Every day spent lying in front of the television costs a person up to three percent of their muscle mass. With sports centers closed and more people working from home, the main challenge is to overcome our own laziness and build regular movement into our daily routine. How do you motivate yourself, stop being passive, and stick with it?
"The current situation plays right into our innate laziness. It is nothing unusual — everyone falls into their comfort zone at some point if they lose motivation and stop trying. When we do not move for one day, muscles atrophy by about three percent, which can still be forgiven, but a week spent lying around already means a noticeable loss of muscle fiber, which shows up as poorer fitness, but also a worse mental state. If today we all long for good immunity, there is no better prescription than regular movement," pointed out Iva Bilkova, head physiotherapist at FYZIOklinika.
10 MINUTES A DAY GETS RID OF PAIN
Mornings when a person wakes up with minor aches they habitually ignore are now familiar even to people in their thirties. In such a state, it is hard to enjoy movement, so people would rather do nothing at all. Instead of using healthy activity to relieve the pain, they set off a vicious cycle of passivity and worsening problems. "Wake up 10 minutes earlier and stretch the main muscle groups — primarily the legs and back. If this stretching does not help within the first 10 days, visit your nearest physiotherapist, who will stretch out your sore spots and teach you three or four exercises. What matters is doing them correctly and consistently; then 10 minutes a day of quality exercise is enough to compensate for a sedentary job or one-sided activities. If you stick to this, I guarantee you will feel better and want to do more. At that point, it is a good idea to add any kind of cardio exercise you enjoy and that keeps you fit three times a week, for example running, group exercise, or strength training," recommended Iva Bilkova.
RELUCTANCE TO EXERCISE DISAPPEARS AFTER A FEW DAYS
It is easy to become lazy at home, but long-term inactivity needs to be cut off before it grows into a health problem. "In the first few days, a person is often tired after exercising, as the body is adapting, but hold on, this phase does not last long. Do not increase the intensity of movement unnecessarily quickly. Give yourself time. For absolute beginners, a 15-minute walk around the block, yoga, pilates, or hitting a punching bag each day is enough. After a few weeks, exercise becomes fun. You will find that walking helps you think clearly, talk on the phone comfortably, or simply relax your mind, and you will want to extend the activity on your own," described Iva Bilkova.
NO NEED TO BREAK RECORDS
It is a good idea to start with lighter exercise, for example bodyweight strength training, brisk walking instead of running, or lighter cycling on flat terrain. For a person to enjoy movement, its intensity needs to be increased gradually. "The most common mistake beginners make is an overly ambitious start — people want to run five kilometers right away, then their whole body hurts and they give up on sport. Walking and running are the most natural movements, and apart from patients with joint arthrosis, virtually everyone can do them. Correct technique is more important than intensity, so never push your body beyond its limits. If you have never run before, start with interval running — alternate running with walking, and only later, as your fitness improves, gradually increase the running portion. At first, one kilometer is enough, then gradually extend the distance, and by the end work your way up to your maximum," recommended the physiotherapist.
THE POWER OF A SCHEDULE
Consistency is essential when it comes to movement. But building movement into a fixed daily routine tends to be the hardest part for many people, especially nowadays, when we spend most of our time at home. "It can help to have the supervision of a personal trainer, but also a personal plan with realistic goals. If you decide to take up running, after just two weeks you will feel that you breathe more easily and your heart pounds less, after four weeks you will run up a hill more easily, shape your thighs, glutes, abdomen, and sides, and after eight weeks you will be strong enough that you will want to double your two-kilometer route," listed Iva Bilkova.
FYZIOklinika, www.FYZIOklinika.cz
It is a private healthcare facility focused on the prevention and treatment of painful conditions of the musculoskeletal system. FYZIOklinika introduced a new concept of services to Czech practice, FYZIOterapie All-Inclusive and FOKUS All-Inclusive — a combination of available methods, from ultrasound diagnostics through manual physiotherapy to the use of radial or focused shockwaves, within a single comprehensive client visit. The designation "fyzioklinika" is a registered trademark of FYZIOklinika s. r. o.
In the field of physical therapy, FYZIOklinika is the largest center for shockwave therapy in the Czech Republic and ranks among the largest facilities of its kind in the world. The application of this innovative technology increases the effect of manual physiotherapy — it is a useful complement in pain treatment programs, and in the case of planar shockwaves, it even allows for significantly faster wound healing. FYZIOklinika received the prestigious Company of the Year 2017 award in the Prague region and placed second in the nationwide Practice of the Year 2017 competition in the Rehabilitation Practice category. That same year, it served over 6,000 visits at its Prague center. It maintains the largest database of FYZIOcviceni (physio-exercise) video tutorials in the Czech Republic, which it continually expands and publishes on its website. In April 2018, FYZIOklinika's lead physiotherapist Mgr. Iva Bilkova, Cert. MDT, passed the international examination at the McKenzie Institute International, becoming one of the few Czechs to earn this accreditation.
