Assuming a person walks every day for the recommended 10,000 steps in an hour and a half, eat right and sleep for 8 hours. According to them, they are doing everything right but wait, are they really? As a person sleeps 8 hours, it means they are awake for 16 hours out of which they walk for 1.5 hours, so what do they do for the other 14.5 hours?
If any has ever noticed a herd of sheep, they blindly follow the flock. A documentary was released sometime back where a farmer noticed that all his flock of sheep were dead one day. Later on, he came to know that one sheep of the herd by mistake went towards the cliff and fell off it hence the rest flock of sheep followed it off the cliff as well. This introduced the concept of keeping a guard dog to guide the sheep herd. Technology has made us all behave just like the sheep herd blindly following the trends. People need to herd away from the usual trends and not fall into the pitfall created by the convenience caused by technology.
Technology has made our lives so convenient that it is possible to do every activity without ever moving. An individual can just boss around their Google home or Alexa to do activities for them. Even the simplest activity like switching on a bulb which needed them to move towards the switchboard can be just done by commanding Alexa to do so.
The bigger weekly activities like shopping at a grocery store are also handled by Alexa by just placing an order through the Amazon store.
Leading a life of convenience is great until the point that we stop moving and lose our wellbeing.
Is it That Bad?
Just a few years ago, I remember as a kid I used to take my bicycle to the nearest grocery store to get a packet of milk for my mom or a bar of chocolate for me. Things have changed over the last few years and people will see today’s generation kids just slouching at one place playing games on their smartphones. Even school time is just about sitting for 6-7 hours every day. Where are these kids getting the required physical activity? This question needs to be seriously thought about by all the parents and adults.
But A Person Works Out:
The technology was developed to make our lives convenient but misuse or overuse of technology when things can be done easily alone is going to cause health hazards in many young, teens and adults if we do not stop using the easy way out.
It really does not matter if a person has been working out in the gym every day if they spend the rest of their day sedentary. In fact, if they have an active lifestyle, they do not need to go to the gym at all. They will stay fit effortlessly. An active lifestyle can help a person fight diabetes, obesity and heart disease.
According to therapists from TRi Physical Therapy of Brooklyn, nowadays there are people who go to the therapist and complain about facing pains and injuries caused by a sedentary lifestyle and the number of such patients is increasing day by day when compared to the ones who have been injured due to physical activity.
Creating Possibilities to Move
So, we have understood how having an active lifestyle can be beneficial so let’s talk about the ways a person can make their day-to-day life active.
- Take the stairs instead of elevators.
- Take 5 minutes break at work after an hour and move around.
- Get a sit-stand desk.
- Drink water from the cooler every hour instead of keeping it reachable at the desk.
- Use a bicycle to go to work.
- Park a little away from the office building and walk the rest.
- Try to stay away from falling into smartphone trap.
- Walk while on the phone.
Master the use of technology and do not become its slave. Limit the use of technology for convenience and get back to doing things the good old way.
