Designed to Move
The Science-Backed Program to Fight Sitting Disease and Enjoy Lifelong Health
Joan Vernikos studied the effects of weightlessness on health and served as Life Sciences Director at the NASA Ames Research Center. We featured another one of her earlier books: Sitting Kills, Moving Heals. This book is kinda like Part 2 of that book. The theme is the same: Sit too much and you’re going to experience the same types of negative effects that astronauts experience in the microgravity of outer space. Big Ideas we explore include the fact that gravity is our friend, why we don’t want to be active AND sedentary (are you?), some stats on the health problems caused by sitting (did you know it can be as bad as smoking or drinking heavily?), and the keys to Optimizing.
Big Ideas
- GravityIs your friend.
- Okinawans on BedsAren’t as awesome as on tatamis.
- Active AND SedentaryAre you?
- Health ProblemsRelated to sitting. Some stats.
- StandingHow many times vs. how long.
- Pop Quiz!Sit. Stand. Repeat.
- The KeysMove!! Fun ways.
“Move is a very interesting word. If you are not moving, you may be taken for dead. Whether verb or noun, this ancient word is loaded with life. It is equivalent to energy. The Oxford English Dictionary traces its origins to the ancient French mouvoir and the Latin movere. It has come to mean a lot of things. Appearing in the fifteenth century in reference to chess, it was later associated with moving furniture or relocating to a house or making a strategic move; it may be as practical as digesting, or having a bowel movement or a racing heart rate. A book, a poem, or admirer may be deeply moving, invoking the inner stirrings of emotion. Essentially, moving is defined as a change in position, whether internal, external, or emotional.
Movelessness, then, is what you do when sitting. It involves minimal motion. ‘He is not moving’ is taken to mean someone is not in any form of action, is lifeless, without energy or dead. Considering moving in all its variations is essential to understanding life. Communicating the pivotal role of moving in staying healthy and alive is this book’s message.
Designed to Move is for those who want to regain control over their long-term health and well-being with a natural solution. I wrote it to bring you up to speed on the latest research from NASA and the scientific community on the physiological benefits of moving and to offer workable solutions for using gravity, our ever-present friend, to strengthen your body and improve your life. As we struggle to find the best ways to help astronauts explore and live on Mars one day, why not at the same time choose to live well on Earth? This book shows you how.”
~ Joan Vernikos from Designed to Move
Joan Vernikos joined NASA in the 1960’s (!). She studied the effects of weightlessness on health and served as Life Sciences Director at the NASA Ames Research Center.
We featured another one of her earlier books: Sitting Kills, Moving Heals. This book (get a copy here) is kinda like Part 2 of that book. The theme is the same. Simple and powerful: Sit too much and you’re going to experience the same types of negative effects that astronauts experience in the microgravity of outerspace.
And… VERY IMPORTANT POINT: You can’t *exercise* your way out of sitting too much. You need to bake in regular breaks from sitting—getting up, standing, moving your body. (Remember Movement 101 where we talked about the perils of being active but still sedentary!)
Joan and Katy Bowman are the ones who inspired me to set my Timex countdown timer on a 1,000-second repeat cycle all day every day. In fact, kinda funny. It *just* went off and I hopped up, banged out my 11 burpees (set #19 en route to 25/day en route to 100,000 burpees in 2018!).
I’m excited to share some of my favorite Big Ideas and get you MOVING more so let’s jump in!
Download MP3
Download PDFThroughout my fifty-five years in the space business, I was regularly asked about how we could send humans to live on Mars. How would our ancient genes fare in deep space and on foreign planets? The question is not much different here on Earth. How can we humans, with our ancestral genes, thrive in today’s or tomorrow’s technology-modified environment?
Get the BookGravity is your friend
“Physiological changes in highly fit astronauts in the near-zero gravity of space, or those caused in healthy men and women by continuous sitting or lying in bed, are similar to those in the elderly. These conditions, which afford negligible use of gravity both in space and here on Earth, produce aging changes and accelerate the aging process. The common denominator of these changes, whether on Earth or in space, is gravity deprivation of one form or another: near-zero gravity in space, reduced influence of gravity while lying down, reduced sensing of gravity or minimal use of gravity here on Earth—in spite of being constantly surrounded by gravity—by habitual prolonged sitting and immobility.”
