The development of our civilization led us to adopting a sedentary lifestyle, which puts a huge strain on our movement system and, in a sense, actively shortens our lives. Many have sounded the alarm, for “sitting is the new smoking,” and rightfully so. Objectively speaking, there is a certain truth to that statement.
The world has a sitting problem these days
Why is that? Sitting is actually pretty unnatural for humans, as this position causes many muscle groups to contract, with some either working excessively or not working at all. Now, let’s assume that we spend 6 hours a day at work and the next 4 hours at home — sitting. Keep this going for, say, 15 years or so, add lousy physical activity (or a complete lack thereof), wrong movement habits and voila – a recipe for disaster! It won’t happen fast, though — our bodies are really durable and can withstand injuries through so-called “compensation mechanisms.” Can’t lift something with just the power of your legs? No problem, an unaware person’s lumbar vertebrae will do all the heavy lifting! This is of course a huge mistake, as it leads to spinal disc herniation or other severe medical conditions.
Taking care of your health — and future — takes more than just lots of money (though it always helps). To improve the quality of your life, you should learn more about the inner workings of your body and begin exercising based on these rules. Physical activity is not enough, though. I’m pretty sure everyone has heard about people doing deadlifts and getting injured in the process or doing squats just to end up with strained knees or backs. This is all due to the poor movement habits I mentioned above.
Get rid of bad posture habits
Informed, conscious physical activity is one of the key “players” in creating a better, healthier you. If everyone was fully aware of what they are doing, the number of orthopedic surgeries would drop by 80%. That would probably cause a surge in the number of unemployed doctors and physiotherapists, though, so perhaps they’re better off with people having no idea what they’re doing. ?
But if you would like to change your habits for the better, find a good physiotherapist, personal trainer or other specialist who will teach you proper movement habits and show you the b>mistakes you makee. This will save you a lot of hassle, not to mention all the health benefits!! I’m on a mission to share my knowledge with my work colleagues during the #G2A BeFit program (here’s anarticleabout it) and I really hope I’ll save or enlighten at least one of them. ?
Sit wisely
To sum up, every one of us has poor movement habits that we should get rid of. We sit on chairs the wrong way, we stand up the wrong way, and we lift heavy stuff from the ground in the wrong way. All these bring us closer, step by step, to slouched and hunchbacked complainers with aching muscles, backs and joints. It doesn’t have to be this way – you can definitely delay that process or even halt it completely!
That’s right, you can enjoy physical activity more – in a smart, conscious way!
by Marcin Szary
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