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Somewhat OT: Health Issues
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Scott,
As you can see, this is a common problem for those who go from production to post production. It’s a double whammy as you get older and start spending more time at the desk just as your metabolism is naturally slowing down. The only way to counteract “The Editor’s 20” is to find time to get that activity back some other way. The last thing you want to do is go home and watch more TV. 😉I suggest that you take up a low-contact sport that you aren’t too good at yet, but that you’d like to explore. Pick something that’s easy to get started with, but allows you to grow with it as you get better. (i.e. tennis, bowling, rock climbing, swimming…)
Actually, if you can find a way to get exercise in an activity that’s social in nature, that’s even better – especially if you spend a good portion of time at work editing alone. That way you exercise your mind, body and spirit.
You’ll find that not only do you feel better, you get more creative ideas when you are at your desk.
By the way, the Aeron chair is the only piece of office equipment I have that’s might be considered a “luxury item”. Even though I thought I’d feel guilty for using it, I now consider that it’s most likely paid for itself in productivity gains during the two years I’ve had it. That and a decent bed have made a HUGE difference in my energy and health.
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Swimming is good, but just getting in the pool will do wonders for back, knees, hips even if you don’t flail like Michael Phelps doing laps. Just being in that water causes you to burn extra calories for heat, even doing nothing but bobbing around.
“Editor’s 20”? Hmm, I need to trim more than a few frames off of THAT. 🙂
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One small thing that’s working here is I ordered bottled water and a cooler for my studio and then in a moment of clarity, placed it not outside the edit bay for clients – but INSIDE the edit bay – directly beside the doorway – not 4 feet from my edit chair – for ME.
Now I can’t head for the refrigerator room without walking past the water cooler.
That change alone has cut my soft drink consumption by 75% – since getting thirsty OR hungry and heading for the refer puts cold, fresh water directly into my line of sight.
We are visual creatures after all.
FWIW.
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Todd Terry: A couple of years ago, in an effort to make myself move a little, I went out and bought a decent treadmill. This thing is GREAT!… it can literally hold like forty shirts.
I almost spit out my coffee when I read your post this morning. Funny and true. And those things are dangerous! They have those keys like motorboats…where you attach it to yourself so if you fall down or off the treadmill (or out of the boat), the key pulls out and stops the motor. And wasn’t Mike Tyson’s daughter killed while playing on one of those things? (a treadmill..not a motorboat).
I find that as I get older (48 now) I don’t feel that different physically, but mentally…now that’s another story. We have a running joke around the office that we should be granted honorary degrees in psychology after all the counseling, support and “treatment” we’ve given worried, insecure clients.
A couple years ago a client called about a project and said: “I just really need to talk this through…can I come over right now? I need to go through everything one more time? I’d feel a lot better if I could just talk to you one more time.” This after we’d already discussed multiple storyboards, scripts, and reviewed movies they’d edited on their PC to show how they wanted the video to look and move. Now don’t get me wrong, I appreciate all that stuff (since few clients even know what a storyboard is), but I find it amazing that marketing professionals need that kind of reassurance of their ideas.
I’ve literally sat in the edit suite with 4 or 5 corporate “marketing” executives for an hour as they discussed whether they should fade to black or cut to black at the end of a spot. Or whether to put a shadow on the logo on leave it off. Never mind that the video itself was a re-edit of video shot in 1993 and since dubbed and re-dubbed with the original footage having long ago been lost. I don’t think a fade or cut to black really mattered at that point. I think these types of things have affected my mental health much more than anything has affected my physical well-being.
Some of it is funny and makes for great conversation, but sometimes it just steals a little bit of your soul!
Chris Blair
Magnetic Image, Inc.
Evansville, IN
http://www.videomi.com -
finding a way to relive stress is very important. Some people find going to the gym and hitting a bag a great stress releaver. Me ? Creative Cow works wonders !
Bob Zelin
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I love hitting a bag, and the jumping rope I mentioned earlier is boxing-style. But I really miss getting in the ring. Nothing to clear your mind like getting punched in the face.
It’s generally true for me that ANY exercise is a great mental booster: I’m more focused, productive and creative when I’m working out, riding a bike or gardening.
As you can tell, I’m currently doing none of those things.
Tim Wilson
Creative Cow Magazine!My Blog: “Is this thing on? Oh it’s on!”
