Podcast: Is sitting killing you and what to do about it.

 This Podcast was created for an upcoming book - A Fools Journey and the discovery of Sovereign Soul Plumbing

Gardening ergonomics links

 

PT and Me - Gardening ergonomics  Tips on ergonomics and some stretches.

Green Thumbs and Healthy Ergonomics - Accessible Ergonomics 

Photographs of Minnesota Wildlife by N.G. Carlson

This past spring and summer, I took photographs of wildlife at Silverwood Park and Long Lake Regional Park north of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. Other locations were outside the Bell Museum of Natural History, near my residence and at a woods north of the Twin Cities metro area. 

Spending time in nature during weekday mornings and on weekends made the spring, summer, and fall a wonderful experience. In the book you will meet Scruffy and Blue two Great Blue Herons who glided from one fishing spot to another stopping long enough for me to watch them groom themselves and patiently fish. 

A doe and the fawn on the cover of the book surprised me more than once on my morning walks. The wood duck and hooded merganser families spent time with each other raising their ducklings together. Turtles played tag under water and covered up the available logs on cool sunny days. 

I enjoyed listening to the sounds of songbirds and the hammering of the woodpeckers. I watched bluebirds diving on the grass to pick up insects and the osprey fishing for sunfish. Butterflies, bees, and dragonflies enjoyed the flowers and time on the lake.   

Photographing the wildlife was a walking meditation and an opportunity to capture the beauty in nature. It was a chance to observe and enjoy the dance of life. The book, Photographs of Minnesota Wildlife is available from Amazon in a paperback and kindle version. 

I appreciate the support from the Silverwood Camera Club and my editors Betsy Salvatore and Tammy K. Smith. 

Red Bellied Woodpecker - 21 seconds

Chipmunk - 51 seconds

Addiction is an emotional response to pain

From the BBC News IDEAS Studio: Author Gabor Mate suggests that dealing with trauma is the key to dealing with addiction.  Do not ask what is wrong with you. Ask what happened to you? If we can address the underlying trauma we can get at the reason for the addiction.

Dealing with trauma is addressed by Dr. James Gordon in his book The Transformation: Discovering Wholeness and Healing After Trauma.

Healing after trauma with Dr. James Gordon - 25 minutes

Laboratory Ergonomic Experiences Article

Long pipettes cause wrist poor wrist posture - N. Carlson

Mike May interviewed Sivonne Suraj and me for an article on laboratory Ergonomic Experiences that appeared in Labcompare.com on June 3, 2019. I appreciated the opportunity to work with Mr. May and I picked up some useful ideas from Seuraji. 

As noted in Mr. May's article, some relatively straightforward changes can reduce the potential for injury laboratory personnel.  Please view some additional tips from the Mayo Clinic below. 

Lab Ergonomic tip #1 from the Mayo clinic - 2 min. 

Lab Ergonomic tip #2 from the Mayo clinic - 2 min.

Lab Ergonomic tip #3 from the Mayo clinic - 1 min.

Get Britain standing web site

Get Britain Standing.org an excellent website packed with helpful information about the hazards of prolonged sitting and ways to get moving and reduce the sedentary lifestyle.

There is a summary of European regulations on a safe office environment

The website also highlighted a recent January, 2019 article in Occupational Health and Wellbeing notes that replacing sitting time with activity reduces the onset of early death by up to 35 %. 

Dancing at work - On your feet Britain - 4 min. 

How to be healthy sitting at your desk - 3 min. 

Stand up for health in your office - 21 minutes

Tips for Computer Mousing

Special thanks to David Wolff from Hennepin County Medical Center for making this video on computer mousing tips available.

Computer Mouse Tips - Approximately 6 minutes

Mostly organic turkey, wild rice and bean casserole

Initial ingredients

The Blue Zones diet has a heavy focus on beans and making foods that are simple without a lot of extra ingredients.  I have been playing around with this recipe for a while. The current version has a pleasant cooking aroma and excellent flavor. It is also loaded with fiber.

