“An object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion”. ~Isaac Newton
Just over two years ago I was living in the Upper East Side of New York City and working in my dream job as a federal law enforcement officer (living in NYC in and of itself was a bucket list item for me) literally jet setting all over the world. The main reason I left the gig was to give my full attention to running my startup. But a good part of my leaving also had to with the fact that I was sitting on my ass for 10-14 hours a day.
While I was getting physical fitness awards quarter after quarter at work and was in better shape than when I was in the Marines, they say sitting is the new smoking. In fact no matter how much you work out, and I worked out a ton (plus I walked everywhere in the City and took every subway stair case up in sprints), you can’t undue the damage of sitting on your butt all day. Ruh-f-ing-ro.
Fast forward two years, I find myself in Miami, home of some the sexiest, fittest people in the country. I still work out religiously, or cult-ishly (when I drop in at CrossFit), but now I find myself sitting on my ass staring at spreadsheets on my Mac eight to ten hours a day and my overall posture still sucks and my wallet (temporarily) lighter. Ruh-ro, no bueno. Stand up Paul!
Both my parents suffer medical issues indirectly related to diet and their somewhat sedentary lives that limit their abilities now (sorry, mom and dad). While I work out for a lot of reasons, a healthy level of competition on the obstacle race circuit, a high level of narcissism on Facebook, to look good on my Tinder profile and well, pure vanity, I also want to be a functional beast hiking some exotic island mountain when I am sixty – not some sad dude rotting away in a VA home somewhere.
Got your attention? Great!
Here’s the takeaway: Getting off your butt is a habit that needs to be learned and ingrained. Stand up Paul, get off your ass! Work at a desk or computer too? Stand up! As my friend Alex says, why not do burpees every hour?
Want to help the future generation and maybe do something to help the global obesity epidemic? Join me in supporting StandUpKids and their pilot program to create the world’s first full stand up school.
This is a pilot experiment that could change how schools worldwide are designed. The goal is to get every public school student in the US at a standing desk within 10 years.
#getoffyourass
