Physical Activity in IT

Physical activity (or rather a lack of it) is a real pain point of most people working in IT. Sitting at the computer and drinking coffee all day long — this is how most of the people imagine IT specialists, and this image is not far from reality. But is the situation that bad and how to deal with it?

Back To School

To be able to answer this question, we need to start by finding the source of potential health problems.

Everything is starting in school. It is a time when a child’s organism is still very flexible, and it is easy to return it to normal. However, it usually works the opposite way. Sitting 6+ hours a day on the uncomfortable chairs, having minimum physical activities, and overall unhealthy life have their consequences. Lots of children go to high school with backbone issues, poorly developed muscles, and no understanding of how to deal with these issues.

The situation does not become better later. Sitting even more at offices, overall unhealthy food, alcohol, and smoking are not the healthiest activities in the world. So, at age 25 most people working in IT starting to experience significant health issues, and at age 30 they are often visiting doctors regularly.

Quite a depressive picture, isn’t it?

Lack Of Movement

The lack of movement is the leading cause of the most significant health issues of the IT people. Sitting for the whole day without a move is a terrible habit (going to the kitchen and back does not count). Muscles are degrading and become unbalanced. All kinds of backbone issues are going to pursue a person with such problems. Digestion and circulatory systems are failing shortly after.

Luckily, more than half of all IT employees are doing some sport that requires movement. Usually, these are some basic things like jogging, gym, basic gymnastics, or yoga. Swimming, cliff-climbing, and other activities that stretch a backbone are excellent as prophylactics for such people.

However, all the other people (roughly 35-40%) do not do anything up to the moment when they face significant health issues. The following chapter explains how to prevent health problems in the early stages and maintain overall health in the long run.

Compensation Game

Pretty much any activity that harms health should be compensated. This compensation allows the organism to continue functioning correctly despite this negative impact.

Movement is the first and the most straightforward compensation every IT person has to use. For example, the annoying rule about the 5-10 minute breaks every hour gives a perfect opportunity to do some simple exercises, stretch the backbone, and use the muscles.

Physical activities also allow dealing with mental issues, namely stress. During the work, IT people have a quite high load on the brain caused by lots of information and need to process it. These factors, together with lots of communication, are the main reasons for stress. By doing exercises, people can decrease brain load and prevent or minimize the impact caused by stress.

The best practice here is to monitor yourself constantly. When you see the first signs of health issues or stress, you have to try to deal with them using physical activity. If you are not confident enough in this area, then you may ask a professional (e.g., trainer in gym or physiotherapist) to help you. Such an approach allows you always to feel good and stay focused in any situation. And remember that a sound mind can be only in a sound body!