Book Review: "Sitting Kills, Moving Heals"

Have you ever wondered why we look the way we look or move the way we move? From our first moments in utero through our movement milestones of childhood, and even now as we write and read this post, we are shaped, moved, and grounded by the ever-present force of gravity. Typically, we are introduced to gravity with imagery like an apple falling on the figurehead of Newtonian science and perhaps further grasp the gravity concept when we see astronauts floating in space and realize that there is something on Earth that keeps us from doing the same. More often than praised, gravity is cursed as it limits the vertical jump of athletes who quest for flight, consumes the lives of countless cell phone screens, and makes some of our most attractive anatomy dive like kamikazes toward the center of the Earth. If you share in the disdain for the G-forces that make hill workouts what they are and literally brings us to our knees when emotion caves our support, you may want to check out the work of Joan Vernikos, former Life Sciences Director at NASA, and her book “Sitting Kills, Moving Heals”. Her perspective may just flip 
                                                               your concept of gravity and its purpose for form and function downside up.  

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While working at NASA, Dr. Vernikos was responsible for examining the health of astronauts pre and post space travel in order to assess the damage done by the anti-gravity environment and to design rehab programs for their recovery.  (Think Sandra Bullock at the end of the movie "Gravity"). After years of this work and repeatedly identifying the same results, she came to term the group of symptoms the astronauts experienced post space travel “Gravity Deprivation Syndrome”. She explains in her book, “Sitting Kills, Moving Heals” that she has also seen a very similar set of symptoms in non-space travelers, namely the sedentary. 

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The following is a list of symptoms that Vernikos identified in post space astronauts as well as sedentary individuals:

• Atrophy and fatty infiltration of the multifidi (stabilizers of the spine), 
  
• Incoordination of movement patterns
  
• Decreased balance
  
• Increased blood pressure
  
• Decreased endurance

• Decreased strength
• Balance problems
• Stooped posture (lack of use atrophies stabilizer muscles that support spine)
• Sluggish gut
• Urinary incontinence (even in young women)
• Increased fatigability
• Decreased testosterone, decreased growth hormone
• Aching joints

Look familiar?

Despite decades of increasing popularity of exercise and fitness as well as the inundation of diet and nutrition information via the internet, these correlations are made and the likelihood of obesity and lifestyle related disease is increasing annually. According to Dr. Vernikos:

“The key to lifelong health is not going to the gym 2-3 times per week for 30 minutes; it’s low-intensity non-exercise movements throughout the day.” See a few tips below to bring this into practice." 

What does this mean for us?

• Gravity shapes our bodies as we develop; moving and playing throughout the day as children.
• We begin to sit upward of 8 hours per day starting when we begin school as children.
  
• As opposed to standing, the typical seated position (relaxed with back against the chair and head in front of the center of mass) cuts off our body’s ability to distribute force evenly throughout the entire body’s myofascial system. 
  
• When ligaments stay at one length for 20 min they change their length to match the new demands. Passive sitting (disengaged) for longer than 20 minutes promotes us becoming chair-shaped.
• If you're going to sit, make it an active process; sit tall & breathe deep. Then, alternate between sitting and standing every 20 minutes. 

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