The lack of physical exercise is a scourge of today. Living creatures can’t remain motionless. At the very start of human civilization, men had to move a lot to survive. These days we need to move to keep healthy and be able to work. People constantly sit behind their computers both at work and on vacation.
However, if occasionally you go to the gym, that does not tackle an issue with hypodynamia. A man needs to move every day to relieve stress, train the heart and maintain an overall muscle tone. If you decide to buy a car, you only worsen the situation.
How a car turns into a troublemaker
A man got into the car and he liked it. He understood that he can easily and quickly get anywhere he wants. No need to invest efforts to walk great distances especially when with a load. However, then we have faced a problem of lack of physical exercise. Undoubtedly, cars make our lives easier but at the same time, they can completely ruin the health of people that has already been weak.
Physical exercise declines and people start gradually putting on weight. An overweight person finds it hard to deal with growing workload since it requires many efforts. It is easier for him to get behind the wheel and drive wherever he wants. So it is a vicious circle. And only a man can break it if he really wants. Even if a driver has no problems with weight, lack of physical exercise affects the immune system. The position a driver is holding results in blood congestion in cervical and lumbar spines, small pelvis and lower limbs. It provokes problems with the vessels and other similar pathologies.
Traffic jams, long-haul rides provoke hypertension and other psychosomatic pathologies. Contemporary physiology clearly indicates that a car is a factor that determines diseases of various organs and systems. What can you do then? The answer is simple: try not to be a slave to the car.
A car and healthy living
A car can and should help a man to keep a healthy lifestyle. You can find a million reasons that will prevent you from it, however, motivation not to get sick overcomes any possible excuses. Everyone wants to maintain working capacity throughout the whole life. Any disease depending on the severity dismisses all thoughts of reaching short- and long-term objectives. Thus, your car should help you to stay healthy.
First of all, you need to understand that a car is for emergencies only. You don’t need it to walk in the park or go to the nearest shop to buy some bread. If your friends live not far from you, you can also do without a car. If you postpone one unnecessary ride, you get half an hour walk each day. That’s quite a number if you sum up inside a week.
A car helps you to get to the place to picnic, in the country or in the woods helping your family to take a good rest. However, that does not mean that you should be a victim of the car and stop walking at all. Sometimes you can leave a car in the garage and go some 10-15 kilometres on foot with a rucksack behind your back to relax after a hard workweek.
Physical exercise allows relieving psychological tension. The more you walk on foot, the better for your health.
Physical exercises behind the wheel
A driver who remains motionless for a long time quickly gets tired and becomes less productive if he does nothing. How to act if you can’t leave your car within the next 2-3 hours (if you are a long-haul truck driver or have to sit in traffic)?
As opportunities appear, you should make a stop to move around — do some squats, kick the ball around in the parking lot or play badminton with your travel companion. However, if you have to sit in the car, you should stretch sleeping joints, change the body posture, toughen your muscles, sit back.
Massage chairs or orthopedic seat backs help a lot. Don’t forget about wrist exercisers, various massaging applicators that allow improving blood circulation. You can use a plain bottle with water as a gymnastic apparatus.
Another way to prevent driver distraction is to do some eye exercises. While in traffic jams you can blink frequently, make circular and zigzag movements with your eyeballs, “draw” squares, ovals clockwise and counterclockwise. If you repeat these exercises for at least two times a day, you can improve blood circulation inside the eyeball and strengthen your eye muscles.
Keep in mind that you should take care of your health every day, and the best way to improve it is to regularly do physical exercises.
You won’t suffer from hypodynamia if you stick to the abovementioned recommendations and exercise regularly, not from time to time. Take care! To drive easily and safely, you need an International Driving Permit. If you still don’t have it, we will help you out. Apply for an IDP on our website. Just try and you will see how easy it is.
Published June 18, 2018 • 4m to read
