"Just as the quarantine period is an absolute booster for digitization in everyday life, it is also a huge booster for lack of movement in everyday life." Robin Müller-Schober / SportCodex
That humans have a musculoskeletal system is something everyone has heard before. We cannot deny it. We feel better after a walk, a light physical activity, or simply after stretching and wriggling properly. When we feel better, we perform better in all areas. From our performance in meetings at work to leisure activities with family.
Movement Profile
Especially we office athletes, desk jockeys, and "hunched-over-computer-sitters" have always complained about lack of movement. The daily movement profile due to our activities is alarming.
We...
- Drive to work
- Moving at work
- To the cafeteria
- To the coffee machine
- To the printer
- To the bathroom
- To colleagues on a different floor
- To meeting rooms
- To clients
- ... ...Eventually drive back home
Some of us use "step counters" or apps that show the movement profile in steps at the end of the day. Sometimes, after such a day, only a measly 2000-5000 steps are displayed. We call this lack of movement. There is no question that this movement profile works against the nature of Homo sapiens. And not only that. It is a fact that lack of movement leads to diseases.
Home Prison-Office
One does not need much imagination to compare the movement profile of a home office worker with the one described above. All the paths we had to take in a normal office day are now gone! The longest distances in the home office are now from the bed to the home office sofa, to the bathroom, and occasionally to the kitchen. We sit for hours in bean bags, on creaky wooden chairs, and at the kitchen or children's table. At the in-laws' guest room or just on the sofa, working in body positions on the laptop that not even yoga would recommend.
Ergonomics in the Workplace
In many companies, it has been a years-long, if not decades-long, process to make office buildings more ergonomic. To create inspiring working conditions. Height-adjustable desks, meeting rooms with standing desks, movement offers for employees, and much more. Employers have simply offered their employees better conditions to manage their "movement routine" better. They have also realized that when the employee feels better, they perform better. A brilliant win-win situation. I have a small text on the topic of conditions that only takes 30 seconds to read. However, the quarantine period manages to throw everything out the window with one swipe. Almost none of us can take such working conditions home to the home office.
What a Challenge
We must prepare ourselves for a future everyday life in which one of the biggest challenges is to combat this drastically increasing lack of movement. Otherwise, health problems are only a matter of time. A short time.
"Lack of movement leads to diseases. Even more lack of movement leads to even more diseases!" Robin Müller-Schober / SportCodex
Those who do not recognize and react to this early will quickly be affected. Now, more than ever, it is the responsibility of the bosses and CEOs of this world to offer solutions to their Home Prison Office employees. Interested? We have plenty of new ideas. Keep moving.