Consequences of a sedentary and sedentary lifestyle: a view from a medical point of view. Sedentary lifestyle and obesity What is a sedentary lifestyle

It's so nice to lie on the couch after a hard day's work... STOP! What did you do at work? If your working posture is quite static, then this article is for you!

What is a menacing sedentary lifestyle and how to improve the situation.

In the article I will give several exercises suitable for the office, home office or sofa. And in the comments I will be glad to find out exactly how you bring motor diversity to your everyday life.

1. Physical inactivity - what is it, the main symptoms

The main symptom is clear from the name - a sedentary lifestyle.

You work sitting at a table.
Relax in front of a computer, TV or other gadget.
Actively use public transport.
They forgot when the heart last beat not from strong emotions.
The longest walking route runs between the supermarket shelves.
You quickly get tired of children's amusements.
Don't walk your dog or garden.
The last time they danced was at a graduation or at a wedding.
Charging is missing or takes less than 10 minutes.
Morning running is too hard, and there is no time or money for a fitness club.
Tie your shoelaces and put on your shoes while sitting.

So, most likely, there is not enough movement in your life.

You can feel the manifestations of a sedentary lifestyle by the following symptoms:

Chronic fatigue.
Apathy.
Low work capacity.
Sleep problems.
Unstable emotional background.
Weight problems.
Excessive or insufficient appetite.
Craving for sweet food.
Posture disorders.
Pain in various parts of the body (joints, lower back, neck, pelvic pain...).

One part of the problems is caused by a deficiency of the hormones of happiness - endorphins. Muscle activity gives a signal for their development. When such activity is absent, the lifestyle is sedentary, then there is no need for hormones to be produced. We suffer from lack of energy, bad mood and anxiety. When there is no physical activity in our life, the energy systems of the body are not used properly, their activity fades away. Energy is only enough for a sluggish existence. Utilization of fat is a complex and energy-intensive process. Sugar is much easier for the body to utilize. So it turns out that we are drawn to sweets, and body weight is out of control.

Following these changes, problems with the level of lipids and sugar in the blood can appear, and cardiovascular diseases can develop.

Pain of unknown origin is generated by uneven muscle development and lack of stress on the joints. When we take a static position, such as sitting at a table, some muscles are shortened while others are stretched. Muscles remember this position. When we change the position, they continue to work in the same mode, muscle imbalance occurs, postural disorders and pain is born.

The joints are designed in such a way that they must be periodically lubricated with joint fluid. Otherwise, they do not receive nutrition, various pathologies develop.

To squeeze out a little joint fluid and lubricate the joint, you need to move, and even better, perform a few leisurely exercises. Then they can get enough liquid and nutrients. They can be compared to flowers - you know what happens to plants without watering - they die.

2. Harm

Especially for the 2012 Summer Olympics, several studies on a sedentary lifestyle were timed. The result is disappointing - low mobility kills as many people as smoking.

In addition to standard obesity, physical inactivity doubles the risk of stroke. People who prefer office work and vehicles voluntarily incur such diseases as:

Anxiety disorders and depression.
Cardiovascular diseases.
Fat metabolism disorders.
Diabetes.
Deep vein thrombosis.
Some types of cancer (breast, rectum, etc.).
Osteoporosis.
Stones in the kidneys.

At the same time, mortality from various causes increases by 30%.

The thing is that man was created for movement, and not for a static pastime.

It was necessary to run away from a predator, to catch up or get food far from home ... Later, subsistence farming saved a person from low mobility. With the advent of modern technology, a person has finally settled in an office chair, at the checkout or near the conveyor. This is much more convenient than endless running after a piece of meat or weeding vegetables.

A sedentary lifestyle takes too high a price for imaginary comfort. So maybe you should leave him?

3. Move more!

Extra portions of activity are important today more than ever! Working from home is now incredibly popular, and you can always bring groceries directly to your home.

The temptation to not leave the house is extremely strong! and deadly.

Every 2 hours a day spent without movement increases the risk of diabetes by 14%!

Even if you visit the gym 3-5 times a week, you still run the risk of getting problems.

It is necessary to be active during the day, except for the gym. Otherwise, a double load on the body is obtained. On the one hand, stagnant muscles during the day increase the risk of injury. On the other hand, intense sport, for the sake of atonement for low mobility, predisposes to injury overload.

When a person sits, some muscles are overstretched while others are contracted. They remember this position, because they hold it for a long time. And when we start to move, it is hard for the muscles to get involved in the work. Violation of their well-coordinated work leads to injury.

Limit work sessions to 30 or 45 minutes. Between sessions, walk around, do some simple exercises and stretch. These simple measures will wake you up, increase your readiness for work, improve blood circulation, and have a beneficial effect on posture.

Let movement into your life! If you do not use your body for its intended purpose, you can lose it!

4. The minimum set of exercises

Let's look at the minimum set of exercises that can be performed in between work sessions.

First, it's walking. Go somewhere. At least for a cup of tea. Walk back and forth while the kettle boils, wave your hands in different directions.

Secondly, warm up. Squat down, bend over, push up from the table. Do a few side bends.

Great, if there is a horizontal bar - you can add pull-ups and hangings, no - stand with your back close to the wall and raise your arms bent at the elbows.

Sit down at the table, like an excellent student in school, take a bottle of water in your hand. Now raise your hand with the bottle as if you want to answer the lesson. Do not take your elbow off the table!

Alternatively, you can use the following complexes:

The first complex for home TV viewing 🙂

The second - especially for the office.

Third, stretch. Stretch your whole body like a cat after waking up. Feel the pleasure with which the muscles respond to these actions.

Be sure to stretch the muscles that contracted while sitting:

This is the minimum your body needs. You can move more - move! Walk while talking on the phone. Skip the elevator. Walk, at least a few stops. And, of course, a few full workouts a week will help you stay healthy for years to come.

Conclusion

A sedentary lifestyle is the vicious circle into which a person drives himself. Voluntarily.

Physical inactivity increases the risk of developing diseases and injury. Health disorders, in turn, impose restrictions on physical activity (bed rest, immobilization in case of injuries ...).

