Last Updated on September 22, 2020
Of course, being physically active is better than being sedentary and not moving. Ladies, especially those who consider themselves active because:
- they go to the market every morning
- they spend the entire day cleaning up the home and doing housework
- they pick up after their hyperactive young kids
Is there a need for structural workout if one is already so active throughout the day?
The answer is YES.
Why doing housework/taking the stairs is not enough
Please don’t misunderstand- I want to stress that being physically active itself is already very beneficial. But it is not sufficient if you want a more pain free body or to shed of some of the extra weight. Do you notice that if you are always busy doing housework or running after the kids, you may often suffer from neck/ shoulders/ lower back/ knee pain. It is something that you cannot relief by spending hours in the garden or taking the stairs.
We tend to move in a certain way that may result in certain muscle imbalances- for instance, when your head tends to tilt to only one particular side when you are on the phone while doing work or typing at the computer would eventually cause shoulder stiffness. And one side of our body is normally stiffer than another- so when one side gets stiff, your body would adjust its posture accordingly to overcompensate the stiff side. This causes postural imbalances in the long run.
And who would not have suffered from lower back pain when having to carry heavy things, the baby, groceries around?
Personally, I had spent time decluttering and cleaning my house at one time. There was a day when I spent about 5 hours straight cleaning the entire garden and throwing huge bags of dried leaves and unwanted plants. I got lower back pain from carrying the heavy pots and plants around.
But went I did more structural exercises- warm up and stretches, walking, cardio, jogging, core exercises followed by cool down- my body immediately felt better. Ongoing training would condition the body to be able to remain flexible, pain free and stable to withstand the demands of our daily activities.
You may not be joining the gym – but spending just 15 to 30 minutes at least 3 days a week to do some proper exercises can help to make the body less stiff, painful and can relieve various discomfort. An example is the sun salutation- from yoga- if done properly helps stretch, relax and loosen up stiff muscles.
Jogging also can help us to get our heart pumping blood and strengthening it. Push ups, lunges and squats help us to develop stronger muscles to aid in our movement.
