintain ALL 7S Functional FREEDOM Training Buckets, the path towards Robust Aging! 👍🏔
I’m waiting for breakfast and generally doing fine