Let's break this cycle before it's too late! Let's improve our health and teach our children to move more. They repeat everything after us - they absorb our way of life. How can a child love fitness and outdoor games when mom watches TV and dad is passionate about computer games?

By the way, the abundance of physical activity, as a pleasant bonus, gives us youth and beauty :). People who lead an active lifestyle have stronger immunity and are half as likely to suffer from colds and flu. And it's absolutely free! Let's use it!

Thanks for sharing the article on social media. All the best!

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Syndrome of physical inactivity with a sedentary lifestyle

Physical inactivity is not a separate disease, but a pathological condition that provokes the occurrence in a person of a large number of pathologies that affect almost all internal organs and systems. Absolutely everyone is subject to such a disorder, regardless of age category and gender.

The main reason for physical inactivity is that in a person's life, for any reason, physical activity is absent or minimized.

The symptoms of this modern disease appear gradually, but it is not difficult to detect their presence, as they become more pronounced as the disease progresses.

Comprehensive diagnostics will be required only in those cases when the symptoms of those ailments appear, to which such a syndrome leads.

There are a large number of ways to overcome physical inactivity, but they are all aimed at achieving one goal - filling a person's life with physical activity.

Etiology

Currently, only a few reasons are known, against the background of which such a pathology occurs. They should include:

the banal laziness of a person, which in the overwhelming majority of cases is caused by fatigue at work, problems at school or in personal relationships;
specific working conditions, under which there is a need for prolonged sitting at the desktop or standing on one's feet;
recovery after surgery or a previous serious illness - it is worth noting that even in such cases, patients are shown to perform exercise therapy exercises, and refusal to perform them may well be associated with the first predisposing factor;
the development of computer technology - this leads to the fact that a person prefers to spend time on social networks than to take a walk in the fresh air. Moreover, some parents encourage their children to buy new modern gadgets, thereby approving the fact that they will be constantly under control at home;
excess body weight - with physical inactivity, this is not only a cause, but also a symptom.

Symptoms

Since a sedentary lifestyle is not a disease, there are no characteristic clinical signs of such a condition. However, persons prone to this syndrome feel a number of its negative manifestations.

Thus, the symptoms of hypodynamia are presented:

constant fatigue and weakness - even after a long rest, there is no restoration of vitality.
a decrease in appetite - this is not about the lack of desire to eat something, but about the unwillingness to eat full and healthy food.
psycho-emotional disorders - a person is constantly in an irritated state and in a bad mood for no apparent reason.
sleep disorders, namely increased drowsiness - present even with a full night's rest. However, in some cases, insomnia may occur.
a gradual decrease in performance - often people do not even notice that their level of activity is gradually, but constantly decreasing.
menstrual disorders or erection.
susceptibility to frequent fractures, which is a consequence of muscle atrophy.
lack of satisfaction from sexual contact.
headaches of varying degrees of intensity.
an increase in body mass index.
mental decline.
an eating disorder is a decrease or, conversely, an excessive increase in appetite.
dysfunction of the digestive system.

Similar signs of hypodynamia are inherent in the development of a similar condition in childhood.

It is noteworthy that female representatives with a lack of physical activity undergo changes in appearance. Such manifestations include:

pallor and dryness of the skin, in particular the face and upper limbs;
formation of bags under the eyes;
the appearance of wrinkles;
an increase in the circumference of the abdomen;
cellulite development.

However, such manifestations quite often push women to change their lifestyle.

Due to the fact that the syndrome of physical inactivity leads to the development of a large number of complications in the form of a variety of diseases, it is natural that the above symptoms will be supplemented by the most characteristic clinical signs of a particular disease.

Diagnostics

To visit the appropriate clinician, for example, a gastroenterologist, traumatologist, gynecologist and specialists from other fields of medicine, it is the occurrence of additional symptoms of physical inactivity that makes people.

To identify the consequences of such a disorder, a whole range of diagnostic measures is needed, namely:

examination by the doctor of the patient's medical history.
collection of life history.
a thorough physical examination.
detailed survey of the patient.
laboratory studies of blood, urine and feces.
a wide range of instrumental examinations.

After that, conservative or surgical elimination of the consequences of hypodynamia will be prescribed.

Treatment and prevention

The tactics of eliminating a sedentary lifestyle will fully comply with preventive measures that prevent the development of such a disorder.

Getting rid of hypodynamia is quite simple, for this you just need to follow the following recommendations:

instead of going to the store or pharmacy by car, it is best to go to the required place on foot;
start every morning with a charge - just fifteen minutes of simple exercises, for example, squats and push-ups, lunges and stretching, aerobic movements or jumping rope will help not only enrich your life with physical activity, but also significantly reduce the likelihood of developing complications;
under seated or standing working conditions, every two hours, take a break from work for about fifteen minutes and do light exercises, in particular circular movements of the head, gymnastics for the eyes and torso tilts;
changing the habit of using the elevator to climb the stairs;
accustom yourself to walking around the city.

Complications

Physical inactivity is harmful because it does not imply the active functioning of muscles, joints and metabolic processes. Such factors lead to the development of an impressive list of negative consequences, including:

atherosclerosis and obesity.
hypertension and stroke.
pathology of the cardiovascular system in both acute and chronic forms. In the second case, getting rid of a particular disease is very difficult.
depression and neuroses.
stroke and cerebral ischemia.
diseases of the bronchopulmonary system.
osteochondrosis and osteoporosis.
curvature of posture.
endocrine-metabolic disorders.
vegetative dystonia.
violation of the functioning of the digestive tract.
susceptibility to frequent fractures, which occurs against the background of a decrease in bone density and strength.
violation of the blood supply to the internal organs and the brain.

It is these complications that lead to the fact that a person's life expectancy is reduced by several years.

Prevention and prognosis

Since physical inactivity occurs with a minimum amount or complete absence of physical activity, the main preventive recommendations will fully comply with the therapeutic measures of such a disorder. However, additional preventive measures should include:

complete rejection of addictions;
proper and balanced nutrition - this should include the enrichment of the diet with vitamin complexes and micronutrients, as well as the rejection of junk food;
minimizing stay in front of the computer, only if it is not related to work, or other modern gadgets - this primarily concerns parents who should limit such a period of time to two hours a day;
compliance with the recommendations of the attending physician regarding the implementation of exercise therapy exercises for seriously ill patients;
maintaining normal body weight - both obesity and malnutrition are dangerous for a person. Average body mass index values depend on factors such as age category and height.