The first part of the book is called “Astronauts, Aging, and Sitting.” Joan shares research she conducted at NASA and connects that to a bunch of other research to persuasively establish the fact that sitting as much as most of us do is incredibly bad for us.
We’ll take a look at some health stats in a moment. For now, let’s connect sitting to astronauts.
Here’s the short story on astronauts: Take a super-fit astronaut and send them into space and their bodies change a crazy amount in a very short period of time.
Here’s how Joan puts it in Sitting Kills, Moving Heals: “The physical deterioration suffered by astronauts in space in a matter of days, mirrors what happens to all of us here on Earth as we age. However, living in space profoundly magnifies the changes that normally take a lifetime to appear. On Earth, from age 20 we lose roughly 1 percent of our bone density a year. Yet astronauts in space, on average, lose 1.6 percent of their bone density a month, and some have lost as much as 1 percent in a single week! This is on top of their muscles becoming weaker, their immune systems being suppressed, and their sleep being disturbed. And when they first return from space, they have less stamina, they shuffle when walking, and they have lost their sense of balance. It’s tough being an astronaut!”
Alright. It’s tough being an astronaut. Two questions: Why? And, how is that relevant to us?
Well, astronauts lose their strength and vitality because they no longer get pushed on by gravity. And… Guess what? When we sit all day every day, it’s as if we’re living in outer space. We miss the super-beneficial effects of gravity pushing down on us all day every day.
The solution?
Obviously spending less time sitting is wise but it’s even simpler than that. You can still sit a ton, just make sure you STAND UP at least once every 30 minutes. It’s the long, uninterrupted hour or two or three of sitting that has the worst effects and intermittent standing is where it’s at.
That’s THE Big Idea from the book. We’re going to keep on coming back to it. If you only get one thing from this Note, make it this: Stand up at least once every 30 minutes.
Okinawans on beds
“Along with squatting, kneeling is a common position used by the Japanese, many of whom still sleep on floor tatamis in lieu of beds. The multiple times they need to stand up from these positions during a day keeps them healthy. In the early twentieth century, a group of Okinawans were enticed to move to Brazil. In doing this, they adopted the dietary habits of their new home along with Western conveniences such as sitting in chairs and sleeping in beds. In spite of sharing the same genes, data from 100,000 Okinawans showed that their life expectancy was shortened by seventeen years compared to their family relatives who stayed back home. Even in Okinawa, those under 50 who grew up with fast-food outlets surrounding the U.S. military bases now have Japan’s highest rates of obesity, heart disease, and premature death. As Western chairs and beds flooded Japan, the level of diabetes has flourished.”
That’s from a chapter in which Joan walks us through the history of the chair.
Short story: Chairs used to be rare. We used to squat or kneel all the time rather than sit. In fact, it wasn’t until the 17th century that chairs became common throughout the Western world.
As Joan says: “By 1818, Lambert Hitchcock in the United States began manufacturing ‘chairs for the people,’ making and shipping chair parts for assembly. However, in less developed countries to this day squatting is still the favored method of sitting.”
I share this Big Idea with you because a) I’m tempted to get a floor tatami! (I’m serious. We had a custom bed frame made for our family bed that’s only a few inches off the ground but I’m thinking I might want to go old-school!); and b) I’m reminded of a few other instances in which we’ve reflected on our pre-Industrial Revolution health.
In In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan tells us about a study done with aborigines in Australia who had gotten sick on a modern diet. Put them back in their natural environment and VOILA! Health returned in an astonishingly short period of time.
Then we have John Ratey’s Go Wild where tells us to rewind the clock on as many habits as we can and get back in touch with our wild animal roots.
Then I’m reminded of John Robbins’s Healthy at 100 where he tells us about the long-lived Vilcabambans of Ecuador. They like to say they have two doctors: their right leg and their left leg. When they’re feeling less than 100% they go out on a walk to see a friend. Movement + friends = magic.
Modern society is, of course, epic. Except, of course, when it’s not!
