Sitting To Death

The first story we were going to publish when we returned was going to be the story featured on ABC News which called it "Sitting Linked to Dying Early - Link Is Independent of Exercise, Obesity and Other Factors. So What Gives?"

We call it "the great wake the hell up and get you butt out of that seat now" news. It reminds us of the scene from the movie T2 (Terminator 2 where the now Governor of California says: "Come with me if you want to live!" You're scared as all get out because you're thinking this information is from the source that wanted to kill me. If you're still alive and reading this you might want to know the specifics before you "get your butt out of the seat". We know and we're still sitting but we've always been hard behind-ed. We hope you aren't but if you're like us you probably are.
We'll get up Mom, just five more minutes (actually we really mean - leave us the hell alone we're going to live forever we don't care what you say!) The facts are specifically and not generally:

"...queried by questionnaire on 53,440 men and 69,776 women who were disease free at enrollment. The authors identified 11,307 deaths in men and 7,923 deaths in women during the 14-year follow-up. After adjustment for smoking, body mass index, and other factors, time spent sitting (>6 vs. <3 hours/day) was associated with mortality in both women (relative risk = 1.34, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.25, 1.44) and men (relative risk = 1.17, 95% CI: 1.11, 1.24). Relative risks for sitting (>6 hours/day) and physical activity (<24.5 metabolic equivalent (MET)-hours/week) combined were 1.94 (95% CI: 1.70, 2.20) for women and 1.48 (95% CI: 1.33, 1.65) for men, compared with those with the least time sitting and most activity. Associations were strongest for cardiovascular disease mortality. The time spent sitting was independently associated with total mortality, regardless of physical activity level. Public health messages should include both being physically active and reducing time spent sitting." (American Journal of Epidemiology) 

Why risk it? Why take a chance and the difference in sitting and not is most apparent in women than men but its obviously important and though its a questionnaire response its not twenty or even twenty thousand and its not a five year review or even a ten year review its over one hundred thousand and over fourteen years. We can say its not that important but the reality hard as it is to accept is that when Dr. Oz says you need to get 10,000 steps a day to maintain optimum health he's probably right and we probably need to heed his advice. As hard a pill as that might be to swallow.

Follow your doctor's advice, if you want to live. It sucks we know. But the facts are the facts. Though we sit more than six (6) hours a day whether working at our desk or sitting before the screen silver or tiny its effects can only be compounded. The only thing we can think to do is to offer to seek ways to maximize our efforts with the minimal amount of pain. It's old news but considered we haven't' posted for so long we felt this would be the story to lead with as we explain our absence from the site. We hate exercising. What should you do? Dr. Oz has some suggestions.