Nevertheless, in the treatment of physical inactivity and the prevention of such a condition, it is necessary to take into account the fact that the concept of hyperdynamia is also dangerous for a person - while excessive physical activity has a negative effect on the body.

Physical inactivity: the essence of the problem, the relationship with diseases, the impact on health, how to deal

Hypodynamia is called the “disease of civilization”, and in recent years, doctors have really sounded the alarm, because not only adults, but also children have become prone to physical inactivity, and this condition, not being a disease, nevertheless leads to serious disorders - obesity, myocardial infarction , hypertension.

Man has been working for thousands of years on how to make his life easier by inventing all sorts of devices and devices. Today, to overcome the distance, you do not need to walk more than a dozen kilometers, and you don’t even have to make special physical efforts to get food.

We are happy to trust technology to do household chores, a robot vacuum cleaner can do the cleaning, and a washing machine does an excellent job with washing. Everyday life now does not require the expenditure of energy, you just need to press the buttons on household appliances correctly.

Automation of production has greatly facilitated the tasks of workers, and even those professions that until recently required physical effort have moved into the category of "sedentary".

Of course, life has become comfortable, and the main significant resource - time - is significantly saved when using personal transport and all kinds of gadgets. At the same time, this very time is not enough for walking, visiting the gym, morning exercises. That is, saving time causes damage to the most important thing - human health.

Going home after a hard day at work, sometimes spent just sitting, many immediately take a horizontal position on the sofa in front of the TV or sitting at the computer, and in addition to everything, there is a plate of food nearby, and it’s good if it is useful, because food habits have changed not for the better, exacerbating metabolic disorders in parallel with the lack of movement.

A decade ago, children actively walked on the street after school, visited swimming pools and sports sections. Now the leisure of many schoolchildren is a computer, which is in almost every home. Hypodynamia in children is even more dangerous than in many adults, since a growing body requires adequate work of muscles, heart, blood vessels, and mental activity, the development of intelligence, and the ability for further learning depend on this.

Motor activity is the main component of proper life and the guarantee of health, ancient healers knew the rule “movement is life!”, But in recent decades, most of us forget about it, more worried about personal comfort.

Lack of physical activity adversely affects the state of internal organs, leads to the development of severe pathology, causes emotional disorders, depression, neuroses, although many of us tend to associate these phenomena with the environmental situation, stress at work and at school, and problems in the family. Everything is interconnected, and movement plays an important role in the quality of our life.

The problem of physical inactivity has not only medical, but also social aspects, because the pathology that occurs due to lack of movement requires serious treatment costs on the part of the state and the patient himself, limits the ability to work and even causes disability. A vivid example of this is cardiovascular diseases, which are increasingly being diagnosed in young and able-bodied people.

Causes of hypodynamia and its effect on the body

Hypodynamia is the result of an improper lifestyle, and the main reasons for it are considered:

Use of automated labor;
urbanization;
The spread of "sedentary" professions, work mainly at a computer or with papers is more in demand;
Application of achievements of technical progress in everyday life;
Conscious refusal of physical activity.

In most cases, it is these factors that become decisive in limiting mobility, but it happens that hypodynamia occurs for independent reasons and against our will. These cases include injuries and serious illnesses that prevent physical activity. However, it is worth noting that bedridden patients also need the maximum possible work of the muscular apparatus, since immobilization is dangerous for them, like no one else, due to the increased risk of thromboembolic and other dangerous complications.

Chronic hypodynamia in children is a consequence of an improper lifestyle and organization of the daily routine. Often the blame for this lies with the parents, who not only do not set a positive example themselves, but also do not contribute to an increase in the role of sports in the child's leisure.

Intellectual professions have become more in demand, and without education it is difficult to achieve many desired goals, therefore, from the first grades, children are focused specifically on learning. Spending many hours at a desk, children get tired, and computer games or watching TV at home are the best rest, especially if parents do not interfere with this. The road home from school does not add movement, because modern mothers and fathers pick up children by car, and the total motor activity consists of movements of the hand, in which there is a pen in the school walls, a computer mouse at home.

In addition to upbringing in the family, a certain negative role is played by low qualifications and often indifferent attitude to their work on the part of physical education teachers. Schoolchildren do not aspire to physical education classes, finding all sorts of reasons for their absenteeism. Parents with excessive guardianship also make their contribution at this stage of education: they can protect the child from classes, because the percentage of not very healthy children is growing, which means that if the child is periodically sick, then he does not need to attend physical education.

Other reasons leading to hypokinesia (limitation of mobility) in children, in addition to education, may be factors independent of the daily regimen - perinatal hypoxia and birth trauma, severe infections in early childhood, brain dysfunctions and pathology of the nervous system, diseases of internal organs, when classes sports are really contraindicated.

What happens in the body with a lack of movement?

consequences of a sedentary lifestyle

Sufficient physical activity is essential for muscle development, proper functioning of the heart and vascular system. With active movements, blood delivery to organs improves, metabolism increases, mental and physical performance increases, endurance develops, immunity and stress resistance are formed.

A sedentary lifestyle does not involve the active work of muscles, joints, increased metabolic processes, therefore, even after lying down or sitting all day, a person feels very tired, and even more so than those who actively moved for several hours in a row.

The impact of hypodynamia on the human body is enormous. It would seem that the lack of movement is not a disease, but just an external condition, which, moreover, does not cause discomfort and, on the contrary, it is quite pleasant to lie on the couch, but the list of conditions that hypokinesia provokes is impressive:

As you can see, the lack of motor activity in one way or another affects all organs and systems, leading to their dysfunction. Prolonged physical inactivity causes a gradual atrophy of the muscular apparatus, followed by depletion of calcium in the bones and osteoporosis. An increase in appetite against the background of hypokinesia causes obesity, which further hinders exercise.

