Get Up!

Why Your Chair Is Killing You and What You Can Do About It

By: James A. Levine

Narrated by: Gildart Jackson, Paul Boehmer, Gabrielle De Cuir, Harlan Ellison, Richard Gilliland, Leigh Roche, Stefan Rudnicki

Length: 7 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's Summary

From the codirector of the Mayo Clinic/Arizona State University Obesity Solutions Initiative and inventor of the treadmill desk comes a fascinating wake-up call about our sedentary lifestyle.

That the average adult spends 50 to 70 percent of their day sitting is no surprise to anyone who works in an office environment. But few realize the health consequences they are suffering as a result of modernity's increasingly sedentary lifestyle, or the effects it has had on society at large. In Get Up!, health expert James A. Levine's original scientific research shows that today's chair-based world, where we no longer use our bodies as they evolved to be used, is having negativeconsequences on our health, and is a leading cause of diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. Over the decades, humans have moved from a primarily active lifestyle to one that is largely sedentary, and this change has reshaped every facet of our lives - from social interaction to classroom design. Levine shows how to throw off the shackles of inertia and reverse these negative trends through simple changes in our daily lives.

©2014 James A. Levine (P)2014 Blackstone Audio

Anecdotes and suppositions; Move Your DNA better

Any additional comments?

The worst parts of this book are where the author says things like: you are a queen of the chair sitters if you put on makeup in your car. This is something that peeves the author, not science. Many of the ideas/claims he mentions I have heard before, but no effort is expended to let the listener know where they come from and how solid the research is. There is no way for a listener to know if what he is saying is supposition, personal preference, well founded theory, or factual; it is seemingly a jumble of all of these.

The whole idea of the book is to use chairs as little as possible and there is very little more I could reliably glean from it.

If you want something more scientific, try "Move Your DNA" it is vastly better. It tells the reader what kinds of movements are beneficial and why and often cites sources and gives some indication as to how solid the research is. "Move Your DNA" also explains why the main solution pushed here, the standing desk, is not the ideal solution.

Fantastic!!

Get Up! Is a great book! There is a lot of scientific data backing it up and the story itself is compelling. Why are we sitting so much and playing so little? Get up and exercise, and have fun.

Easy, actionable advice!

I'm already using a free activity monitor on my smart phone, and ordered an inexpensive laptop tray for my desk so I can get up!

Entertaining and informative.

Entertaining and informative. A good listen that'll make you think twice about our chair confined lives. Narration was also very good.

Great motivation to get moving.

Overall the text is great medication to get up and get moving. The only portion of the book I did not understand is why like so many authors I have experienced lately they have to stray from such good content into political or off topic distractions. I really do not understand the relationship of a transgender advocate on a fantastic text about our societal change towards the sedentary? AUTHORS STOP THINKING you have to solve everything at once and stick to your fantastic core topic.

A Good Wake-Up Call

This book adds further evidence to the findings by John J Ratey, Spark: which I also thought was revolutionary. We as a nation and as concerned citizens of the world should wake up to the future we are facing if we don't Get Up.

Fascinating topic

I didn't expect to like the book as much as I did. I mean, how much can you say about sitting? Turns out, a lot, backed by fascinating research. That Dr. Levine surely is an interesting character!

Really interesting. Well written and well read.

What made the experience of listening to Get Up! the most enjoyable?

The book had great information and research to support it. It was well told and motivated me to try to get out of my chair.

What other book might you compare Get Up! to and why?

Spark. Emphasizes the importance of activity for mental and physical health.

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

Easy to understand. Lots of character to his voice. Could be funny and serious.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Attack of the Killer Chairs

Any additional comments?

Nope

Your Chair is Dangerous

I listened to this all in one day. It was completely worth it, for all the knitting I have gotten done. And knitting is mentioned several times. My favorite? Knitting is fidgeting. And fidgeting is good.

You will hear a lot about non-exercise activity thermogenesis. Before you begin, take a moment to look up the definition, because NEAT is the topuc of this book.

It's not completely perfect. It's full of explaining, but it's not a textbook. Poverty and wealth and obesity are explored in the context of why your chair is a sentence of death. I still don't believe a walking desk has value, but I still remember, 25 years later, the Jr. High teacher that forced us to walk around the building each class- and how that small amount of activity gave us enough focus to get through. And for some absurd reason, we've taken away recess and torn down playgrounds.

Got Me Moving

I listened to this on audio during walks, which was good; the author asks at several points if you are still sitting in your chair and I honestly could answer "no!" This book was interesting and was far more than what I expected. I thought it would be common sense stuff, but instead, I got a history of how we evolved to a sedentary lifestyle, some interesting info on the author's research lab and studies, empirical evidence and some suggestions. While some things are difficult to change (my work culture will not allow for some of the techniques, such as treadmill desks), this book got my thinking and looking for ideas that I can apply to increase my levels of movement.

Great listen!

Really enjoyed this, educational and very humorous. I feel an urge to stand and also... to raise snails :-) 5 out of 5

Great message but could be said more succinctly

Really great message about the importance of active movement. As a teacher, I've come away from profound reflectivity, spurred on by this book, with an ardent desire to change how I teach and change my management strategies in the classroom so that students have more freedom to move. However, I really feel so much of this book could have been cut out or shortened down. The advice on steps to take to move more and reflect on what is and isn't serving their best interests in life was good but a lot of it was stuff I already knew, had heard before or wasn't exactly convinced by. For example, having sex in a chair shouldn't be a bad thing just because a chair is involved. Those quizzes throughout the book seemed tedious and just an attempt at provocation. Some of the stories, for example the stool sample story, really wasn't required to get the point across. Considering how much the author goes on about the importance of not sitting and going out socialising instead, it's strange he didn't make this book more concise and to the point to save us all more time for going out socialising etc.
Take home points:
- muscles signal inactivity to the brain
- inactivity - > depressed state
- activity - > stimulated, undeoressed state
- move more
- enable children to move more in school
- have fun and play
- power of mind over matter

Surprisingly good!

Thought provoking book which I have thoroughly enjoyed and it did make me want to get up, great narration too.

The game changer every ‘sitter’ MUST READ!

We need more chair rebels in the world!
Levine does a brilliant job of PROVING what we ALL know but that which culture sustains
Levine you are my hero!!

Starting with he book over already!
Rachel Frances Thomson
Chair rebel

Excellent Book

Excellent! I have been more active and I do understand my children and when you they need to be active instead of them being sitting.

Loved this book

Entertaining - informative & interesting - I recommend this audio book and love the voice of the narrator

Insightful, enjoyable and funny

Loved it, found it randomly and throughly enjoyed it. Especially for a work from home victim

Great book

Definitely makes you think about your long term health. Funny in parts, however a lot of what’s said makes sense. Would recommend…

timing.

just written for me. exactly what I need right now. love my chair too much.

What a stand up book!

Excellent stuff - buy it, read, follow it!
I'm standing as I write this and I have since bought a standing desk.