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Great topic!
I hit the gym at least once a week and always work on my back, with deadlifts and pull-ups. Mostly functional exercises, rather than those designed to pump up the vanity muscles. From anecdotal accounts over the Internet, some people who worked out their backs often managed to bounce back quickly from car crashes. So I’m sure for people like us who sit around for hours on end, a strong back could do wonders for our overall health.
We’ve recently gotten some new chairs which are similar to the fancy ergonomic chairs being talked about… at first, I was somewhat skeptical about such high prices for ‘just a chair?’. But now that I’ve moulded myself into my chair, I could feel the difference.
So strong back + ergo chair = good stuff.
I’m also smoke-free and drink only very occasionally [a drink every few months]. Since we’re a small shop, we don’t have the ‘privilege’ of having unlimited supply of coffee/soda/junk food… in fact, we’re a pretty health-conscious bunch [including many of the freelancers we work with]. In an industry where it’s common that at least one person in the crew goes off for a smoke break every so often, we don’t really see that happening on our shoots/edits.
I don’t miss not having the ‘perks’ of unlimited caffeine/booze/candies at my disposable ;] It’s always just water at my bay.
Granted I’m only in my mid-twenties and I feel like such a non-groovy monk at times, but I hope to keep at this for long time to come.
Kai
FCP Editor / Producer with Intuitive Films
https://kai-fcp-editor.blogspot.com
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MacBook Pro 2.4GHz | 4GB RAM | FCP 5.1.4 | Mac OS X 10.5.2 -
[Kai Cheong] “I hit the gym at least once a week and always work on my back, with deadlifts and pull-ups. Mostly functional exercises, rather than those designed to pump up the vanity muscles”
Great point! I’d add squats to the list – but that’s really it. Skip leg presses (no need if you’re doing squats), curls (you don’t need those muscles to be any stronger than they already are), bench press (ditto), and all the others. Squat, deadlift, chins.
Lazy bastard that I am, I usually skipped the chins. 🙂
But nothing like squats and deads to keep your back protected when totin’ gear…or sitting. As we’re all discovering, sitting can be hazardous to your health too!!
Tim Wilson
Creative Cow Magazine!My Blog: “Is this thing on? Oh it’s on!”
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[Tim Wilson] “Great point! I’d add squats to the list – but that’s really it. Skip leg presses (no need if you’re doing squats), curls (you don’t need those muscles to be any stronger than they already are), bench press (ditto), and all the others. Squat, deadlift, chins.”
Tim, a great idea for an article: interview an exercise expert who can give some guidance geared to this business — both the editors who sit all day and the production folks who have to lift heavy stuff.
Sport recommendation, and don’t jeer: indoor badminton. Like squash or racquetball, it’s a real workout, but cheaper and not quite as bald-faced aggressive.
Bob C
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Great post, Tim. I’m in close to the same boat as your wife–I didn’t break my back, but I had a two-level spinal fusion last year that was a huge mistake, and I never really recovered from it. I now have what I believe is arachnoiditis due to either the trauma of the surgery or steroid injections or both, and am struggling, while on Worker’s Comp, to get a doctor to concur with me and to treat my symptoms now. I will have to go off WC to get enough money to pay for some tests myself so that I can go back and challenge the Failed Back Syndrome B.S. My doctors failed me by not doing enough medical history and realizing that because of a genetic predisposition to autoimmune problems that I was a very poor candidate for the procedures I underwent. And the sad thing is that all this information is available on the internet, if only they, or I would’ve done a ton of research beforehand.
So now, at 45, I can only work half-time at best now. I am trying to explore alternative treatments and have had a lot of success for the pain with fish oil and milk thistle, so far. I am trying different things to see if they help, including a change in diet. I have cut down caffeine to a bare minimum, eliminated almost all artificial sweeteners, am working on eliminating glutens too. When I get my settlement I will definitely buy a good chair, maybe a kneeling chair, and a good bed as well for the same reasons you gave.
And I will never trust a doctor again until I have thoroughly explored what others have gone through and consider the worst possible outcomes, weighing that into my decision for any invasive procedure.I’m really happy for you and your wife, that you have made some serious changes and it’s working for you. Thanks for sharing.
Sincerely,
Vickie C.
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