Excess weight, endocrine-metabolic shifts, atherosclerosis cause arterial hypertension, damage to the coronary arteries with cardiac pathology. The brain also suffers: insufficient oxygen supply and damage to its vessels contribute to a decrease in intellectual capabilities, memory, attention, mental performance is impaired, a tendency to neurosis-like disorders and insomnia appears.

Lack of physical activity leads to atrophy of the muscles of the back and neck, followed by degenerative processes in the spine. Osteochondrosis in our time is diagnosed starting from the age of 30 and even earlier, and physical inactivity is to blame. In children, prolonged sitting provokes a curvature of the spine, which negatively affects the development and growth of internal organs, predisposing to various pathologies.

Manifestations of hypodynamia

Since insufficient motor activity is not a disease, there are no characteristic symptoms that speak specifically of hypokinesia. On the other hand, sedentary people experience a number of negative manifestations of this condition:

Feeling tired, weak;
Decreased mental and physical performance;
Fast fatiguability;
Insomnia at night and drowsiness during the day;
Irritability, frequent mood swings, tendency to apathy;
Decrease or, conversely, an immoderate increase in appetite.

These same signs characterize hypodynamia in childhood. They can be supplemented by obesity, which affects an increasing number of modern children, regardless of gender, pathology of the digestive system (gastritis, colitis, liver dysfunction).

If you do not think about the lifestyle and do not take urgent measures to normalize it, then the described signs of physical inactivity in adults will be joined by pain and weakness in the muscles and bones, atrophic changes in the muscular system. Over time, obesity, atherosclerosis, hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart disease will develop - the most common consequences of physical inactivity, and then negative symptoms will be associated with a specific disease, often forgetting and ignoring the root cause.

Along with physical discomfort, people with a lack of physical activity also experience a lot of psychological problems. They are irritable, emotionally unstable, prone to apathy, and in some cases it comes to serious depression, vegetative disorders, up to panic attacks that require the intervention of a specialist. Chronic physical inactivity worsens the immune system, people become susceptible to various infections, often get colds.

The fair sex, with a decrease in physical activity, without pleasure, notices characteristic changes in appearance: pallor of the face, the appearance of wrinkles and bags under the eyes, an increase in the circumference of the abdomen, cellulite. These signs of lack of movement can be a signal for a change in lifestyle.

Forced physical inactivity in patients after major operations or injuries is a significant risk factor for thrombosis, thromboembolism, pulmonary embolism, stroke, complications such as congestive pneumonia, pressure sores. To prevent such consequences, feasible exercises in bed are recommended, if necessary, assistance is provided by an exercise therapy instructor and a massage therapist.

After some types of treatment, including operations that do not immobilize, doctors strongly recommend early activation to prevent many adverse effects, improve the functioning of the cardiovascular system, enhance tissue regeneration due to blood flow, but some patients ignore these tips, referring to pain or feeling fear, weakness, and sometimes - simply not wanting to get out of the hospital bed, enjoying the "legitimate" lying in the process of treatment.

How to deal with hypodynamia?

We all know that the disease is easier to prevent than to cure. In the case of hypokinesia, speech about the disease will not come up if appropriate measures are taken in time. There is no drug treatment for physical inactivity, and doctors are forced to resort to drugs and other procedures in cases where certain diseases have developed against the background of a lack of movement.

To prevent physical inactivity, it is not necessary to allocate many hours of free time or purchase expensive exercise equipment. Measures to prevent physical inactivity and organize a proper lifestyle are available to everyone, are simple and do not require material costs. The main desire.

Before embarking on a plan to increase the proportion of physical activity in daily life, it is worth giving up bad habits, the most common of which is smoking. This predilection is characteristic of many persons of intellectual labor, "sedentary" professions, it is common among young people who do not welcome sports and physical culture.

In addition to smoking, it aggravates the situation and the nature of nutrition, so it is also desirable to balance the diet by saturating it with vitamins, protein in the form of vegetables, fruits, lean meat and fish, giving up a heavy dinner late at night, a glass of beer or other alcohol.

If it so happened that the type of activity does not allow you to actively move, then you should determine the time for physical exercises - morning exercises, an evening trip to the gym, a daytime walk in the park. To ensure the normal functioning of the heart and other internal organs, at least half an hour of physical activity is necessary, for example, walking for at least 2 km (preferably several times a day). Running is very useful for activating all muscle groups.

You can improve your health and “pump up” muscles at home. To help - dumbbells, expander, jump rope, exercise bike, home horizontal bar. Simple exercises will help strengthen the muscles of the press, back and neck, push-ups and squats are useful, which do not require sports equipment at all.

A very good activity for those who decide to fight physical inactivity will be a visit to the pool. Swimming stimulates blood flow, hardens, strengthens muscles, prevents osteochondrosis and, at the same time, is very safe, because the risk of injury when swimming is minimal. In addition, water has a beneficial effect on the nervous system, calms, relieves stress.

Gradually, the passion for cycling spreads. Many get this way even to work, while developing muscles and increasing overall tone. In large cities, this means of transportation even helps to save time, which can be spent in a multi-kilometer traffic jam.

In the case when, against the background of a lack of physical activity, some diseases have developed, you need to go to the doctor for diagnosis and treatment, but it is worth remembering that taking medication does not replace rational mobility, gymnastics, and feasible exercises at home.

A special category of people are patients with obesity. This pathology appears as a result of a sedentary life, and then limits it even more. Before starting sports, a person with obesity should definitely consult a doctor, determine the permissible level of load, and perhaps the services of an exercise therapy instructor will be needed. The same recommendation applies to those who suffer from high blood pressure, diabetes, heart and brain diseases.

In the event of forced physical inactivity, for example, after a fracture, surgery, stroke, massage therapists and physiotherapy specialists will come to the rescue, who will help to increase, as far as possible, the level of physical activity.

Rehabilitation after serious illnesses may require being in special centers where qualified specialists work and there are necessary simulators to restore the work of specific muscle groups. Treatment and rehabilitation are carried out under the supervision of cardiologists, neurologists, traumatologists, nutritionists. Physical activity can be supplemented with physiotherapeutic procedures that increase muscle tone and normalize the functioning of internal organs.

