I'm doing a little survey and could use your help... I'd like you to estimate, roughly, the total amount of time you spend on your feet each day. In minutes, what's your average daily total? Please reply/comment with your number. Seriously, please hit me back, I'm genuinely curious.

It's an unscientific observation, but I guesstimate that over half of the US population spends fewer than 60 minutes per day on their feet. I believe most people are on their butts or their backs for about 23 hours every day.

And I think this is killing us. Way too early. Worse, this habitual lack of movement is insidiously eroding our healthspan and robbing us of our independence years before we die.

About 70 years ago, a forward-thinking British scientist, Dr. Jerry Morris, confirmed the adverse effect of chronic immobility in a now famous paper published in the eminent British medical journal, Lancet.

He compared the incidence of heart disease in drivers versus conductors in London's double-decker buses. His team determined "that highly active conductors... were at lower risk of cardiovascular heart disease than drivers who sat through their shifts at steering wheels. If conductors did develop the disease, it was less severe and occurred at later ages." The drivers had a 61% higher risk of a heart attack.

Morris and his team later confirmed his findings with postal letter carriers and other civil servants. They determined that more time on our feet is highly protective against heart disease.

Stick with me for a couple minutes... think about your typical day. How long on you on your feet? For most, it is the briefest possible interlude between bouts of extended sitting. We get up in the morning and take a shower. Those few minutes in the shower just might be one of the longest period of standing we have in our day. We commute to work seated. A short walk to the desk. We sit. For hours, we only get up for brief trips to the bathroom or meetings. We get home and sit for dinner and then for hours binge watching TV. You see where I'm going with this.

No bueno.

Sure, I don't want to die young from heart disease. Heck, I don't want to die old from heart disease either! Nobody does.

But, what I dread even more, is living for years or decades without complete independence. And I'm not just talking about staying out of the nursing home. I'm talking about preserving my ability to do all the things I love, with the ones I love, for as long as I live.God willing, I'm gonna live all out and die fast.

I suspect you feel the same way. So, let's reframe how we spend our minutes each day. Can we be intentional about extending those to be more than the briefest possible time before our next sit-down? I'm confident we can.

This brings me to an offer that will help you get up and moving - our VIP Guest Pass opportunity.

Through March, if you're not currently a member, we're thrilled to invite you to test drive MidStrong for up to four small group sessions for FREE. The only stipulation is that we need to "sit down" (haha, see what I did there?!) in person for a brief consultation first.

If you are a member already, please pass this along to your friends and relations. We have hard-copy passes at MidStrong that you can take with you.

If you don't live in the Westborough vicinity but would like to take advantage of this offer, please use the buttons below to schedule a consult with us, and we'll explore how we can make this happen for you, wherever you live.

I've attached a pdf below of our actual VIP Guest Passes so you can print and share.

Thanks so much for your support! Now, let's get off our butts and get moving.

Work it. Live it. Keep it.

MidStrong is for life.

Are You A Driver or Conductor - the Answer Might Be Killing You

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