Sitting Kills. Moving Heals.
Why GRAVITY is the answer to Everlasting Health and Weight Loss.
I finished this amazing book about health, written by Joan Vernikos, Ph. D, former director of NASA’s Life Sciences Division.
Sitting Kills, Moving Heals:
How Everyday Movement Will Prevent Pain, Illness, and Early Death — and Exercise Alone Won’t
We all think that we know that, that sitting for a long time is not good for us (You might not know though, that sitting might be killing you slowly right now, and is worse than smoking for our health), we know, that moving and being active is good for us.
We might think we know, when we hear it, and yet we don’t know that much.
I didn’t. I learned a lot of new things from the book. Things that cleared a lot of noise in health/weight loss/fitness movement for me. Lots of AHA moments.
I found out a lot of new things reading the book.
I found out, why one hour of exercise, no matter how intense, will not save our health, if we sit the rest of the day.
I found out, that exercising, even daily with sitting lifestyle, is not great for our health — you’d better off moving, doing stuff, getting up and sitting back down, changing positions of your body with 0! exercise on top of that. Isn’t that fascinating? Maybe that’s why most centenarians are not exercisers. They move a lot. They walk a lot. They make stuff. They do things. The variety of movement they perform often is much bigger, than of a usual exerciser — most of us training perform the same routine over and over and over again. And most of the time not the routine that satisfies “movement nutrition” needs of our bodies.
It might sound novel for you, as it did for me, but our body needs not only variety of macro and micro nutrients we get from foods, but also variety of movement nutrients we get from different movements we perform.
Why?
Science shows, that we need to allow gravity to work on our bodies, every part of them, to stimulate all the systems that need to run smoothly for our body to stay healthy and fully functional.
Our circulatory systems (that move blood and lymph), that are in charge of removing toxins and waste products our body creates daily, all the harmful substances that come into our body from external environment, systems that deliver oxygen and all the other essential nutrients to our cells, they are stimulated and can work well only when we work with gravity. Our brain is able to detoxify and get all the nutrients because of gravity and blood circulation that the gravity stimulates.
With no gravity stimulation our body cripples.
How do we know that?
The author is a NASA scientist. She worked with many astronauts returning from space missions. The longer the mission in micro gravity environment — the worse their health was when they returned. Astronauts’ bodies don’t function well in space. Nothing works! Not the digestive system, not the elimination system, not the hormonal system, not the sleep/awake cycle — nothing! Bones’ density suffers the most without gravity forces. Muscle loss is the least of the concerns for the returning astronauts.
And all the symptoms astronauts return with to Earth too much remind us of the consequences of sedentary lifestyle so many people experience today on Earth BECAUSE of misuse of gravity aka sedentary lifestyle.
No, crunches and dumbbell curls will not save you from that. Nor will one hour of exercise daily.
Stimulation needs to be frequent and consistent throughout the day.
That what science reveals.
That’s why it’s so important to move around as often as possible. Get up and move every 40–50 minutes at least for a few stretches and maybe few squats — that is one of the best movements out there to use gravity to its fullest potential. So is walking the stairs. So is stretching. And yoga sequences like sun salutations, where you move up and down so often, changing the position of your head in relation to the Earth — that stimulates blood flow to the brain.
As it turns out gravity is what drives most of the essential processes in human body. That’s why any kind movement, exercise including, has a positive effect on our health — and it has nothing to do with calories burnt during exercise. We don’t get healthier, because we burn more calories — we get healthier, when we start using gravity more to help our bodies function more efficiently. That can only be accomplished through variety of movements performed frequently throughout the day.
Want to get healthy?
Want to get fit?
Want to lose weight and keep it off with much less sweat?
Want to improve metabolism?
Want to improve athletic performance?
Want to look younger?
Want to have more energy?
Want to improve nutrient delivery to your cells?
Want to have better moods?
Want to fix your hormones?
Want to improve bone density?
Coordination?
Blood pressure?
Blood sugar disorders?
Brain disorders?
…
Work with gravity the way the nature, Earth intended it!
We are Earth creatures. We can’t survive and thrive without proper movements that allow gravity to stimulate our bodies on every level.
Now to practice.
What are the best movements to make gravity work for you according to the book and NASA scientists?
“The good news is that when it comes to gravity and the benefits it brings you don’t have to disrupt your life or schedule. There are unlimited opportunities for fitness all around us. The key to success lies in increasing the amount of natural, habitual physical activity we engage in throughout the day, each and every day of our lives; in other words, we must engage in frequent movement, a sort of perpetual motion. But how do we do this?”
Stretch
Stand up — Sit down
Squat
Walk Tall — posture is important, when it comes to gravity. You receive better stimulation at a straight angle with the ground.
Take the stairs
Do the house work
Do head-down stretches and positions
Dance
Swing on a swing
Play a musical instrument
Play sports
Walk to shop and get food, meals
Best exercise to use the benefits of gravity? — Yoga and Tai-Chi
The list can go and on.
The main principle to remember:
High-frequency, low-intensity, habitual, stop-and-start activities throughout the day.
Every. Single. Day.
Remember! You got to work with gravity. Use as much of it as possible. Make that blood flow better throughout your body by changing your body positions often, by moving a lot without too much effort.
Health, longevity, fitness, weight loss, abundant energy as it turns out are not that difficult, when we know why and how it all works.
Today we know a bit better.