Ingredients:

1. Organic lentils dried (78.6 cc by volume or a little over 2.5 ounces)
2. Organic split peas (78.6 cc by volume or a little over 2.5 ounces)
3. Organic black beans (78.6 cc by volume or a little over 2.5 ounces)
4. Organic peregion beans (78.6 cc by volume or a little over 2.5 ounces)
5. Minnesota Wild rice (78.6 cc by volume or a little over 2.5 ounces)
6. One red pepper sliced
7. One organic purple onion sliced
8. One turkey leg
9. One organic turkey breast boneless
10. One can organic Health Valley vegetable soup (80 mg sodium per can)
11. One can no-salt green beans
12. Add enough water to cover
13. Heat covered in glass container at 365 until meat falls off of turkey leg ( 2 - 3 hours) May need to rotate meat 3/4ths the way through. 

Before cooking

Yams and casserole in the oven

Simultaneously cook yams with skin sliced in pan with parchment paper on bottom. Place yams in oven as it warms to temperature. Rotate yams when caramelized odor is noticed during cooking.

After cooking, immediately freeze portions of casserole in lunch sized microwaveable containers.

Serving suggestions:

Casserole:

Reheat lunch casserole container in microwave and cover with about 1/3rd cup of chopped walnuts. After heating, top with favorite berries - Black raspberries, blueberries or red raspberries. 

Yams:

Reheat refrigerated yams in the microwave.

Suggested serving options:

1. Eat with or without peel - Add cottage cheese and walnuts or pecans

2. Remove peel and add extra virgin olive oil - mix well. Add walnuts and choice of berries. 

Yams, olive oil, blueberries and walnuts

Blue light and tuneable LED light health effects

I recently attended a talk on the effect of light on “State of the Science: Effects of Light on Human Health with Focus on Blue Light” by William Mills III Ph.D. from Northern Illinois University. He spoke at our annual local industrial hygiene conference in Roseville, Minnesota.

Standard LED lights produce light with more intensity in the blue spectrum than florescent or incandescent light. Newer LED lights will be tunable and dimmable to start the morning in the blue spectrum and shift in the afternoon and evening into the red spectrum.  Small preliminary studies by the Department of Energy these tunable lights in senior care units have shown a positive benefit.

Some brands of orange tinted glasses are much more effective at filtering blue light than others with no relationship between price and effectiveness. I ordered the Uvex Skyper Blue Light Blocking Computer Glasses with SCT-Orange Lens (S1933X) for under $10 as he mentioned that these glasses performed very well.

Many workplace accidents occur due to sleep deprivation. Using intense lighting during the evening shift can improve alertness. Late or evening shift work is now listed by the IARC as a probable human carcinogen

 I talked with professor Mills during a break. He impressed me with his energy, intense curiosity, and willingness to experiment. He and his students build their own wireless wearable monitors using available sensors, chips, and a 3D printer at their BEEEAM Laboratory.

Phillips - All in one tuneable dimmable light - 2 min. 

HI LED tuneable LED project

desk top electric sit to stand unit

ApexDesk EDR-3612-BLACK ZT Series Height Adjustable Sit to Stand Electric Desk Converter

Recently we've been looking for an electric on top of the desk sit to stand unit. These work in situations where a full electric sit stand desk is not affordable and the person can type with elbows in a relaxed position at the the height of the keyboard.  It also works where the person does not have the hand strength to adjust a spring loaded desk top unit.

A footrest is often needed to make sure that the thighs are parallel to the floor when the person is seated. The higher monitor height may make this set up problematic for a person with bifocals if the lower lens is used to view the monitor.

The 18 inch range will accommodate most people but may not be long enough for taller individuals with short humorous bones.

