The Real "Keyes" to Health
In the October 2016 issue of Outside Magazine, editor Christopher Keyes took on the topic of standing desks and why that fad, and it was a fad, died such a bad death. Their editorial offices, situated in Santa Fe, New Mexico in the heart of some of the best sports country in America, were outfitted for standing desks with the idea that this radical new idea would be proven right.
However as Keyes found out as he walked the halls, people were either hunched over their work spaces, had bought higher chairs, or had found other inventive ways to do what they'd always done. So much for standing desks.
They had totally missed the point. The point, as Keyes found out when he contacted Dr. James Levine, doctor of endocrinology at Mayo clinic, is that we need to be constantly moving. Our entire lifestyle has gone completely in the opposite direction. In fact, and in every way, too many of us coddle ourselves to avoid exercise, avoid exertion. Our cities and living environments, with rare exception, are not walking friendly, or running friendly, or cycling friendly. Some are trying. Not every town can be a Boulder or a Bend or a Bozeman.
Most of us really want to get in shape. We do. If we could just get to the gym or to a boxing class or yoga class. Well, that's part of the problem. The assumption that we have to "get somewhere" assumes a drive, find a parking space, in most cases change clothing, take part in the activity and then do the whole thing in reverse. We might start out with good intentions with an interesting new activity, but at some point, the entire enterprise ends up being too much trouble. It's so easy to put it off one day, then a week, then it becomes thirty pounds' worth of "put off."
Levine points out that the problem is that it also wouldn't get you in shape anyway. If I commit to working out at the gym for an hour three days a week but I do little else other than sit in my cubicle, couch surf and barely eat a healthy diet, all I'm doing in stroking my ego, not my health statistics. I'm just as likely to die from the same illnesses as the guy who never goes to the gym. Man, that's frustrating. My body might improve but my health isn't much better.
What the Outside Magazine article pointed out is that we have to keep moving. Keyes, the editor, challenged himself to do just that during the day, which involved yoga stretches, walking more often, going up the stairs instead of taking the elevator, and doing lunges and pushups.
Now at one of the nation's premier fitness magazines, this isn't entirely unexpected, but Keyes doesn't show up to work in Spandex and a tank top. Nobody likes to look like a fool, and admittedly it's hard do lunges in your Dockers.
Even at Outside headquarters in a great little sports town.
The simple truth is that every few minutes or so, by continuing to do something that quickened that pace, he felt invigorated and energized. A few pushups here, a jog up and down the steps there.
It really does work.
Keyes argues that it starts at the office. I would beg to differ. It starts in the home. Parents set the example. Limit device time and kick the kids outside as much as possible. Demand activity- and do it with them. It might even improve family relationships. Pick up a kid and climb the stairs a few times. That'll get your heartbeat going. Great cellulite fighter too, ladies. The kids will laugh and enjoy it, and you will get strong. Gee what an idea. The house, an apartment building, pretty much anywhere, is full of opportunities to be playful. You have to be looking for them, rather than for somewhere to sit down and check your phone.
Schools, which have ripped physical education programs out of the curriculum, need to reinstate this essential part of keeping kids energized and engaged. Not only that, during the day, create energizer breaks to keep kids focused and their energy utilized. Exercise, movement and meditation have all been shown to help calm kids and keep them engaged. Those habits start early. Once our kids learn to love to move, with luck, it will be a lifetime love affair.
Our bodies were made for movement and periodic rest, not the other way around. The older I get, the more I move, and the more I move, the more energy I have to move even more. However, while I would thoroughly enjoy watching people in suits hitting the floor and giving me twenty-five every few minutes, a more realistic solution is that people will likely sneak off and sweat in private. If they do so at all.
We're just a little too shy to have the whole office watch us struggle to stand back up after that downward dog.