[Closed] Inactivity 'kills more than obesity'

Since I got my new phone with a health app I've been pleasantly surprised to discover that I walk an average of 25 miles a week. I don't even regard it as exercise, but it makes me feel slightly better about cycling far less than I used to.

I even ride past several peoples houses who drive into work, the closest is ~800m from the office. I cannot get my head round that.

mrs rocket's friend lives a couple of doors away and drives to work. Turn left out of her house, right onto the main road then left into where she works. 400 m max

All part of life's rich tapestry eh

I've mentioned this before, but there is a family who regularly drive down our street to visit their elderly mother.

They live at the top of the street, a distance of less than two hundred metres.

A little further is my neighbour's partner at 1/4 mile, a distance he regularly drives even on those lovely summer evenings. I can only guess he's upset a local dog or something and is desperate to avoid it, the lazy ****!

I've mentioned this before, but there is a family who regularly drive down our street to visit their elderly mother.
They live at the top of the street, a distance of less than two hundred metres.

Our neighbours bought a dog to help them exercise. They drive it to the (very) nearby park (its 300m's and stunning). I regularly bump into them at the supermarket (also 300m's) where they've driven too and I've walked.

I'd be interested to see what my activity is during a day at work...however, I guess for my phone to record it (eg. using the Apple Health app, iPhone6, latest iOS), I'd need to keep my phone in my pocket all day, yes? (and tbh, that's not happening, it would get knackered in no time.)

Any cheap fitness band thingies that would do it for me?

[url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-30834196 ]Haggis is the answer[/url]

Our neighbours bought a dog to help them exercise. They drive it to the (very) nearby park (its 300m's and stunning). I regularly bump into them at the supermarket (also 300m's) where they've driven too and I've walked.

I have seen people 'walking' their dog by driving along the lane, very slowly, with the lead hanging out of the open door!

I think we have to accept that they set the bar low to a minimum requirement so as not to deter folk for whom 20 mins moderate exercise might sound daunting [ ? ] in the same way that they set the bar so low with the five a day requirements .Basically if they set a target higher most people would just fart and roll over

I'm not sure I do 20 minutes of brisk activity EVERY day.

Then you'd be wrong

The driving stories are pretty depressing

I work on the 1st floor of an office, there are people at work who have never used the stairs even though it takes twice as long in the lift......

I've seen people go to the car park at lunchtime just to move their car closer to the front. The difference was 100m, max. Maybe they were just desperate to get away from their desks for 5 mins.

See this makes more sense to me.

Park at the back in the morning as it gives you at least a tiny bit of exercise. But need to get away in a hurry so go back at lunch to move the car as close as possible.

Still get to walk too and from the back of the car park but save yourself 10 vital mins at the end of the day.

I will do it if I have a meeting butting up to when I have to leave to get the kids where being a min late is not an option.

I'm up to 90 minutes today, according to Google Fit.

How have I achieved this amazing (4.5 times what's needed) time? I've walked my daughter to school then walked home again, and ridden my bike the 4km to work, plus walking backward and forward to the kettle.

I'm not sure this'll offset the four mince pies and a chocolate brownie that I ate while marking exam papers this morning.

My 7 year old daughter walks to/from school everyday. From our child minders to School it is probably about 1/2 a mile.

Our 4 year old walks double the distance, as she does two round trips a day.

There are kids in her class who have NEVER walked to school, yet they live only 1/4 mile (or less) from School.
There are plenty of 4x4s in our village, that are used twice a day for school runs that you could walk in 5 mins.

Based on the above, i'm not sure we're bringing the next generation up to be any better.

At my daughter's school, there is a spot of congestion and a few parked cars near the school at 3.20, but there are hordes of kids walking out the pedestrian exits.

The study, on which the new report was based is available for free online at

for anyone interested.

Humans were meant to be explorers and adventurers. It's another case of science managing to explain the obvious, sitting on your arse 9-5 is not the natural human condition, I guess those who can just about suit it were potentially those suited to farming but at least that took some physical effort.

It's not just the physical side that is effected by our routine 9-5 office based world, it's our mental health as well. Exploring, hunting etc, all these took intellect - pressing buttons on data processing software that does everything for you and then delivers the reports does not.

I'm lucky if I'm [i]inactive[/i] for more than twenty minutes a day. I'm on my feet most of the day, moving around my own workspace and the rest of the building, as well as walking between our two units on the estate, with a certain amount of lifting, bending, carrying stuff, which counteracts the fact that I do drive to work during the winter. I start riding again around March.

