Just a couple of thoughts on movement

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(Just as a mild disclaimer here, this blog is partially tongue in cheek, slight rant, and though relatively serious, should not be taken all that seriously. Take it with a pinch of salt, and realise that when I say "death" its kind of a figure of speech. But kind of not).  

I have a few blogs in the pipeline, but they aren't quite ready yet, so I thought I'd just write a little bit about whats been going through my mind recently in terms of movement and the human condition.

People are animals, and when you think of an animal, you tend to think of it as moving. If you see an animal close up, it is likely to be still. If it is still it is very likely to be dead.
Think about that, in terms of living animals. Absence of movement often means death. Therefore the opposite is true- movement is life.

The only time something dead moves is when it falls out of the sky because its been shot. It then stops moving pretty rapidly. If it moves, its alive. Indeed, the more it moves, the more alive and more vital it appears to be. Look at the way cats and dogs move. (OK, so cats may spend the vast majority of the time asleep on the sofa, but bear with me- because if you watch them, they move in their sleep, changing position every 30 mins or so, in order that their spine/bones/tissues never spend a long time in one position), when they are awake, they stalk around the place, tails moving, ears darting around the place, always moving.

Lets transfer that across to humans.
We sit at desks. We sit in front of the computer. We sit as we drive. We shop on the internet. OK, so there is some movement around there, but how much do we actually just sit and not move? The less you move, the closer you are to death.
The less you move the less muscles have a chance to be toned by movement- atrophy can set in. Bones that are not stressed on a regular basis lose structure. Physically, they lose their boniness- and it is this gradual decay that is osteoporosis. The Lymph system which is responsible for working with the immune system, and gets "bad stuff" out of our system is pumped not by the heart, but by mechanical forces reliant on the movement of skeletal muscles, and also from heavy breathing.
That's only 3 things which lose out because of stationary and sedentary behaviour.
Slowly, your body becomes stale and begins to stop. If the tissues in your body don't move, they become attached to one another. Everything that should be in a "sol" state becomes more like a "gel". Sticky and slow.

Apathy and boredom prevail and you slowly lose interest in anything about you. The less you move the less the brain has to occupy itself.

If there was a way to prevent injury, prevent osteoporosis, improve your immune system, make you feel better and stronger and more cognitively active, no matter what your age, and it didn't cost anything, except for a bit of time and a bit of exertion, would you do it?
If you answer is no- sit back down, eat some more doritos and watch another 5 hour stint of the latest DVD box set to get delivered to your door. I hope you enjoy your slowly disintegrating body.
Its the only one you get and you have to live with it all your life.
Treat it with respect, treat it well, and it will serve you well.

Get out there and maintain it by moving it.