#25. Made to Move: A Biography of Homo Sapiens Monday, August 2, 2021 Once upon a time, life demanded toil. A lot of it. Our ancestor's ancestor's ancestor's ancestors, and their ancestors, had no internet or television. Or automobiles. Or refrigeration. Or Amazon Prime. If they wanted food, they had to go get it. If they had somewhere to be, it was the body's responsibility to get them there... without the comfort of fancy shoes. Then the industrial revolution happened. When it was done happening, we had become a sitting species. The inventions changed us. Electricity, telephones, sewing machines, internal combustion engines. And on and on. Every year, we outsourced more of our toil to tireless, uncomplaining machines. The effort of nearly every endeavor was lessened, nearly every load lightened, the daily drudgery drudged a little bit less. And we didn't limit our loafing to leisure time. High-activity jobs began disappearing, too (a pattern that still persists). Between the Kennedy and Obama administrations, occupations involving moderate-intensity physical activity fell from nearly half of the workforce to a fifth (Henschel et al., 2020). Today, these professions are becoming an endangered species. No matter where we are - at home, at work, or commuting between the two - we lounge and slouch while life's labors accomplish themselves. As comforting as this may seem, it comes with problems. Do you have a pulmonary condition? Or are you at risk of one? If so, it would be best to minimize sedentary behavior (Dogra et al., 2018). Osteoporosis? Don't be sedentary (Rodriguez-Gomez et al., 2018). Arthritis? Even though it may feel better in the moment, don't be sedentary (Fenton et al., 2018; Lee et al., 2015). Other forms of chronic pain? Lots of potential causes, but for nearly all of them, don't be sedentary (Ellingson et al., 2012; Law et al., 2017; Senba et al., 2017). The idle life puts us at risk of diabetes, metabolic syndrome, cancer, and cardiovascular disease (Bailey et al., 2019; Hamilton et al., 2007; Katzmarzyk et al., 2009; Stamatakis et al., 2013). And the list doesn't stop there. Is there any good news? Yes: tips. Tips are good news. These tips: Tip 1) Evaluate yourself. And be honest about it. How much activity do you really do? And how much inactivity invades your day? Quantifying these things can be surprising. It can also be time consuming, but there are reliable devices that will do some of the work for you. A FitBit or a Whoop or Apple Watch. Or whatever comes next. Don't merely notice the step counts though. Pay attention to when and where you get those steps. What sorts of environments associate with sedentary tendencies? Are you, perhaps, less active at work? Or at home on weekends? These are times to be extra mindful about how bodyful you're being. Tip 2) Realize that exercise is not the opposite of sedentary behavior. "Well, I was supine for 23 hours, but I spent the 24th hour heaving and hoing like a maniac. Nearly threw up. Took forever to catch my breath. So I definitely earned my pillow time today." That's not really how it works. For many reasons. Let's talk about one of them: Lipid phosphate phosphatase-1 (LPP1). This is an enzyme with preventive (helpful) roles in blood clotting and inflammation (great for warding off deep vein thromboses). If you're sedentary for a bit (sit down for a few hours), LPP1 gets suppressed. Very suppressed. Does it recover if you exert yourself for a couple of hours afterward? Not really (Zderic et al., 2012). You can't counterbalance a sedentary life with occasional bursts of vigor. Tip 3) Think of physical activity and exercise as a nutrient. Like a vitamin. If you don't get enough C, you get scurvy. Insufficient D? Rickets. With other vitamins and minerals, deficiencies might result in clotting problems or anemia or osteoporosis. Similarly, if you don't get enough physical activity, you become ill with "movement deficiency disease." What are its symptoms? That scary list from above (e.g., diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, etc.). Regarding movement as a mere chore, akin to making your bed, creates an impression that it's something you should do, as opposed to what it really is: a biological necessity.