Relaxing Can Make You Fatter
Conventional wisdom says that exercise is a key to weight loss — a no-brainer. But now, Tel Aviv University researchers are revealing that life as a couch potato, stretched out in front of the TV, can actually be “active inactivity” — and cause you to pack on the pounds.
Such inactivity actually encourages the body to create new fat in fat cells, says Prof. Amit Gefen of TAU’s Department of Biomedical Engineering. Along with his Ph.D. student Naama Shoham, Prof. Gefen has shown that preadipocyte cells — the precursors to fat cells — turn into fat cells faster and produce even more fat when subject to prolonged periods of “mechanical stretching loads” — the kind of weight [...]
You can feel the point at which your body shifts into this mode. Just flexing the muscles from time to time, ya don't even have to move, keeps them 'awake', and I make it a habit to only bring a small portion of a snack with me when I'm chillin' with the Boob Tube (how did that moniker ever come about, I wonder :D) so if I want more I have to go get it, which means moving, which means keepin' my body out of low gear for another little while (and keeps me from eatin' a whole bag of Cheetos at a sitting; the benefits of that should be obvious :D). This is also part of why gamers, as a whole, tend to be a fitter group than passive TV watchers: There's a lot of unconscious flexing and moving going on as the body responds to what the mind is engaging. (I have recommended this approach to non-gamers, just flexing from time to time when the body starts to have that heavy, low-gear feeling, and it works wonders from what I'm told, and from what I can see, with *very* minimal effort.) (I'm all for minimal effort. I don't think it's hard to be healthy, but I do think we believe so strongly that it is that we self-sabotage with lots of, "Oh, I don't have the willpower for that," and, "I don't have the time for that," and, "I don't have the money for that," and on and on and on, 'cause we're just convinced that it can't be easy or cheap, when in fact it's the state in which our body wants to be and toward which it will most readily move with the least encouragement.)
I am surprised that they seem surprised that inactivity leads to fat invading the muscle tissue. Part of the reasoning behind feed lots is that cows that exercise less (not having to go to pasture to get their food) get that nice marbling steak-lovers enjoy so much, fat throughout the muscle tissue that melts into it and adds flavor upon cooking. The same is true of any domestically-raised animal that doesn't face the rigors of wild living (farmed venison is generally fattier than wild-caught, for instance), and it makes sense that human anatomy would act in much the same way. In wild or active animals (and people) the muscle tissues are knit together more tightly, preventing fat from invading their architecture. This is also why one person can carry a great deal of extra weight and be fairly strong, and another can be thin and apparently lean but weak; if the heavier person is more generally active their muscles will be denser and fitter than those of the smaller but inactive person.
I do love the understanding we're developing and the information we're gathering, not only on the body, but on the whole universe. Soon we'll realize that the elusive Higgs-boson particle is so elusive because it is *the* particle, all particles, always there everywhere, never anywhere, and therefore can only be quantified by a systematic measuring and analysis of all things in the Universe and outside it, existing and non-existent, and that clears up the question of 'God', which then frees us to get on with just being what we are, which is an absolutely marvelous entity perfectly designed to fulfill our function of endless curiosity and exploration of possibilities through our unique human perspective(s). Not every possibility is fun or adventurous or even positive in any way, but, at least on Earth, we are the only ones with the capacity to judge things in that way. To animals and oceans and plants and rocks and planets and solar systems and galaxies and cells and bacteria and insects life just is what it is. Animals and arguably plants respond emotionally to moments, and can even exhibit forms of depression, but they don't think in ways that lend themselves to considering whether that's 'good' or 'bad'. It just is, for them. We consider such things as good and bad, right and wrong, virtuous or evil, and that makes our perspective on and understanding of life the only one of it's kind, at least in what we know of this corner of the galaxy, and at least until we build a morally-driven electronic intelligence. :D
Anyway, flexing can't hurt, and it might help, and once ya really learn how to isolate a muscle you can do it anywhere and no one will ever know. :) It won't replace getting up and moving around from time to time, but it will stave off the need to do so as often and will help keep those fat cells from creepin' in there and compromising the integrity of the muscle. Happy toning! :)
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