Health is important to us. Exercise and exercise have a direct effect on health and fitness. This is clear, and there is no need to go into the health effects of exercise. It is all the more important to consider what can be prevented through exercise and what are the effects of mobility or, conversely, immobility on our mental and social well-being.
The Corona Pandemic, which began in early 2020, forced people to come up with new ways to work, move and socialize. As a large proportion of working people had to fortify their homes during their working days and the live coverage of co-workers was limited due to the situation, this also directly affected other aspects of life. Outdoor mobility was restricted so that it was no longer possible to see acquaintances inside in public places or to move and practice indoors in a familiar way. Not alone or together. If you used to like to go to the gym with friends, things got harder. If you went to the gym because of exercise pressure, things got harder. You might even feel relieved to now be allowed to rest at home in good conscience. Health may have suffered. More on immobility later in the text.
In particular, mental stress has increased with the second Korona wave in Finland. The positive pressures and sense of belonging brought about by social relations have been tight. The mental strain and pressure of not seeing my friends and having to cope at home alone.
Why move?
Exercise and the well-being that exercise brings to health are paramount. The importance of exercise and staying healthy in general has diversified and emphasized over the last year and a half. The healthier you are, the more you have so-called lottery tickets to stay healthy and avoid unnecessary illness or, in this situation, the COVID19 coronavirus in particular. As the pandemic continues, the effects of being at home, and especially the lack or amount of internal motivation, have time to show in people’s lives and bodies. It’s great that restrictions are followed and common sense is kept to minimize infections, but at the same time forgetting the traps that might fall without outside pressure.
The effects of drugs such as alcohol and tobacco on the body are seen quite immediately, so they are usually used reasonably and judiciously. The intoxicant that many have certainly encountered at the latest during a pandemic is immobility. After all, it’s tempting when you can start and end your work day from your home couch and move into the world of streaming services and order food at your doorstep from your favorite raffle. In this text, I compare this type of activity to intoxicant, the effects of which are only visible in the longer term, but which are certainly recognized every day. When the effects start to show, you can be sure that you have been exposed to many diseases other than the airborne virus. You may not be able to fight these diseases from home. In particular, the risk of respiratory and circulatory diseases, obesity and overweight and type 2 diabetes increase with immobility. Through this, health care costs will also increase as the long-term illnesses triggered by immobile drug use increase. Immobility can almost be called a silent pandemic that has been taxing humanity for a long time, and the current virus pandemic is “boosting” it.
Health is at your fingertips
This issue is committed to the coronary epidemic in such a way that it is now allowed to stay at home, as recommended by the state. If you have a habit of jogging or training at home anyway, the recommendation will probably not reduce your movement much, at least not much. Or if you have high motivation to move at all. If there's a will, there's a way . So what happens to those who have no intrinsic motivation to move? As early as spring 2020, Finland and the world began to develop solutions for moving safely at home or elsewhere. For example, the GOGO virtual training library GOGO Online was launched for just this purpose. Make services easily accessible and encourage mobility. Organize live streams so you can get live on-screen guidance from home.
The threshold to practice and move has now been lowered very well and brought as close as possible to the mover, so let's fight the pandemic and its side effects together! Wondering what kind of exercise you need or what would be on your mind? Not sure how to do a particular workout in practice? Do you have any discomfort? No worries, LEAPFYSIO Physiotherapists and coaches are just for you here. Professionals guiding you in the right direction safely and effectively.
Sources:
Heinonen, OJ, Helajärvi H., Lindholm, H., Vasankari, T. 2015. Health Disorders of Low Mobility. Medical journal Duodecim. 131 (18); 1713-8. https://www.duodecimlehti.fi/duo12430