If the patient is bedridden after a serious illness, then the primary task is to prevent thromboembolic complications. For this purpose, not only appropriate drugs are needed, but also special breathing exercises, which are taught by the staff of the hospital department.

For able-bodied and relatively healthy people, a great way to deal with physical inactivity is to visit a fitness club, gym or outdoor playground. From early childhood, children should be introduced to morning exercises, classes in sports sections, a swimming pool, outdoor walks and active games are useful.

Physical inactivity is a serious problem of our time, but it must and can be fought. Fortunately, a healthy lifestyle is gradually coming into fashion, where there is no place for bad habits, more and more often you can meet “runners”, cyclists on the streets, more and more sports clubs are opening. Mankind has realized the problem and is trying to fight it, and this gives us hope that physical education will become an integral part of everyday life and will help us and our children avoid health problems.

If at the beginning of the last century the watermelon belly fell out of the waist for about 40 years, then at the beginning of this century it already clearly appears under a T-shirt at the age of 20-25 years. And all because someone is too much ... no, they don’t eat - in our case, the Milnov Rabbit is wrong: the abdomen grows ahead of time, because someone sits too much.

And now we sit for any occasion and a lot: in front of the computer, just at the office desk, behind the wheel, at the bar ... if the list continues, we will reach the toilet. And in the most direct sense. Because not only the figure as a whole, but also a wonderful male organ - the prostate cannot stand immobility. And if the prostate goes haywire, the toilet will become a permanent habitat.

In general, a sedentary lifestyle throws up a lot of problems for a person. Some people are not even aware of. And all of them destroy health. Something must be done about this. Well, we'll figure it out.

If we consider damage by gender, then men get the most from sedentary work. Let's start with them.

Problem number 1. Belly

The most topical problem from sedentary work is the notorious abdomen. And this is primarily a male pain. Don't be surprised, it really is. After all, male fat can not be compared with female fat. It only looks like it seems that opposite-sex bellies are similar. In fact, in the stronger sex, fat chooses special places of occurrence - deep inside the body.

It is located mainly around the intestines in a small such organ called the omentum, which one day begins to get fat. This is the so-called visceral fat. The most disgusting. Because it is almost impossible to expel it from the body. And the result is a man with a pregnant belly.

I'll tell you more: male fat, unlike female fat, has a very harsh effect on health, it begins to plant the heart, lungs and other organs and systems of the body. Shortness of breath, increased sweating, pain in the heart begins.

Therefore, it is a man, and not a woman, as we commonly believe, who should be the first to start working on his figure. While she is still there. That is, at the age of 18-20, it is already necessary to draw up a weight loss program. If the stomach has just been outlined - consider that you are already late. Salnik has already started fundraising activities.

In general, as soon as you sat down at the table and tightly stuck to the computer, immediately join the fight for a flat stomach. In this case, the most important thing is calories. How much food you throw into your stomach, the same amount should be used up. And to make it easier to understand, I will give some figures. After a serving of green peas (usually 100 grams), you will need to work at the computer, continuously banging on the keyboard for 20 minutes. A boiled egg will have to be expelled from the body in the same keyboard way for about 50 minutes, a cheese sandwich (and even without butter!) - more than 1 hour, a ham sandwich - 1.5 hours, a portion of goulash with pasta - 3.5 hours. As you can see for yourself, using up all the calories while working on the keyboard is simply unrealistic. We need more efficient ways.

I do not advise you to follow the path of reducing food and go on a diet. In order for the physiology to be normal, it is supposed to eat 3000-3500 calories per day. The lower limit rate is 2000-2200. And you need to eat them so that there are no health problems. In the fight against the abdomen, it is better to go the route of spending calories. In the first place in this business is not a gym, not playing football and not digging a ditch, but ... healthy sex.

For one intercourse, a man loses 3,000 calories. Here is the solution to your fat problem. Well, if you suddenly can’t or don’t want to, then ... in the first case, go to the specialists and solve the problem, and in the second, pick up a shovel and dig a ditch in addition to the main work.

Problem number 2. Prostate

The next problem from sedentary work is also typically male. The prostate is the second heart of a man, so you need to take care of it as gently and reverently as the first. And the prostate most of all does not like stagnation, which happens with a sedentary lifestyle. From stagnation to inflammation, you know, at hand. And if now there is no competition with friends who has a higher and longer stream - believe me, these are just flowers. And the berries will be a decrease in potency. I don't want to scare you, but someone can lose it altogether.

What to do? Of course, I can name the most effective, optimal and also the most pleasant way to prevent prostatitis. Another thing is how you manage to carry it out at the workplace while sitting in the common room. Because the best cure for this male problem is having sex. Yes, and your bosses are unlikely to like such "smoke breaks", although in most cases they themselves like to do this business at work, for example, with a secretary on the table.

Therefore, I offer you another, more inconspicuous way to prevent prostatitis. In the sitting position, you need to rhythmically draw in the anus, trying to feel how the muscle at the base of the penis contracts, and the flow of energy rushes up the spine. This exercise should be performed 30 times every hour.

Such gymnastics strengthens the muscles of the pelvic floor and improves blood circulation in the pelvic area. And this is very important for the prostate and potency. In general, this exercise is useful to perform with existing erectile dysfunction. It is unlikely to become the main remedy, but as an auxiliary, it even has a place to be.

Problem number 3. Osteochondrosis

The following problems that arise against the background of sedentary work equally concern citizens of both sexes. Everyone knows about osteochondrosis, everyone has heard. This is very painful. Usually the right side of the body suffers, because the right hand rests on the mouse, holds the pen and performs other standard manipulations. There is nothing unexpected to say here. The problem with osteochondrosis can only be solved by a chiropractor. True, we also have problems with them.

According to statistics, out of 10 chiropractors, only 2 really become professionals, and the remaining 8 are ordinary hacks. So the choice will have to tinker. Use word of mouth, find out who helped whom and how well. But just do not trust women's opinion. Our average lady, after all, she is like this: the boy will look at her with a penetrating, inviting look, gently caress her roundness and, along the way, praise her for something - and that's it, the young lady is thrilled.

