My Sedentary Lifestyle Story
About a year ago I went to the doctor’s after experiencing neck pain. Every time I exercised the vein in my neck would start pounding so hard. It felt like it was going to explode.
I noticed I couldn’t even run for 60 seconds straight without experiencing the pain. The weird thing was it only happened when I exercised (which I rarely did).
As a result, I was thinking something serious was wrong with me. I thought that I had some kind of neck cancer. However, I was only 23 and was considered healthy so none of it made sense.
My doctor had no idea what it was. His solution was to preform a numerous amount of expensive tests on me.
I told him I wanted to wait to see if it would go away on its own. I then thought about what could be the cause of this.
My Realization
That’s when i realized for the last 3 years I’ve spent most of my days sitting. I was living the Sedentary Lifestyle. Sitting at a desk looking at a screen and only getting up to use the bathroom or to hit the fridge.
My daily routine looked something like this:
- Wake Up
- Make Music
- Play video games
- Eat Dinner
- Make Music
- Sleep
As you can see I was not active at all. As a result, I decided to start getting active. I joined a boxing club/ gym and made it my priority to go everyday.
1 month later and the pain was gone. It was like it never even happened. Not only that but I felt more alive.
I told my doctor the news and he told me he believes I was beginning to suffer the effects of a sedentary lifestyle before I made my lifestyle change.
What is a sedentary lifestyle? What are the risks?
It’s a lifestyle where you spend most of your day sitting or laying down. Hardly ever being active or exercising.
This lifestyle leads to a lot of major health risks. Including the following:
- Obesity
- Heart diseases
- Heart attack
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol
- Stroke
- Type 2 diabetes
- Certain cancers
- Increased feelings of depression and anxiety
There are even some researches that suggest this lifestyle is more deadly than smoking a pack of cigarettes per day 😳.
Sedentary Lifestyle and Music producers
As music producers we tend to live this lifestyle without even noticing it. Take me for example. I never saw a problem with my daily routine. We tend to get caught up in the mindset that we need to be sitting down creating music 24/7.
However, as my doctor explained this routine can lead to serious health problems. Including an early death.
So, how do we continue to be productive musically without risking our health?
Solutions
1. Track Your Steps!
Sedentary is less than 5,000 steps per day. Active is more than 10,000 steps per day.
Smart phone users can use their health app to track steps. Likewise, investing in a Fitbit or step tracker is an even better way to track your steps.
Start small with your steps. If you’re only taking 2,000 steps per day then aim for 4,000 your first week. Then 8,000, then 10,000.
2. Make Exercise a Priority
The risks of the Sedentary Lifestyle are serious. Therefore, you need to take exercising seriously.
Something as simple as going for a walk in the morning can change your life drastically.
3. Stand up Often
Get up and move around at-least once every hour.
When you’re experiencing a lack of inspiration or need a break then get up! The simple action of standing alone is better than sitting for long periods of time.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the sedentary lifestyle can be dangerous. Getting more active not only makes you feel better but it makes you more productive. If you’ve realized you’ve been stuck in this lifestyle challenge yourself to make changes. Your life depends on it.