Automation and innovation are great, right? I recently saw an ad for hands free Zeba shoes – you don’t even have to bend over to put them on or tie them, you get an instant sneaker by simply slipping your feet into a pair. We have recliner chairs that lift us when we want to stand. Electric beds that do the sitting up for us so that it is easier to get in and out of them. And the “clapper” – just clap your hands and the lights go on or off, no need to get up and walk across the room.
We have so many gadgets designed to make our life “easier.” Think about all the daily mundane tasks that Alexa or our smartphones do for us. Automation is great, however, it is making Americans lazier by the day because we don’t have to use our muscle mass for hardly anything – our gadgets do the work. For example, we can shop for groceries with a few simple clicks on our phone then have them brought to our car at the grocery store. Like many other tasks, this is one that used to get us moving but can now can be done with minimal physical effort.
We get such an odd mix signals from our society such. We hear, “sitting new smoking” yet we are enticed with gadgets and apps that make it easy to stay seated.
How, as a society, can we have both automation and continued activity? Automation and technology are inevitable in our society and our everyday lives. It’s funny, we are all about our fitness trackers and exercise routines, however, we take the elevator when we can climb up a flight of stairs. I can’t tell you how many times (I live in a high-rise building), that I have been on the elevator with people who go up or down only one flight when the stairwell is only 20 feet down the hall. Too often, Americans often take the easy path when offered a choice – think about how often you take the escalator instead of the stairs.
Moving forward, consider taking the extra steps and moving whenever possible; park further away from your destination, use the stairs, get up to turn the lights on or off… Move every chance you get. Hit your step count every day. Don’t let technology rob your body of the vital muscle movement it deserves!