Sunday, March 27, 2011

The danger of the sendentary lifestyle

A couple weeks ago I got a call during the day from a friend noting that he had an extra ticket for a panel discussion on the brilliant TV series Community (as part of PaleyFest), but that's not what this post is about. It's about the experience of being there and what happened thereafter.

So I met up with he and another friend after work and we headed to the theater where the event was. We got seats after the lights had gone down, and the only place we found three together we in the very last row of the balcony.

The distance from the stage was not a big deal, as there were cameras and a large screen behind the people seated on the stage. What was the issue was that the seats were pretty narrow, with little leg or even shoulder room. So I spent much of the two hours leaning forward, as we kind of alternated who got to sit back.

When we got up to leave at the end, I felt fine. As we walked out and to the car, still fine. On the ride home, still fine. But shortly after I actually got home my lower back muscles were tight and sore. All night in bed when I shifted the pain in my back came back. And the following day at work I hobbled each time I got up from my chair. (I did recover by the day after the day after, by the way.)

So basically, I did significant damage to myself for a period of nearly 24 hours just by sitting in a theater seat for a couple hours. Not by lifting a heavy object or some physically strenuous activity, but merely by sitting and listening to actors and producers speak.

The lesson is clear: Never do anything, especially doing things that are essentially doing nothing. I'm too old to come away unscathed.

1 comment:

So, what do you think?