Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Is This Exercise

The other day I was on the phone with the customer service department for either a utility company or a credit card, I can't remember. I do remember the conversation I had with the woman on the phone.

I was in my kitchen making a cup of coffee. She asked for some information that I had to look up. I asked her to hold on as I quickly walked up the two flights of stairs to my attic office. She said no problem.

Of course after I gave her the info, she then asked me for more info, this time I had to ask her to hold on as I quickly walked down the same two flights to get back to the piece of paper I left in the kitchen. That's when I couldn't believe what she said to me.

"Well at least you're getting your exercise today."

Is that really exercise? No

Does she really think that was good exercise? Sadly, probably.

I walk up and down from my attic office to the kitchen more times than I can count in a day. In between all that I also do an actual real workout, one where I sweat and lift weights.

Have we, as a collective whole, really become so sedentary and inactive, that walking up and down two flights of stairs has been classified as exercise?

I almost forgot to mention that my house is set up off the road, so I also have to walk up and down about 15 steps every time I want to leave my house or come home.

Crazy exercise I get with all those stairs!

3 comments:

Erica said...

She probably also thinks that parking your car far from the front entrance of the Wal-Mart is exercise. That's what those articles say!

Anahi said...

Well, actually, the funny thing to me is that as a society we have evolved to need artificial ways to get "exercise" when it used to just happen as a natural part of living. And true exercise does hurt, so it's not surprising that people don't want to do it!

Pamela MacElree said...

I love it when we park far from the entrance so I can get more exercise.

Anahi, you're right, when my brother and I were kids we went outside for hours to play, no additional exercise required. Exercise doesn't have to hurt!