And then he would call the whole district, they say, what a wonderful doctor he got. And the fact that after his “treatment” osteochondrosis tears the body even more with unbearable pain, she does not connect this with the doctor, believing that this disease has settled too deeply.

I can also add a little practical advice to this: while sitting at the table, do not freeze like a pillar of salt, change your body position more often, do at least a primitive exercise every 15 minutes.

Problem number 4. Backache and sciatica

From osteochondrosis, I propose to smoothly go down the back to the level of the lower back. Backache and sciatica also quite often twist citizens sitting at the table all day. Unfortunately, these sores again often torment men.

Photo: www.globallookpress.com / www.globallookpress.com

Sometimes folk remedies help with muscle, joint and spinal pain. For example, you can warm a sore spot with a heating pad, sand heated in a pan or ordinary salt (applied only in a linen bag), hot water in a bottle, a stone warmed up in the sun ...

In general, everything that will be at hand. Then take some anti-inflammatory drug, drink raspberry tea and sleep well in a warm, dry bed. Before going to bed, it is advisable to wrap the aching place warmer with any woolen thing. After such procedures, the pain usually goes away.

If after a couple of days the lumbar pain does not go away, we can safely assume that this is sciatica, and you need to start serious treatment with your doctor.

And it is also necessary to take into account that the back can hurt for a variety of reasons. Therefore, you should not immediately sin on a chair. It is better to go to the doctor and thoroughly check up, because back pain can be due to kidney problems, chronic sciatica, salt deposits, progressive prostatitis, and in women, by the way, pain can be due to inflammation of the appendages.

Problem #5: Constipation

A sedentary lifestyle can provoke one of the most unpleasant diseases - chronic constipation. And I don’t want to talk about him, because it’s not comme il faut, but it’s necessary. If this trouble has already happened, before going to give up to the doctor, you can try to cope with the problem yourself.

First, start doing gymnastics. For example, in the morning, shake the press, and not necessarily with a barbell or dumbbells, but in the most primitive way: raise and lower your legs several times. You can do this without even getting out of bed. Then several times raise and lower the torso. Then do some squats and bends.

After such manipulations, in the end, peristalsis will work. Not bad helps massage the abdomen, which must be done by stroking the hands clockwise.

The second useful tip is laxative products. I advise you to try this recipe: wash prunes, apricots, dried apricots and figs, pour boiling water and wait until they swell. Then eat 5-6 berries 2-3 times a day.

Ground wheat bran is very good for constipation. Passing through the large intestine, this volumetric mass with fiber filler irritates the reflex zones more strongly and causes the urge to stool.

Problem number 6. Hemorrhoids

I do not advise anyone to close their eyes to constipation, because hemorrhoids can come out because of it. Hemorrhoids are quite often due to a sedentary lifestyle, or if a person is forced to keep his body in one position for a long time.

Dealing with this disease is quite difficult. For many, hemorrhoids gradually migrate to the chronic stage, in which the nodes can increase at any time. And then life turns into a real torture - with constant pain, itching, burning, bleeding and other troubles.

Before starting treatment, it is necessary to determine at what stage of development the disease is already. Of course, pills are somehow easier and more pleasant to treat, but they can only help at the initial stage. I can recommend a folk recipe, which is quite effective.

Direct a jet of hot water from the shower onto the hemorrhoids. Repeat the procedure several times a day. It helps a lot, especially at the very beginning of the disease.

In the later stages, when the hemorrhoid is no longer removed by itself, only surgery will help. But that's another topic for discussion.

Problem #7 Yawning

Quite often, sitting at the table suddenly attacks a yawn. The mouth opens on its own, tears flow from the eyes. This happens not because a person has not had enough sleep or gloomy weather is pressing, but because he has been in a sitting position for too long, the lungs cannot fully expand and the body lacks oxygen.

You can deal with this problem quite simply. You need to change the position of the body - lean back on the back of the chair, spread your chest as much as possible and take a few deep breaths to let more air into the body.

If you notice such a yawning feature behind you, you should always have a thermos of coffee on hand, because it not only actively fights sleep, but also stimulates the respiratory center. However, this tool is not suitable for everyone. People with cardiovascular diseases, tachycardia, high blood pressure should not get carried away with coffee.

And the last advice for everyone who is forced to pore for many hours at the table. Sorry, the advice is very banal, but you can’t do without it - you need to play sports. And it is not necessary to torture yourself with crazy loads.

A simple walk is enough. Just walk at least part of the way home after work. It is very useful.

The disease of the new century - physical inactivity, that is, the restriction of physical activity, "generously endows" people with new and new diseases, spoils their health and nullifies all efforts to maintain a good mood. A sedentary lifestyle slowly and detrimentally affects health, chronic diseases are born, which are not so easy to get rid of if you do not change the habitual charter of life. To decide on such a global change, you should find out what threatens a sedentary lifestyle. Consider what happens to the body when physical activity is limited.

Sedentary lifestyle: how the body degrades

Why is the mood bad?

The lack of necessary activity harms our body, both physically and in terms of well-being and psychological comfort. An elementary walk through the forest, park, going out of town to nature will give you a good mood and freshness of mind. During the working day, being in a stuffy room, the body is sorely lacking oxygen, the brain cannot actively work in this mode. After a working day, be sure to go for a walk to cheer up and clear your mind of the flow of information that overloads the brain all day.

Weak bones? Let's go for a walk!

The marketing plans of many brands use the notion that calcium is good for bone tissue. In fact, everything is exactly the opposite. This myth dispelled Harvard scientists, which disproved the need to consume large amounts of calcium to strengthen bones. Bone tissue requires vitamin D, so daily jogging or walking is important for healthy joints and bones, and can prevent the development of osteoporosis.

Poor sleep as a result of lack of oxygen

The lack of walks in the fresh air and elementary physical exercises every day endangers a healthy and sound sleep, provoking many psychological problems and the development of diseases. And along with poor sleep, body weight will begin to increase, depression and anxiety will arise, and chronic ailments will begin to worsen. Therefore, many people who suffer from insomnia and move little are actively studying the question of how to lose weight with a sedentary lifestyle. Also, poor sleep provokes problems with the heart and blood vessels.

