"Active Couch Potatoes" vs. French Exercise

Urban ranger is an inspirational metaphor to get you walking. Warning: there is poetry involved. Discuss it here.
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reinhard
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"Active Couch Potatoes" vs. French Exercise

Post by reinhard » Thu Jul 15, 2010 2:07 pm

I saw two urban ranger relevant articles in the NY Times today:

First, an article on how French women manage to "age gracefully:"

From:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/15/fashi ... f=homepage
Not that they exercise. When my husband and I arrived in Paris and asked our personal banker — everyone has one — for a gym recommendation, her response was: “Why? Gyms are a form of torture.†It seems the only acceptable way to burn calories is to walk.
Next, an article on how being sedentary is bad in and of itself and you can't quite erase its ill effects by subsequent activity. You have to be less sedentary. This is a fascinating article, it's hard to pick out just a few choice quotes, but I'll try (do yourself a favor and read the whole thing):

From:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/1 ... ef=general
In a study published in May in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, they reported that, to no one’s surprise, the men who sat the most had the greatest risk of heart problems... What was unexpected was that many of the men who sat long hours and developed heart problems also exercised. Quite a few of them said they did so regularly and led active lifestyles. The men worked out, then sat in cars and in front of televisions for hours, and their risk of heart disease soared, despite the exercise. Their workouts did not counteract the ill effects of sitting.
Decades ago, before the advent of computers, plasma TVs and Roombas, people spent more time completing ‘‘light-intensity activities,’’ which require between one and a half and three METs***. Most ‘‘home activities,’’ like mopping, cooking and changing light bulbs, demand between two and three METs. ... Nowadays, few of us accumulate much light-intensity activity. We’ve replaced those hours with sitting.
We are, in a phrase adopted by physiologists, ‘‘active couch potatoes.’’
Regular workout sessions do not appear to fully undo the effects of prolonged sitting. ‘‘There seem to be different pathways’’ involved in the beneficial physiological effects of exercising and the deleterious impacts of sitting, says Tatiana Warren, a graduate student in exercise science at the University of South Carolina and the lead author of the study of men who sat too much. ‘‘One does not undo the other,’’ she says.

You can, however, ameliorate the dangers of inactivity with several easy steps — actual steps. ‘‘Look for ways to decrease physical inactivity,’’ Ms. Warren says, beyond 30-minute bouts of jogging or structured exercise. Stand up. Pace around your office. Get off the couch and grab a mop or change a light bulb the next time you watch ‘‘Dancing With the Stars.’’
*** A MET, or metabolic equivalent of task, is a measure of energy, with one MET being the amount of energy you burn lying down for one minute.
Reinhard

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Post by sophiasapientia » Fri Jul 16, 2010 1:27 am

Amen to both articles!

This past winter I came to the conclusion that even though I was working out for 45 minutes to an hour a day, I was, in actuality, an "active couch potato" ... It is the subtle shift of instead becoming an active, non-sedentary person -- combined with No S, of course :wink: -- that made things click for me. Plus, I never much cared for the gym anyway ... :lol:
Restarted No S (3rd times a charm!) January 2010 at 145 lbs

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Post by Scrybil » Fri Jul 16, 2010 1:49 am

Wow - this is really interesting!

I have changed jobs in the last few months and have amuch longer commute and am at the computer many more hours. Net result = much more sitting.

And, even though I exercise every day, I can see - and feel - a difference.

Hmmmm, probably need to quit this job before I die......
~Scrybil~

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Post by kccc » Fri Jul 16, 2010 12:55 pm

I saw a similar article a while back, and was tremendously discouraged because I was in the exact same boat as Scrybil - new job, long commute, lots of computer time. And I EXACTLY fit the definition of an "active couch potato" - gym in the morning, then sit all day.

I've done two things that I think help...
1) Wear a pedometer. The goal of getting a higher number leads me to park further (in the shade!), walk to the far bathroom, go to a colleague's office instead of sending email, etc.
2) Set a timer when I'm just in my office working by myself, and GET UP and stretch every time it goes off.

Minor things, but I do think they're helping.

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Post by sophiasapientia » Fri Jul 16, 2010 1:14 pm

Yup, I too have found a pedometer and a timer to be useful tools in my quest to be a more active person.

I don't live in an area that is all conducive to urban rangering so, most of the time, I still need to walk (or nordic skiwalk) for 45 minutes to an hour to get my step count to the range I want it to be in ... Beyond that, running errands, doing house/yardwork and playing with my kid generally boost things up to the "active" -- and out of the sedentary -- level.

But on days when, due to weather or circumstance, we are homebound, I sometimes resort to doing things like marching in place when I'm on the phone or folding laundry, setting the timer for 10 minutes every hour and walking around, etc. It all adds up and has certainly made a significant difference. :wink:
Restarted No S (3rd times a charm!) January 2010 at 145 lbs

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Post by reinhard » Fri Jul 16, 2010 2:41 pm

Here's a beta-microsystem to get in some more frequent movement throughout the day without adding much memory burden.

It's [somewhat too] evocatively named: P-ups.

Every time you go to the bathroom, bang out 21 pushups (or 5 pull-ups, if you have a bar available). Gets the blood flowing on a frequent basis (very frequent if you're a big coffee drinker!) and by associating the exercise with an activity you can't avoid you remember to do it without extra brain-strain. Replace exercises/rep counts as you see fit.

Another idea is place your computer somewhere where you have to stand to use it. If this isn't feasible at work, at least try it at home. I kinda sorta do this.

Reinhard

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Post by larisa0001 » Sun Jul 18, 2010 5:05 am

reinhard wrote:Here's a beta-microsystem to get in some more frequent movement throughout the day without adding much memory burden.

It's [somewhat too] evocatively named: P-ups.

Every time you go to the bathroom, bang out 21 pushups (or 5 pull-ups, if you have a bar available). Gets the blood flowing on a frequent basis (very frequent if you're a big coffee drinker!) and by associating the exercise with an activity you can't avoid you remember to do it without extra brain-strain. Replace exercises/rep counts as you see fit.

Another idea is place your computer somewhere where you have to stand to use it. If this isn't feasible at work, at least try it at home. I kinda sorta do this.

Reinhard
I've been doing something like this, actually, except with a kettlebell. Every time I come back from the bathroom, I close my office door, do a few kettlebell swings or other kettlebell exercises that one can do in business attire, put the kettlebell away, re-open my office door, and get back to work. It works well, though I'd prefer more frequent "mini-workouts". Maybe I should drink more water. :)

LM

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Post by paprad » Mon Aug 09, 2010 1:56 pm

That NYT article took me back to this one by Olivia Judson, on the evils of sitting

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/20 ... read-this/

apparently it is not just the caloric difference between sitting and standing that matters - prolonged sitting actually alters the physiology of the metabolic process - which is scary.

i was moved by this to add a few bricks and create a standing desk out of my old one. but, man, is it tough - my heels hurt, i have to keep shifting and i am far from being able to do this for 8 hours a day. also am worried a bit that prolonged standing will bring its own problems. will try this out for a while, though to see how it works
getting there

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