Let’s have fun engaging in the splendor of our modern lives while knowing when it’s wise to act like it’s 1799. :)
Active AND Sedentary
“So we know a lot about what space does to the body, but what does sitting take away? Well, if you are sitting, you must be inactive. Therefore, it would seem you must need to exercise to counteract the effects of sitting. However, even those who exercise regularly show the same problems when they sit. Actually, the research is now showing that exercising at the gym once a day does not counteract the effects of sitting for a great part of the rest of the day. Once-a-day exercise does not seem to substitute for all-day spontaneous moving (of the type our pre-industrial ancestors engaged in), and it seems that the body needs to be doing something all day long.”
In our class on Movement 101 and our Notes on True to Form, Move Your DNA, and Sitting Kills, we made the REALLY important distinction that we can be active AND sedentary.
Although exercise gives us a ton of benefits (reducing depression, improving cardiovascular health, etc.) it is NOT enough to hit the gym for an hour a day and then sit for the rest of it.
As Joan tells us: “even those who exercise regularly show the same problems when they sit.”
Before studying all this stuff I was, unquestionably, active AND sedentary.
How about YOU?
Health problems related to sitting
“Most of us spend as much as 55 percent of or more of our waking hours each day sitting. We sit at the table during meals, we sit while driving our cars, we sit working at a desk at the office or at school, and we finish off the day sitting on the couch watching TV in the evening. …
A growing number of studies show that the more we sit, the greater our chances of dying of heart disease, stroke, cancer, or diabetes. We tend to get back and joint pain. We are likely to be overweight or obese. Sitting also saps our energy, making us more tired than ever. In a commentary titled ‘Regular Physical Activity: Forgotten Benefits,’ published in 2015 online in the American Journal of Medicine, Drs. Steven Lewis and Charles Hennekins of Florida Atlantic University stress that lack of physical activity in Americans poses important clinical, public health, and fiscal challenges for the nation. They calculate that the cost of habitual inactivity and the resultant poor health ‘. . . accounts for 22% of coronary heart disease, 22% of colon cancer, 18% of osteoporatic fractures, 12% of diabetes and hypertension, and 5% of breast cancer . . . inactivity accounts for about 2.4% of U.S. healthcare expenditures or approximately $24 billion a year. Not a pretty picture.”
There ya go.
Some stats on how your sitting so much isn’t helping the cause.
Let’s look at some solutions.
Standing: How many times vs. How long
“The results showed that the benefits came not from how long one stood up, but how many times one stood up from a lying-down position—a minimum of 16 times a day was needed (or an estimated 32 to 36 times per day from a seated position). Standing up every 20 to 30 minutes throughout the day seemed to be the most effective solution, one which I put to good use in various studies. After measuring the time course of various parameters such as plasma volume, heart rate, blood pressure, circulating cortisol, ACTH, plasma rennin, catecholamines, vasopressin, etc., in response to lying down or standing up, we found that the maximum changes occur in the first 20 minutes. As expected, the measurements improved when standing up and worsened when lying down, though these changes continue at a slower rate if the posture is maintained. You hear today the 20-minute standing up recommendation to break up sitting as generally accepted. It seems a safe guess, though an actual study of posture change from sitting was never done.”
Important distinction here: It’s not how LONG you stand up; it’s how MANY TIMES you stand up during the day.
(btw: Note: “Static” standing in the same position all day can be as bad as static sitting in the same position all day!)
For our purposes, let’s go back to that “stand at least once every 30 minutes rule.” Or, if you’re really all about it, once every 20 minutes. Or, if you’re REALLY all about it, join me in my get-up-and-move every 1,000-second game!
For those keeping track, that’s every 16 minutes and 40 seconds. My trusty Timex watch does the job. It’s set on a repeat countdown. The chimes that go off at the end of each cycle have become like a meditation bell for me. I get up every single time. Bang out my 11 burpees or jump on the rebounder or hang from the pull-up bar. Whatever. But I stand up. Give myself a nice little “That’s like me!” Then back to work.
Now, in addition to the physiological Optimization, I also love my 1,000-second practice for the psychological/philosophical/self-mastery Optimization.
Nietzsche comes to mind. (My 1,000-second timer literally just went off, btw. Up. Quick hang from pull-up bar. I’m back.) In Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Nietzsche tells us: “He who cannot command himself should obey. And many can command themselves, but much is still lacking before they can obey themselves.”
I think of that line basically every time I get up.
