Sunday I played golf in Philadelphia and fortunately was able to walk the course with a caddy. During the round, after finding out that I was a physician, he asked me about health risks. My answer was quick – obesity and cigarettes. But in retrospect, even though they are conflated, I should have separated weight and inactivity. Increasingly we are learning that movement itself has positive health benefits.

Many readers have heard of the 10,000 step program. While there is nothing magic about that number, I believe it is a reasonable goal. The Truth about 10,000 steps.

“We just want people to get up, and get started,” Marsh told Live Science in an interview in February. “Any amount of activity that you can do today that you didn’t do yesterday, you’re probably going to start benefiting from it.”

As an over 60 human, I found this discussion interesting – Research Highlights The Value Of Activity -> Too Much Sitting After 60 May Lead to Disability, Study Says

“Sedentary behavior is its own separate risk factor [for disability],” said study researcher Dorothy Dunlop, a professor of medicine at the Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. She evaluated the exercise habits of more than 2,000 men and women, aged 60 and above, and their ability to perform normal everyday activities.

“Regardless of how much time they spent in moderate physical activity, the more time they spent being sedentary, the more likely they were to be disabled,” Dunlop said.

So try to move. At least stand. Walk if you can. Running may even be better (I admit to a huge bias here).

Enough typing. Time to go for a short walk. Off my butt. Quit reading and move.