5/17/2020 6:45:34 PM
Quarantine; Protection or Gradual Demise?
These Days Due To The Spread Of The Coronavirus, We All Find Staying Home To Overcome The Disease And Control The Transfer Of The Infection. Lockdown Has Been Suggested As The Solution For Keeping Safe From This Pandemic, But How Protective That Really Is? Concerning this long-period quarantine, our lifestyle has shifted toward a sedentary, with a lot of time spent sitting down and less time spent engaging in physical activities. We are preferring online courses, communicating via the internet, and accomplishing our work goals on a laptop.
Studies have now consistently shown that leading a sedentary lifestyle can contribute to obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiopulmonary disease, and early death, as well as mental disorders. Movement is primarily the crucial need for the health of human musculoskeletal systems, therefore, no force load on the muscles results in strength and size reduction.
The prevalence of muscle imbalance among those who are inactive physically determined the relation of neuromuscular control, physical activity, and body posture: one or a group of muscles tight as a substitution for the other weak’s functions. Poor posture leads an individual to the vicious cycle of musculoskeletal problems in sedentary behavior.
Respiratory dysfunction is another complication associated with immobility. The main inspiratory muscle is the diaphragm, which depends on body posture for optimal function. The scalene muscles are considered by many to be accessory breathing muscles and contract when you breathe in, helping make space in the thorax for the lungs to expand by lifting the top ribs. When your diaphragm breathing pattern is replaced by abdominal pattern, the scalenes may be chronically shortened. This impediment also comes about because, in the forward head posture, the scalenes are not in the position to counterbalance tension in the back of the neck, which, in turn perpetuates the posture problem. The current clinical findings provided evidence on the lung involvement in COVID-19. Due to the susceptibility of the poor respiratory system to show severity in symptoms of respiratory diseases, boosting respiratory muscles should essentially be mentioned during the quarantine.
From a mental perspective, the impact of a sedentary lifestyle on the perceived mental state, which included ratings of mood, fatigue, and concentration, is irrefutable. Since the mind is more linked to the lack of moving than most realize, depression and anxiety reported more in the subsequence of sedentary behavior prevalence.
Scheduling a home workout routine not only could help to accommodate this situation, but also alleviates the risk of comorbidities that follow the loss of physical activity. Remember to warm up the body for exercise. This will help get the initial energy to do the rest of the tasks. Simply get up and march on the spot for about 60 seconds. Some smart phone gym applications and websites play the role of a coacher if someone is unable to frame exercise set properly.
You can go through the given instances for bodyweight exercise that can be performed solos. “Bridging,” “plank,” and “squat” are the most familiar exercises that help to enhance the core, lower back, and hip muscles while helping correct body posture. Everyone can modify them to suit his/her aims and body conditions.
Given the explanation stated above, the correct breathing pattern which is related to body posture inherently would increase lung capacity and function. At least 30 minutes of exercise that exclusively consists of 5-10 minutes of breathing exercises is recommended.
References:
1. Hoare E, Milton K, Foster C, Allender S. The associations between sedentary behaviour and mental health among adolescents: A systematic review. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act [Internet]. 2016;13(1). Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12966-016-0432-4
2. Furlanetto KC, Donária L, Schneider LP, Lopes JR, Ribeiro M, Fernandes KBP, et al. Sedentary behavior is an independent predictor of mortality in subjects with COPD. Respir Care. 2017;62(5):579–87.
3. Doctorado PDE, Biomedicina EN. Role of physical activity , sedentary behavior and physical fitness in mental health and white matter in children and adolescents. 2020.
4. Siordia JA. Epidemiology and clinical features of COVID-19: A review of current literature. J Clin Virol [Internet]. 2020;127(April):104357. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcv.2020.104357
5. Yoon SH, Lee KH, Kim JY, Lee YK, Ko H, Kim KH, et al. Chest Radiographic and CT Findings of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19): Analysis of Nine Patients Treated in Korea. Korean J Radiol. 2020;21(4):494–500.