Maintaining physical health when working remotely is the key challenge. It is challenging to make oneself exercise for 20 minutes in the morning, get up every hour to conduct a little workout, and maintain a straight back. We’ll explain which illnesses may be avoided by leading a sedentary lifestyle as well as how to do so.
Of course, it is worth noting that not only those who work remotely sit at the computer for a long time, but there is also a category of people spending days on the computer – gamers. They spend a lot of time and effort going through difficult missions and often can’t go away even for a minute so as not to miss anything. As an example, we can take the FIFA 23 game, where players want to collect the coolest squad of football players.
This is not easy to do, because they need to earn a lot of in-game coins. Therefore, the most advanced players turn to boosting companies to buy FIFA coins and not spend a lot of time earning them on their own. This is also a great way to spend less time at the computer and stay healthier.
What Are The Health Risks Of Remote Work?
Remote activity is declining. You no longer need to go to work, climb stairs, or run around offices, and not everyone can force themselves to train. This leads to health problems – weight grows, metabolism worsens, back and joint pains appear, eyes are strained, vision deteriorates, and heart and vascular diseases occur.
When there is no mobility, the spine is the first to suffer. The spine has evolved physiological curvature that is suited to an upright position. You need a strong muscular structure to support them; these are the muscles that maintain the proper alignment of the spine and keep the body upright.
Muscles deteriorate if a person does not engage in sports (or any other physical activity) and remains still for an extended period of time. The stress on the lumbar spine increases by 40–50% if you sit at a computer for 4–10 hours. Intervertebral hernia or sciatica may develop as a result of the lumbar vertebrae and discs being unable to bear the strain and becoming injured.
Computer vision syndrome may develop if you spend more than three hours looking at a screen. Its symptoms include a headache, dryness and burning in the eyes, neck discomfort, and hazy vision. When staring at a screen for an extended period of time, a person blinks less, which causes the visual condition. The eye cornea is moisturized by blinking. Additionally, if you blink less, the cornea dries up and the condition develops.
The second reason for the deterioration of vision is the weakening of the tone of the eye muscles. Outside the house, the eyes constantly change focus, looking at people, vehicles, and signs at different distances. There is no such training at home, and the activity of the eye muscles decreases. The gaze is constantly directed at the screen, and this leads to false myopia – muscle spasm. As a result, a person sees distant objects indistinctly.
A sedentary lifestyle reduces muscle tone, worsens the blood supply to the brain, and directly affects the heart and blood vessels. When a person sits a lot and spends little energy, in response, the body adapts and reduces the flow of blood and lymph in the body. The heart gets used to working in economy mode and reduces blood volume, blood circulation is disturbed, and pressure rises.
It is impossible to determine exactly what occurs first – excess weight appears or metabolism worsens. But if you move a little, pathology will start – obesity, hypertension, sugar, and cholesterol in the blood will increase.
These diseases rarely appear solely due to remoteness. Usually, they are preceded by different reasons. But you can start preventing diseases right now. exercise, eat right, and get enough sleep.
What To Do To Stay Healthy
Spine
Swimming is the most beneficial sport for the spine. It strengthens almost all muscles and improves the flexibility of the joints and spine. When a person is in the water, there is no load on the back and joints, the organs are not squeezed. A good replacement for the pool, if it doesn’t fit, is daily exercises, hiking in the air, yoga, cycling, gym, or dancing.
The main thing is to move more. Going in for sports 1-2 times a week will not help if the remote worker sits at the computer for many hours. During work, it is important to take breaks, get up, and switch to physical activity; do a little stretching, rotate the pelvis, bend and lean in different directions, and squat.
Vision
During breaks in work at the computer, you can also do a warm-up for the eye muscles. For instance, turn your eyes clockwise and anti-clockwise. Repeat the exercise 4 to 5 times alternately. It relieves tension.
Spend 15 seconds massaging your closed eyelids with gentle strokes. The blood circulation is boosted by this. When taking a break, it helps to close your eyes or glance out the window to give your eyes a rest. You may either turn your head to increase blood flow to the head and neck region or self-massage the collar zone.
Cardiovascular Diseases
To prevent diseases of the heart and blood vessels, you need to do physical exercises, watch your weight, walk a lot in the fresh air, and control two blood parameters – glucose and cholesterol. It is enough to take a biochemical blood test twice a year to know what is happening with the body. If glucose or cholesterol is elevated, this is the first signal of problems in the cardiovascular system. At this stage, you already need to go to the therapist.
Walking is a good practice for the heart. Scientists conducted a 30-year study among 2110 participants and determined that 7-10 thousand steps a day reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by 50-70%.
The most affordable way to recharge your batteries and support your heart is through morning exercises. A set of exercises for 20-30 minutes will give a charge of vivacity, increase efficiency, improve metabolism, normalize blood pressure, and strengthen the immune system and moderate thirty-minute physical activity reduces the risk of heart disease.
To develop the habit of exercising, you need to set small goals. Regularity is important. It’s better to run for 5 or 10 minutes every day than to cross a five-kilometer mark once a month. Also, fitness bracelets and mobile applications will help you to more conveniently track your sports progress, nutrition, and sleep.
