What do we do if we feel like we are falling asleep at our desk or re-reading the third paragraph of an important document for the twentieth time? Most likely, we get up, lazily stretching, and … we go to make our seventh cup of coffee of the day.
Few people think to cheer themselves up with exercise. Meanwhile, this is an obvious thing: a passive lifestyle tires us much more and faster than a mobile one. So, for those who feel lethargic and lack of energy, it makes sense to become a little more active. How and where to start?
The typical mid-level employee who spends all day in front of a computer would have to walk an extra 19 km a day to reach the activity level of those few energetic people who still lead a hunter-and-gatherer lifestyle. Yes, all organisms tend to rest and conserve energy, Aristotle and Newton noticed this at one time. However, there is growing evidence that our sedentary lifestyle can be very bad for our well-being.
Are we saving energy?
Endocrinologist Emma Wilmot of the University of Leicester in the UK conducted a meta-analysis of 18 different studies covering 800 people in total and found that those of us who are the least active in our daily lives have twice as much risk of diabetes than those who lead an active lifestyle*. She also concluded that people who move little are twice as likely to die from a heart attack and 2 times as likely to suffer from cardiovascular disease. However, doctors noticed the latter much earlier – back in 2,5! It was then that a group of English scientists led by Jeremy Morris studied the occurrence of heart disease in 1953 men aged 31-35 who worked in transport. The results were very convincing: bus controllers who spent the whole day on their feet had half the risk of a heart attack as drivers who had to sit for entire shifts.
But note: no matter how much time we then spend on the treadmill or exercise bike, prolonged inactivity will harm our body. And even the most insignificant, but regular load can work wonders: it not only helps us to effectively fight fatigue, but also slows down the aging of the body. Studies by Tufts University nutritionists (USA) William Evans and Irwin H. Rosenberg have shown that the most common exercise significantly increases muscle mass, physical strength, lung capacity and bone density**. All of these are biological markers of aging. Exercise is also effective in increasing high-density alpha-lipoprotein (good cholesterol) levels, which prevent the development of atherosclerosis.
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- Go in for sports … today!
What types of vigorous activity – the most unpretentious and short-term ones – are worth remembering first of all when the hand reaches for another cup of coffee?
First of all, just stand up. This is such an insignificant burden that many of us do not take it into account at all. Meanwhile, a standing person uses many muscles that are relaxed when we sit. Leonardo da Vinci, Ernest Hemingway and Winston Churchill knew about this miraculous way of healing. And every office that more or less follows healthy trends, from Silicon Valley to Scandinavia, is also aware of the benefits of standing up. For example, employees of Google and Facebook have recently increasingly abandoned classic workplaces and armchairs in favor of tables and stools with high legs.
But even better – not to stand, but to walk from time to time. Some trendy offices of major Western companies have installed treadmill tables that encourage people to walk as they work. Of course, reading and typing on the move is not very convenient, but thinking about new projects is great! Australian endocrinologist David Dunstan of the Baker Institute of Heart and Diabetes in Melbourne discovered how effective a simple two-minute walk can be if you take it every… 30 minutes! *** Dunstan and his colleagues treated volunteers to tasty meals with a high level of sugar, and then measured their blood glucose levels. So, for those who had walked before, the glucose level was 30% lower!
If you put an exercise bike next to your workplace, even two to three minutes of intense exercise will benefit. According to a study by biologist James A. Timmons from Heriot-Watt University (Scotland), just 12-15 minutes a day of exercise on a stationary bike (about 6 sets a day for 2 minutes) is enough to improve glucose metabolism, impaired which leads to type XNUMX diabetes, obesity and heart problems. However, the key to success here is the regularity of exercise.
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- Fatigue syndrome: how to cheer up
For those of us who are especially inert, but have a rich imagination, the technique of the French doctor and yoga teacher Bernadette de Gasquet, who developed the “imaginary gymnastics”, may be suitable. She is sure that you can make muscles work without movement, simply by concentrating on them. Moreover, this fantastic idea is confirmed experimentally. In the course of the research, American scientists from the Cleveland Clinic (USA) attached electrodes to the muscles of volunteers, which recorded changes in muscle tension, and using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), they recorded the electrical activity of the brain. The results showed that when we force a muscle contraction with the effort of thought, the brain is just as active as when we perform normal exercises. The scientists then assessed the benefits of these mental exercises: muscle strength increased by 35%, and muscle tone was maintained for about three months after the mental training was stopped****.
A few useful tips for those who want to move more from the American magazine Prevention:
1. Keep your remote control away from you, as well as your cell phone: when you need them, you will have to get up and walk from one end of the house to the other.
2. Walk around the apartment while talking on the phone.
3. Instead of sitting and reading a book, you can listen to it in the audio player and do household chores – ironing or cooking.
4. Do not shout with your loved ones across the apartment – stand up and approach them to talk.
5. Turn on upbeat dance music when you’re cooking.
*le.ac.uk/news/blog/sitting-down-for-long-periods-of-time-increases-the-risk-of-diabetes-heart-disease-and-death-1
**tuftshealthletter.com/
*** abc.net.au/am/content/2012/s3441940.htm
**** Psychologies magazine, 2006, vol. 257.