“That’s like me to command and then obey myself.”
All day every day.
Pop quiz!
“Debra Rose, director of the Aging Well Center in Fullerton, California, has developed a test to assess the level of incoming participants of the center. The test involves sitting upright in an armless chair, feet flat on the floor, arms crossed across the chest, and using a timer to measure how many times you can stand up straight-backed and unassisted in 30 seconds. It is a very discriminating test. Nine to 14 is average. If you can stand up over 23 times in 30 seconds, you are doing very well. Less than nine times means you need help badly. I find it useful to test myself if I want to intersperse an exercise in my day and as a reminder of how I am doing. A friend tells me the test/exercise is a great pick-me-up to renew energy every few hours. I recommend it to anyone, whatever your age.”
Ready for a pop quiz?! Do that test.
Find a straight-backed chair. Cross your arms across your chest. Then see how many times you can sit down and get back up.
… Well, how’d you do?
I just banged out 31. (Pretty sure I hit the “straight-backed” rule but an impartial judge might be required for that one. Laughing. Let’s do this!!)
(And, if you haven’t done the test yet, find a time to do it. It’s awesome. AND… Remember, the only way to go from theory to practice with this stuff is to actually DO IT!!)
Note: Joan wrote this book when she was 80 years old. A big part of her work is to help the elderly population maintain independence as they age.
Her #1 tip on how to help them do that? STAND UP!! Every 30 minutes. :)
So… If you have relatives who are getting up there in years, encourage them to practice this simple technique!!
P.S. 1,000-second timer just went off again. (Time flies when you’re having fun!) This time? A few seconds of bouncing on the rebounder with my arms up over me head!
The keys to the solution
“Sitting is as natural a part of living as standing up, sleeping, eating, and moving. It is physiological. Sitting only became pathological after its role in our modern daily life changed. The way we work has shifted, and the way we use our leisure hours is more sedentary. Instead of alternating between standing and moving, distributed evenly throughout the day, we now sit for a greater block of time and overall proportion of time than previously. This has resulted in making us less resilient, which damages our health while increasing the long-term risk of illness.
The solution to this mess involves actively confronting the problem. No pill, exercise device, or a new chair can do it for us. We need to refocus awareness; we need to be selfish. We need to move more so that our cells are subjected to stimulating sensations as we move in the field of gravity. Yet is not just any kind of G-moving. If there is a word that defines the solution to our sitting woes, it is alternating—from sitting to standing, from standing to bending over to pick something off the floor, from squatting to jumping up, from stretching up to bending sideways, moving up every which way, kneeling down in prayer to touch your forehead on the ground and back upright again. Add frequent and variety to alternating and you have the keys to the solution.”
That’s from a chapter on “The Solution” in which Joan shares “Healthy Habits that Keep You Moving.” Let’s look at a few of my favorites.
First, let’s make sure we’re alternating sitting and standing. Remember that it’s all about frequency (micro-movements!) and variety (do different things throughout the day!).
Other fun tips: Keep on working on your posture. Sit up straight and stand up straight. Chest up. Chin down. Shoulders back. Strike a power pose. Gravity likes that.
Wondering what type of chair you should get? Joan says: “In my view, the simplest, healthiest solution is a hard-backed wooden chair with no arm rests. You may always add a small pillow.” As it turns out, that’s precisely what I’ve used for years. Commandeered one from the dining room table. The cushion is almost flat. Forces good posture. (Your chair?)
Watch TV? Don’t let 30 minutes go by in that super comfie couch or chair. Use the commercials as opportunities to move and get the double benefit of moving and avoiding silly ads.
At the office: You don’t need a standing desk with a treadmill (unless that’s your thing!), but you DO need to stand up. How often? At least every 30 minutes. (Echo! It’s deliberate! Echo!) Also: Consider standing meetings. Go for walks on your meetings. Deliberately put your printer and notes somewhere that forces you to get up and walk over to them, etc.
And… Did you know that jumping creates up to 6Gs of gravitational force? (Normal is 1G.) Yep. She also loves squats and jumping jacks. Throw them together with a push-up and what do you get? A burpee. Gotta love the burpee!!!
With that, I’m going to go bang out my next set of 11 now. :)
Let’s get our micro-movements on and make today awesome!
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