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Comment by taber1 | Hacker News Reader

One case = anecdote. There is actually some evidence that you can't counteract the effects of sitting with exercise, unless you exercise more than you sit. And what exactly does "I'm healthy" mean? Is that what the doctor says after doing some test or is it just how you feel? What would be the status of your health (as measured by tests from a doctor) if you had an active job and some moderate exercise for the same period of 13 years?

source: http://m.runnersworld.com/health/sitting-is-the-new-smoking-...

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Every time one of these articles comes up, the author posts blood tests, 'health screening results', and bizarre plots from sleep EEG machines. These are all worse than useless.

Because there is only one sample. You have no way of disentangling the effect of the condition being tested, from the effect of everything else. You'd need like a hundred people for that. There are never 100 people.

For the past month, I've added shoulder stands to my workout, and also been feeling really energetic. It would appear they are amazing. That, or it's due to the weather being sunnier, and being on a nice project at work. I bet a blood test would show my cortizol levels are lower, which would give this headstand thing the appearance of science.

These N=1, test my blood, wear a skin salinity tracker for no reason experiments are playing at science, rather than achieving science. Like paintball is expensive but still doesn't kill people.

If this guy wants to write about his subjective experience of doing situps while doing sitdowns, it's not any less scientific for lack of a blood test.

I had a physical by my doctor about 3 months ago, as stated in my writing. So, yes... "I'm healthy" was declared by tests from a doctor.

Then it's seems that it's working out for you and maybe that would be a "middle road" for us, desk-bound people. However we still cannot fully counteract the negative effects of sitting, to quote the article which I linked in my previous post:

"Adding to the mounting evidence, Hamilton recently discovered that a key gene (called lipid phosphate phosphatase-1 or LPP1) that helps prevent blood clotting and inflammation to keep your cardiovascular system healthy is significantly suppressed when you sit for a few hours. "The shocker was that LPP1 was not impacted by exercise if the muscles were inactive most of the day," Hamilton says. "Pretty scary to say that LPP1 is sensitive to sitting but resistant to exercise."

That's certainly possible. There is no way to tell other than to give it a shot for yourself.

However, I will mention, I'm not blessed with great genetics by any means. I would say I am an average/below average individual when it comes to "good genetics". My entire family is riddled with health issues. My father died at the early age of 56 due to heart disease, his brother at 60. His father at 52. When I found I had cholesterol issues, this is what made me start my exercise routine, so I didn't end up like them. So far, it has helped me tremendously.

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