As you can see, everything is interconnected, lack of movement affects the quality of sleep, and lack of sleep turns into health problems.

Decreased mental alertness

A sedentary lifestyle significantly reduces the productivity of mental work, this has been proven during an experiment, the results of which were published in The Journal of Comparative Neurology. According to these data, in one of the parts of the brain, in the absence of motor activity, neural connections are deformed. In addition, the same department is responsible for the functioning of the sympathetic nervous system (controls blood pressure through vasoconstriction). Therefore, in addition to brain disorders, a sedentary lifestyle is a sure way to cardiovascular diseases.

Gymnastics for the office will tone your body and increase productivity:

The necessary physical activity can protect against premature death and prolong life, while maintaining brain plasticity. 30 minute stretching, jogging or walking is the minimum that should be present in everyone's life.

Movement is the key to good health and, accordingly, well-being. However, today many people are forced to lead a so-called sedentary, or sedentary lifestyle, working in offices. This, of course, negatively affects our health, negatively affects the functioning of internal organs and systems, as well as our appearance. It is important to prevent such a development of events, but first you should realize the danger that a sedentary lifestyle is fraught with. Today we will talk about just that.

What is expressed

A sedentary lifestyle is expressed in hypodynamia. Often these two concepts are identified, although it is more correct to say that the second is a consequence of the first. Hypodynamia is characterized by a limitation of motor activity and violations of various body functions arising against this background: digestive, musculoskeletal, respiratory, etc.

Do not think that a sedentary lifestyle is entirely associated only with office activities. In fact, other categories of citizens also conduct it: freelancers, housewives, pensioners. Even students often become victims of physical inactivity, as they have to spend a lot of time studying, which for the most part does not involve physical exertion.

The development of information technologies, automation of labor, the process of urbanization contribute to an increase in the number of people whose work can be safely called sedentary, and life, as a result, is sedentary.

Health impact

Now let's talk about what consequences a sedentary lifestyle can lead to, why is it so important to prevent this? The absence of physical labor in your daily routine or a significant reduction in the time allotted for this kind of load leads to a deterioration in the condition of the body in various aspects.

The first thing a person acquires by practicing a sedentary lifestyle is extra pounds. The less you move, the slower your metabolism. As a result, the rate of blood circulation through the vessels and capillaries also decreases. This, in turn, leads to a significant slowdown or complete cessation of the fat burning process. Excess calories do not turn into energy, but are stored in reserve in problem areas. In addition to ugly fat folds on the outside, hypodynamia can provoke obesity of internal organs.

Due to a sedentary lifestyle, the heart suffers. Physical inactivity increases the risk of developing chronic hypertension. This causes insufficient blood supply to the heart muscle, which means that it does not receive enough oxygen and nutrients. The lack of full-fledged physical activity causes the level of "bad" cholesterol in the blood to increase, especially due to the content of triglycerides. As a result, the vessels from the inside are covered with a fatty coating, which creates problems for normal blood flow. In addition, cholesterol plaques can form in the capillaries, which, under certain conditions, causes a myocardial infarction or stroke.

If a person spends most of his life at the computer or on the couch, the joints and bones will not say “thank you” to him for this. They are not involved in any way in maintaining the body in a sitting position. Gradually, the bones lose their strength, and the joints lose their mobility. Hence the occurrence of arthritis, arthrosis, osteoporosis. Few people keep their back straight when sitting at a monitor or leaning over papers at a desk. This results in scoliosis. But the main enemy of people leading a sedentary lifestyle is osteochondrosis. Moreover, most often it affects the cervical spine. Even hypodynamia negatively affects the state of the muscles. When there is no load on the muscles, they weaken.

Surprisingly, people who live without physical labor and sports are prone to diabetes. In conditions of making a minimum of movements, carbohydrates supplied with food are consumed very sparingly. Against this background, the level of glucose in the blood inevitably rises. This circumstance contributes to the load of the pancreas. The production of the hormone insulin is growing, and there the onset of diabetes is just around the corner.

Constipation, a feeling of heaviness in the stomach - all this is often observed in those who spend most of the day in a sitting or lying position. The lack of motor activity in the required volume negatively affects intestinal motility and gastric motility, enhances putrefactive processes. But that's not all: indigestion turns on the "green" light for the appearance of acne, for the loss of a healthy complexion.

A sedentary lifestyle also manifests itself negatively in relation to the reproductive system. For women, it is fraught with infertility, because it provokes stagnation of blood in the pelvic organs, malfunctions in the functioning of the internal genital organs, problems with ovulation, and hence with conception. In men, there are problems with potency, the development of prostatitis.

It is common among those who move little, and such a nuisance as varicose veins. Muscle tone in the legs that do not experience regular exercise is low. Result: blood stagnates in the veins, the walls of the latter stretch and acquire knots.

Adherents of a sedentary lifestyle are often tormented by insomnia. Such people, as a rule, do not experience an increased need for rest and sleep, because they do not spend enough calories and, accordingly, strength during the day, which means they do not get too tired. The quality of sleep during hypodynamia is also greatly reduced. Moreover, there are disorders of the nervous system and psyche. The lack of physical activity is a direct path to depression, anxiety, and a decrease in the level of stress resistance. The synthesis in the body of the happiness hormones endorphins and serotonin in the body of subjects who make few movements during the day worsens, which is the cause of an eternally bad mood, fatigue, and rapid fatigue.

Not paying due attention and time to physical activity in your life, a person ages faster. The fact is that the telomeres located at the ends of the chromosomes, which perform a protective function, in this case are shortened at a faster rate than during regular training, and age-related changes manifest themselves ahead of schedule.

Well, and the last: a sedentary lifestyle is one of the factors in the development of breast and intestinal cancer. This rarely happens, but still it is not worth completely discounting this relationship.

Move!

How to negate the harm of a sedentary lifestyle? The answer is simple: move more during the working day. After every hour of sedentary work, devote 5-10 minutes to physical exercises or at least walk around the office. Pay special attention to the legs and back to prevent the occurrence of serious diseases.