Chicken, Wild Rice, and Veggie Casserole

Chicken wild rice and veggie hot dish - before cooking

Dish - cooked at 355F for 2 1/4 hours

Recipe (serves 6)

1 cup of wild rice
1 pound package of chicken strips
1 can of soup (chicken noodle, cream of celery, or chicken and rice)
1 can of green beans
1 can of peas, corn, or insert veggie here
1 red pepper sliced
1/2 to 1/3 purple onion sliced
2 cups of water

Place all ingredients into glass casserole dish, stir and cover

Pre-heat oven to 355F

Serve hot with pecans or walnuts sprinkled on top.
Add blueberries or raspberries for additional flavor

I refrigerate it in small containers for lunch or dinner.

Consider baking 4 - 6 sweet potatoes at the same time to mix in with the casserole later and to save electricity.

Filling oatmeal breakfast combo

Quick breakfast on the go.

Mix:

Two packets of fruit flavored oatmeal instant
1 scoop vanilla muscle milk
1/4 to 1/2 cup walnut or pecan pieces

Place mixture under Keurig and heat 2/3rds cup of water pouring into bowl.

Mix hot water with ingredients and add milk as needed.

Add 1 cup fruit - blueberry, raspberry, strawberry - previously rinsed in potable water.

This combo is nutritious and filling but diabetics should check the glycemic index of the breakfast combo.

If you take fish oil in the am it is good to take with this meal as the Omega 3 in the fish oil balances out the omega 6 in the nuts.  Also make sure to drink adequate amounts of water after this meal.

Please don't eat this if you have nut allergies or if any of these ingredients interfere with the effectiveness of medicines.

Mix and match lunch salad

Spinach Salad minus the fruit- N. Carlson

I've been asked to give my all purpose mix and match lunch salad combo for work.  The separate ingredients are brought to work and prepared just before eating.

One washable salad mixing bowl kept at work. Knife, fork and spoon.  Wash hands before preparing.

Salad mix (pre-washed) (1/2 bag):

• Baby spinach
• Spinach/arugula
• Kale mix with spinach or arugula 

Meat: Pre-cooked (eat cold or pre-heat separately) approx. 3 - 4 oz.  - cut in bowl

• Turkey (natural)
• Chicken (natural)
• Ham ( no nitrates)

Nuts: 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup

• Walnuts
• Pecans

Fruits:

• blueberries
• red raspberries
• black raspberries
• sliced strawberries

Dressing: (Activa Yogurt - small container)

• assorted fruit flavors (blueberry, cherry, strawberry, mixed berry)

Crunchies:

• Dried kale
• Dried pea pods (plain, pepper, other flavors)

Optional Extras:

• avocado
• Single scoop muscle milk vanilla dry powder
• fine grated cheese

Mix and eat.  

Tips:

Eat two to three times a week.  Vary the combination of ingredients to reduce boredom.  This is not necessarily a low calorie meal but it is very nutritious and filling. This preparation also has a good amount of fiber so go easy at first.  

Making Mac Monitors More ergonomically friendly

Mac screens have a few design flaws that make it problematic for individuals using the lower part of their bifocal lenses to view the screen.

1. The stand that comes with the monitor is not height adjustable.
2. The lower part of the screen has approximately 1.5 to 2 inches edging that makes it impossible to bring the screen down to desktop height.
3. The process to remove the stand and replace with a VESA mount is not intuitively obvious.  The video below is a great help. 

Video by Geoff Tripoli on the procedure to install a VESA mount on one of several Mac displays - 5:24 min.

Adding a VESA compatible stand will allow the monitor to be adjusted to accommodate a wider range of individuals. Total cost for the upgrade is currently less than $150 US.

Sitting for extended periods shortens your life - Annals of Internal Medicine

Empty bench - N. Carlson

A September 12, 2017 article in the Annals of Internal Medicine, Patterns of sedentary behavior and mortality in U.S. middle-aged and older adults: A National Cohort Study confirmed what other studies that relied on self reporting have shown.  Sitting for prolonged periods is not healthy.

