In the 1960's, it was predicted that newly advancing technology would make it much easier for us to accomplish the same amount of work in much less time. During that era, the thinkers of the day believed that this would decrease our stress and provide us with more time to travel, exercise, and enjoy life. Little did they know that this advanced technology would just allow us to take on more work and commitments, creating even more stress. In regards to having more time to exercise, just look around at the body composition of the general population and you can see for yourself how physically active this new technology has allowed us to become.
One of the many negative impacts, although the number of positive is tremendous, that new technology has had on people is how inactive their lifestyles have become. How many hours per day do you and your children watch television, use a computer, or play video games? If you live in a typical household, it is often considerably too many. Remaining inactive, whether at work or at home, for a significant number of hours per week is not a healthy thing to do. To make my point, I will describe a few examples of how inactivity can have a negative impact on your overall health.
First, the joints throughout your body have to regularly move to remain healthy. Studies have shown that when any joint is immobilized or not used, osteoarthritis will occur in that joint much faster than the same joint that is moved regularly. I see this every day in my chiropractic practice. People who generally do not participate in any regular physical activity have much less mobility in their joints, have an earlier onset of arthritis, and are more prone to bouts of acute neck and back pain.
Second, the muscles throughout your body also have to contract and relax repetitively many times each and every day to remain healthy. The more you use your muscles, the greater the exchange of blood will be through the muscle fibers. This will allow the muscles to remove the waste products that accumulate as the muscles work. As well, a person who is inactive or sits in one position for prolonged periods of time will inevitably have inflexible, shortened, and tight muscles. I also see this scenario every day in my chiropractic practice. People who spend hours in front of a television or computer generally have inflexible and tight muscles in their neck, back, chest, and legs. When it comes time for these people to attempt some physical work, these tight muscles are prone to injury.
Third, when you consume calories (food) and do not remain active at the same time, your body will have unused calories that it will convert to fat and store throughout your body. What this really means is that if you continue to consume more calories than you burn, you will eventually become overweight or even obese. This will put even more stress on you heart, lungs, muscles, and joints.
Fourth and finally, regular physical activity, compared to inactivity, has been shown to decrease our levels of stress. The more you exercise, the better you will be able to handle the emotional stress of work and of life in general.
As a chiropractor, I attempt to educate all my patients and the general population about how to correct as well as prevent their physical problems. For proof of how simply treating the symptoms of people’s problems doesn’t work, look at how poorly our existing medical system is performing. However, you cannot just blame the medical system or the government. We all have to assume more responsibility when it comes to our health. The point of this article is to let you know that a good way to start taking responsibility is to limit how much time you spend in front of the television or computer and increase the time you spend exercising each week. If you are looking for some simple stretches and exercises to get you started, our website (www.merrittchiro.com) has some listed for all major areas of the body free of charge.