Give yourself additional loads: prefer the elevator to climb the stairs; walk, going to the office, walk a couple of stops; ride your bike to work. Correct your diet by removing fast food, semi-finished products from it, reducing the amount of fats and carbohydrates and increasing the amount of vegetables, herbs, fruits, dietary meat, fish, dairy products consumed.

The rapid twenty-first century has led mankind to a paradox - a person began to move less. Despite all the technological progress, the development and availability of modern transport, a person is becoming more and more like a paralyzed wheelchair user. He no longer needs to walk, run and jump - everything is done automatically, without the participation of his muscles.

Even children, who have always been difficult to keep still, turn into sedentary appendages of their computer gadgets - after several hours of sitting at a desk at school, they sit down again, only this time in a more comfortable chair in front of the computer. The yards of our houses, where a few years ago flocks of lean children ran and jumped, playing their noisy games, were empty - only pensioners play cards and young mothers roll strollers with babies or graze toddlers in the sandbox.

There are practically no older children on the street - they sit at home. Online life, a surrogate of reality, has replaced them with the joy of movement, cyberspace beckons with an imitation of vital activity, thousands of virtual friends have forced out real ones, with whom they are both in fire and water. Instead of real cycling on dusty paths, there are simulators of racing on exotic cars.

Technological progress has freed everyone, especially adults, from physical exertion. And this did not at all affect the health of people in the best way, since they practically stopped walking with their own legs. Apartment-elevator-car-office - this combination plus high-calorie food makes a person obese imperceptibly, but surely.

After work, again, the car-elevator-sofa-TV have their detrimental effect on the figure, finally making it look like a large reservoir for fatty foods.

Less and less people can be seen walking on the streets and in parks - a healthy lifestyle has almost completely been supplanted by a surrogate for physical activity - virtual activity. Stooped backs, poor eyesight, obesity of varying severity, lethargy, fatigue, insomnia - all these are the evil fruits of civilization. The percentage of these diseases among young people, adolescents and schoolchildren has sharply increased - and after all, they used to suffer mainly from older people. Curvature of the spine (scoliosis), which later turns into osteochondrosis, is an inevitable result of a sedentary pastime.

With a stationary lifestyle, almost half of the blood in the human body is in the so-called "depot" - the liver, spleen, skin. As a result, all tissues, muscles and organs receive less oxygen - the main elixir of life. After all, when moving, the blood "depot" actively gives blood to the vessels, the metabolism is positively accelerated, toxins and toxins are removed from the body much faster.

Poor circulation during physical inactivity leads to suffering of the heart and brain. It is not for nothing that bedridden patients complain of headaches and heart colic. After all, the lack of movement simply does not allow them to recover!

Every person leading a sedentary lifestyle has a sharp decrease in the usual metabolism due to insufficient supply of essential oxygen to the body. And chronic, habitual oxygen starvation leads to an early risk of atherosclerosis, strokes or heart attacks, and pulmonary diseases. Hypodynamia provokes obesity, the bones lose calcium and become fragile, like in the elderly. For example, after a three-week bed rest due to illness, the bones lose as much minerals as in a whole year of life. The lack of movement reduces the micro-pumping function of the skeletal muscles, which is why the heart loses its best assistants - circulatory disorders and various cardiovascular diseases - a natural result with an unimportant perspective is inevitable.

Another danger that many not only do not think about, but do not even suspect - muscle atrophy, decreased vitality, the appearance of early wrinkles, memory loss, the appearance of obsessive gloomy thoughts - this whole “bouquet” of small troubles that spoil the mood is the first signs of premature aging. Longevity without daily movement of all muscles is impossible!

Statistics show that even tumors appear more often in those who move little. But muscle training, regular sports or just long walks, on the contrary, will have the most positive effect on all body functions, increasing immunity and reserves of the human body. In people of even advanced age, engaged in feasible physical labor, the vessels are flexible and elastic, as a result of which they are much less likely than their sedentary peers to suffer from angina pectoris, heart attack, and other heart diseases.

It should be remembered that the older a person is, the less working capillaries remain in his body. But, if it actively moves, then in the working muscles the capillaries do not deteriorate, still performing their function of supplying tissues with oxygen. Muscles that receive regular exercise age much more slowly. But in people engaged in sedentary work, the vessels of the legs suffer from immobility and age quickly. There is a defect in the venous valves, leading to blockage and expansion of the leg veins, a tendency to thrombosis during blood stasis. And that is why, in order to avoid trouble with the legs, they must be periodically loaded - walk more often, use the stairs instead of the elevator, walk a couple of public transport stops.

Unfortunately, older people often play it safe, trying to “save” their tired muscles, try to go out less often, sit in front of the TV, limit even the load that is feasible for their age. And so their blood circulation worsens, pulmonary insufficiency occurs. As a result, such a lifestyle can lead to early atherosclerosis, pneumosclerosis, coronary heart disease, and even sudden death.

This is also proved by numerous experiments on laboratory animals. Birds that have lived for a long time in a cramped cage cannot fly and die from the fact that the heart could not withstand the load. The same thing awaits a person - the terrible consequences of a sedentary lifestyle lead to a sad end. And to prevent this from happening, you should follow a few simple recommendations:

every day do morning exercises for at least 30 minutes;

walk at least 20 minutes every evening;

go shopping only on foot (carrying heavy packages and bags loads the muscles and drives off excess weight);

give up bad habits and malnutrition;

periodically engage in some kind of labor on the street (weeding a garden or chopping wood);

run at least 10 minutes a day;

if possible, buy an inexpensive exercise machine (exercise bike or even a jump rope);

enroll in any sports section (pool, dancing, fitness or just aerobics for the elderly);

eat as many vegetables, fruits and honey as possible, drink more water or other liquid such as juice, compotes or green tea, eat soups more often and drink mineral water.

There are so many different sports and just active movement in the world that it will not be difficult to choose for yourself exactly what you like best. After all, only by doing what makes the muscles work, and the mood rises, and the body becomes slim, a person lives truly harmoniously! And if it’s simple - you just need to always be in good shape and lead a healthy lifestyle, then you won’t have to correct your own mistakes. And always, before experimenting with your health, you definitely need to consult a doctor. And then, fully armed, a person will be able to live happily ever after, as planned by Mother Nature.