As we approach uncharted territories with most countries around the globe going into lockdown, the number of people spending time home is going to rise exponentially. It means no more gyms, cycling, walking, or leisure sports.
In the modern world where an adult spends on an average over 11 hours on screen, it is very easy to give in and completely devoid your body of any physical activity, this can prove fatal for your well being as we need to gear up for the lockdowns to last over six months.
High death rate accounted for by physical inactivity wasn’t unheard of before nationwide restrictions came into place as over 5.3 million people fall prey to it every year. If the sudden change in our lifestyle is not a reason enough to take up measures to combat physical inactivity, our body?s ability to fight against COVID-19 and other chronic diseases significantly increase through regular exercise.
Several ways in which we can achieve the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendation for over 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise is:
- Sit less: Since a good percentage of people around the world are working from home, sitting or reclining during work is very common. Try taking 1-2 minutes of break every 30 minutes of sitting. Alternatively, you can try out the standing work desk experiment.
- Use your bodyweight for building strength: With the gyms shutting down around the globe, there will be a lack of machine exercises. An excellent alternative to this is using your body weight for strength. Aim for a couple of bodyweight sessions per week, including press-ups, sit-ups, or planks (2-4 sets of 8-15 repetitions of each exercise).
- Spend more time with your pets or children: Pets and children alike thrive on attention; they like to play around and be active. Increase your engagement with your junior cheerleaders, and it is a win-win for all!
- Practice Yoga: Yoga helps build strength, awareness, and harmony in both your mind and body. The benefits of Yoga go beyond one?s physical and mental health. It helps you with developing inner peace, patience, flexibility, balanced metabolism, weight reduction, cardio, and circulatory health, and improve your psychological well being. All of these benefits are quintessential in this need of the hour. Moreover, it is an indoor activity that can be practiced alone, complying with the social distancing advised by WHO.
Final Thoughts
While staying at home and contributing to flattening the coronavirus curve is paramount, making sure your body and mind get enough exercise to function well is essential as well. Make sure to make exercise a part of your daily routine. The tasks mentioned above don’t require you to do anything special. You can inculcate physical activities in your day to day transactions at home.