It's another case of science managing to explain the obvious, sitting on your arse 9-5 is not the natural human condition

Actually I don't think that's true. We're evolved to conserve energy, and use our brains to catch our food rather than doing shitloads of exercise.

Seen plenty of films about hunter gatherer societies where the men do the minimum of hunting and then sit around all day on their arses. The women are busy, mind...!

Actually I don't think that's true. We're evolved to conserve energy, and use our brains to catch our food rather than doing shitloads of exercise.

Seen plenty of films about hunter gatherer societies where the men do the minimum of hunting and then sit around all day on their arses. The women are busy, mind...!

To a certain extent this is true, but it all depends on the geography of where you are located and how easy resources are to come by. Humans have made a living from some very, very hard climates, that require some guile and fitness to survive in. Northern Europe was once one of the hardest places in the world to survive - I doubt very much that those people lived a sedentary lifestyle.

Even those who lived in the food rich tropics would spend some of their day fishing or hunting, the rest of the day was spent sleeping or playing. None of which is at all like the office environment unless your office is full of lazy incompetent bastards.

Garmin fit syncs with your Strava account too, presumably it will eventually sync with MyFitnessPal etc too.

It would be interesting to find out how much actual exercise I do daily.
I don't drive but work is 2 miles away, I work in a machine shop & I'm on my feet all day plus lifting/moving stuff around etc. I cycle everywhere and will often do some shopping on the way home.
I once wore a cheap HR cheststrap & wris****ch combo & recorded that I burnt around 1400 calories during my working day, what that means in real life I don't know.

Northern Europe was once one of the hardest places in the world to survive - I doubt very much that those people lived a sedentary lifestyle.

Those who survived these conditions were those who were predisposed to storing excess summer food as fat, and so survive the winter. Hence, we're 'all' a bunch of fatties now.

There is a way around everything. Technology.

Want to go outdoors? Simply take a drive.

Wish to get a nice tan and look outdoorsy? Simply visit a tanning booth.

Wish to be more active? Take a job that takes an hour to drive to and then sits you down all day long. Then take out a gym membership, yet be sure to drive to the gym. Try and fit gym around watching TV so you don't feel short-changed.

I work on the 1st floor of an office, there are people at work who have never used the stairs even though it takes twice as long in the lift......

Same here, I work at a Uni and the number of students who will wait ages for the lift to go one floor rather than take the stairs is astonishing.

So the google fit is basically a step counter and a load of APIs
I guess it's more useful when linked with other apps (Endomondo, Strava, etc.), and with ANT+/BT gadgets?
But given that Endomondo and co. really want people using the paid-for app and a subscription, and that's where they give all the charts, I guess that Endomondo wouldn't dish out too much to google fit for its (basic) charting unless you're paid up.
Not going to use strava.

or am I missing something?

[i]Northern Europe was once one of the hardest places in the world to survive - I doubt very much that those people lived a sedentary lifestyle.[/i]

Sedentary in the meaning of sat at desks, or on the couch, or in the car, doubtless no, but did these folk conserve energy, do as little as possible, bitch and moan about the need to go and and find food YET again, and complain that they are always tired hungry and miserable, and there's still nothing to do..?

Probably 😆

Northern Europe was once one of the hardest places in the world to survive - I doubt very much that those people lived a sedentary lifestyle.

Yes, but I bet they wanted to. I bet if you offered them the chance to sit around and do nothing in the warm and dry and get their food from a shop around the corner, they'd jump at it. I reckon it's a safe bet, because that's exactly what did happen 🙂

but did these folk conserve energy, do as little as possible, bitch and moan about the need to go and and find food YET again, and complain that they are always tired hungry and miserable, and there's still nothing to do..?

I realised a while back that although I did a lot of exercise (cycle commuting & gym mainly) I was actually pretty sedentary/lazy apart from that. As I live in a flat I can't really potter about the house/garden so if the weather was bad of a weekend and I wasn't riding my activity level might well be extremely minimal!

I started using a pedometer app on my phone and it was a bit of an eye opener. I am now consciously more active whenever possible in my daily quest for 10,000 steps (on top of exercise). Taking a walk at lunchtime and also in the evening during the week and doing my shopping etc by walking/bike at the weekends rather than car.

As a side-benefit I am definitely less tired at work now due to making myself take regular breaks rather than just sitting in front of a computer for hours on end!

As well as doing 20 mins activity, there is something to be said for varying the activity. For instance, if you work in a factory, you may well be moving your body more than sitting at an office desk, but your body probably gets used to the movements after a while and your muscle memory learns to conserve the energy.
You've gotta mix it up!