Born to Run or Born to Sit?

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Most of us have heard by now that Americans (and many Europeans) sit too much. The statistics on being sedentary are in: Many of us sit for 12 hours or more every day. Some of us sit even longer than that, using our leisure time to sit and watch TV for hours.

Sitting Comes Naturally

Yet, a large body of research tells us that sitting comes naturally because it is a way to save energy. We see animals (and humans) doing their best to conserve calories as they go about their lives, and sitting is a good way to do that.

If you follow the logic of Charles Darwin, the idea of natural selection is to conserve energy in order to make sure that reproduction and the nurturing of young can occur in order to perpetuate the species. Spending hard-earned calories on frivolous activity would not be in the interest of keeping the species going.

The early human hunter-gatherers and the hunter-gatherers of today work incredibly hard to find food and do the chores necessary to maintain subsistence living. Under these circumstances, it makes total sense to conserve energy once food has been obtained.

The same would be true in the animal world. One of our closest relatives, the chimpanzee, is notorious for sitting around. Those who study chimpanzees find that they spend about half of their waking hours feeding and digesting. For much of the rest of the time, they rest, groom each other, or take long naps.

In short, our bodies evolved to sit, rest, and regroup. It was and still is important. However, there is a vast difference between how we sit now and how it used to be.

How We Sit

Those who study current hunter-gatherer cultures note that sitting is not a passive activity. There are no chairs. Sitting or squatting takes more effort than hanging out in a comfortable chair. Hunter-gatherers do other things while seated. They are doing chores, making things, looking after children, and socializing.

In contrast, let’s take a look at what is probably a worst-case scenario. What happens when we spend the day sitting and then watch TV in the evenings? We could be relaxing in an easy chair, totally engrossed in what is on the screen. We may be eating. In fact, studies have indicated that people who watch the most TV vs. those who watch an hour a day or less have a 61 percent higher risk of dying.

On the other hand, there are findings indicating that there are many genes that predispose us to like physical activity. Some of these are linked to the motivation to move. If that’s the case, how come more of us aren’t motivated to get the exercise that we need?

Physiology and Behavior

There are many things that can happen to our bodies when we sit a lot. They can cause our motivation to get moving to evaporate.

Our bodies respond to excess sitting by making untoward alterations in our physiology, all of which can contribute to the desire to keep on sitting.

Here’s a short list of some effects that sitting can have on our motivation:

• Our blood circulation gets sluggish, less oxygen gets to our brains, and we can feel de-energized and drowsy.
• Inactive muscles don’t respond as well to insulin. Normally, insulin gets sugar out of our blood so that we can use it for energy.
• Inside our cells, the mechanism for creating energy gets compromised by inactivity. This can lead to malfunctions in many areas of the body.
• Exercise creates good bacteria in our guts. Studies have shown that inactivity actually changes our gut bacteria to bacteria that do not keep our bodies and minds healthy.
• Muscles can atrophy from disuse, causing imbalances, pain, and inability to walk with a good stride, climb stairs, or balance.
• Lack of movement can cause the discs between the vertebrae in our back to stiffen. A stiff or painful back can be a deterrent to exercise.

Finding the Motivation to Move

Daniel Lieberman, in his book Exercised, has made a profound statement related to motivation to exercise. He says, “Instead of walking, carrying, digging, running, and throwing, we sit for most of the day in ergonomically designed chairs, stare at screens, and press buttons. The only catch is that we still inherited our active ancestor thrifty genes that rely on physical activity to grow, maintain, and repair our bodies.”

In other words, we are born to sit but also to feel good when we move. These characteristics are highly relevant when we endeavor to get people to move more.

Finding the motivation to move has, in some ways, been thwarted by the medicalization of exercise. Many organizations recommend that we get off our duffs for at least 150 minutes per week of moderate exercise and then do a couple of sessions of strength training. Research continues on how much and how often, what types are best, what is most efficient, and what will be best for your health.

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Unfortunately, that alone is not enough to get most people moving. Since we are clearly not going back to having to forage for our food, what is the answer?

Research is getting more and more clear on this. There are some things we can tap into in order to get people moving more.

1. Research repeatedly shows that what keeps people coming back to exercise is that they realize that it feels good (it’s in our genes, after all). Getting people started and pointing out the good feelings can be an effective way to establish it as a habit.
2. Start with increments. Emphasize each small change as a victory. Small successes can be motivating.
3. Help people find an intrinsic reason to improve their health. Responding to “shoulds” like a medical prescription is not effective in the long run.
4. Much has been written about the three basic psychological needs of humans: autonomy, competency, and relatedness. Good coaching and support can tap into these needs by letting the person, with guidance, design their own efforts and master them.

These days, the task of trying to get people to move more can be daunting. For many of us, moving and exercising do not come naturally, given the many opportunities to sit! But we can use what we know about motivation to find creative ways to help people get more active.