Accelerometers were placed on individuals in the cohort to measure the total amount of sedentary time and the duration of each sitting period.  The number of deaths in the study participants were checked a median of four years later.  The study found that longer duration (greater than 60 to 90 minutes) of sitting sessions and a longer time spent sitting were associated with all-cause mortality.

The researchers recommended that, "physical activity guidelines should target reducing and interrupting sedentary time to reduce risk for death."  Survival rate was best for individuals who sat for less than 30 consecutive minutes.

Sitting too long can kill you - 46 seconds

Pull up bar for doorway

Fila pull up bar

While using up a cash back coupon at Kohls I picked up a Fila pull up bar.  I like to do push ups as part of my exercise routine but was finding it difficult to fit in pull ups without going to a local playground.

This pull up bar fits in the doorway.  Doorways are designed to be overbuilt with several pieces of wood above the door underneath sheetrock or paneling.  This allows the pull up bar to be stabilized.  I admit to some nerves as I used the pull up bar the first time.  After carefully putting the bar in place it held my 160 pound plus body with no problems.  Please carefully test this out with your weight at home to prevent injury. 

The pull up bar allows for multiple grip positions.  I am starting out slow doing a few reps every other day to get into condition.  I like simplicity of the design and the ease of removal.  It took approximately 15 minutes to assemble with tools in the package.

The bar can also be placed on the floor and used as a push up bar.  There are several manufacturers who make similar pull up bars with costs ranging from $30 to $100 dollars US.

Ergonomic design problems and opportunities

Lunch room chairs and table

Note the lack of leg room and the T molded edging in this table in a brand new office suite.  This design will improve office productivity by reducing the amount of time employees spend at lunch.

Inflexible Standing Standing

Stools at a table:  This is an improvement over the other standing table as there is some knee space and the chairs have backs.  It does not have enough adjustment to accommodate people of different heights.

A cublet to call home

Move up from a shared workstation to this low priced efficiency.  The station is a bit cramped but the ergonomics are not awful.  As a bonus, managers can check in on your progress with great facility.

Why sitting for prolonged periods is bad for your health

M. Carlson pumpkins - photo N. Carlson

I recently reviewed a Great Courses video on the negative health effects of sitting as part of a review for a research group conducting a multi-year study on the benefits of sit stand work stations.  Results of the study will be available in approximately 2 years.   The lack of muscle movement in the legs severely restricts the fat clearing from the blood vessels.  Moving each hour helps minimize the effects.

 

Why Sitting All Day is Killing You - The Great Courses - 3 min. 11 sec. 

Puzzle ergonomics

During the course of a series of ergonomic evaluations an employee showed me a puzzle area in a break room.  Most puzzles are put on card tables at a height around 28 inches.   This counter top was set at approximately 43 inches high.  This is in the range of the the average elbow height.

Working on puzzles can provide an excellent mental break from a task and allow for a bit of informal socialization.  Assuring that the surface height is appropriate will minimize ergonomic issues associated with working a puzzle. A standing height surface also provides a good break from sitting. 

 Benefits of Good Posture - 4 min.

The biomechanics of a jump shot

Photo of Stephen Curry's jump shot tweet from Daniel Makepeace

I was impressed with Stephen Curry's three point accuracy in the 2015 NBA finals.  Many websites have broken down the bio-mechanics of his jump shot.

The Physics of Basketball - click to enlarge

The shot angle of a basketball is very important.  In the final quarter of the NBA finals in 2015, I watched Lebron James shoot three pointers.  The angle of trajectory was much flatter than Stephan Curry's and appeared to be around 30 degrees.  Lebron James missed most of his 3 point attempts.

Basketball shot angle:  J Sports Sci Med. 2012 Jun; 11(2): 231–237. 

The above photo is from a journal article: Increased Distance of Shooting on Basketball Jump Shot by Okazaki and Rodacki

 

Stephen Curry Jump shot from ecbahoops.com

This is a diagram of Stephen Curry's Jump shot.

How to Shoot like Stephen Curry from Splash Lab