How modern life style affecting our bodies

0:00Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wabarakatuh. Welcome to Radio Islam International. My name is Habib Baba. And in inshaAllah, I'll be keeping you company this morning. Right up till 11 a.m. Today we're talking about the setting epidemic. How our modern lifestyles are affecting our bodies. And we're going to be chatting to Physiot Therapists, Zainab Nana. But let's go into the background of this interview first before we get into the nuts and bolts of it. We know that modern lifestyles have made setting for long periods almost unavoidable. From desk jobs and commuting to hours spent on phones and watching television and many of us spend far more time setting than our bodies were designed for. Prolonged setting and inactivity can contribute to stiffness, muscle weakness, poor posture, and various aches and pains. Today we are joined by Zainab Nana, Physiot Therapist to discuss how our sedentary lifestyle are affecting our bodies and what simple changes

1:02can help us move more throughout the day. Zainab JazakAllah, Khairan Faya, time asalamu alaikumu rahmatullahi warakatuhu. Waalaikum, salamu alaikum. JazakAllah so much for having me and giving this opportunity. It's a pleasure indeed. Let's start with Zainab. How does prolonged setting affect our bodies, particularly our back neck, hips and posture? Okay, Malayana, so I want us to think about it this way. If I were to give you a 500-mall bottle of water and I told you, Malayana, to hold it for one minute, you'll probably be fine, right? But then after five minutes, it's going to start becoming a little bit more difficult and at 10 minutes your arm is going to start becoming a little bit achy. And then if I'm going to say, Malayana, please hold it for me for an hour. You're probably going to look at me and say Zainab, I think my arm is going to fall off, right? So setting works in a very similar way. Setting itself isn't necessarily harmful, but the problem is when we set for too long, particularly when we stay in the same position without moving.

2:03So when we set for prolonged periods, our muscles and joints are placed under continuous strain. And then over time, some of these muscles that support our posture, including our abdominal or tummy muscles and back muscles can become less active when we go while areas such as our hip flexors, hamstrings, neck and shoulders can become tight and very uncomfortable. And then that's all then obviously contributes to the lower back and neck pain and shoulder discomfort like you discussed. And sometimes even headaches. So there's also another important aspect. When we remain inactive for long periods, our circulation and our overall metabolic health can also be affected. So long periods of sedentary behavior associated with an increased risk of conditions, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and cardiovascular disease. Something I think lots of us in the community are starting with. I think message Molana, I think, is really, I want people to take away is you don't have to stop setting all together. You just need to stop setting continuously.

3:05Right. Continuously, that's the most important one. I remember growing up at the plaza, we used to see the uncles setting on those bar stools the whole day, but now in the end, they used to move. So yeah, that's a thing you must continuously move around. So what are some of the warning signs that our sedentary lifestyle is becoming to affect to, it's coming to a point where it's beginning to affect our physical health? So Molana, our bodies are actually created so efficiently. We give us these little warning signs when something isn't quite right. And I always tell patients, and tell them to think about this, is our bodies built in an armed system. So there are quite a few common signs that the rest of the medicine can look out for. And the first would be frequent back neck, a shoulder pain or discomfort, especially if it tends to happen after setting for long periods. I think another one is toughness, particularly when you get up after setting for a long time. So you may find that your hips, back, or legs

4:07just don't feel as mobile as they used to. Then a very important one, Molana, is, we need to be aware if they're stinging on humbless in our arms or legs, because that's, somebody shouldn't be ignored. And that's a particularly important if it's persistent, worsening, or associated with weakness. And something that does need to be assessed by a health care professional. You might also, like I mentioned earlier, you may also experience regular headaches related to neck tension. So neck tension diapetic can often feel like a tight band of pressure around your head. And sometimes that's accompanied by tightness at the back of your neck. And then another warning sign is a reduction in your strength balance or flexibility. So a lot of times patients will tell me, I'm struggling to pick up my cup in the morning, why I feel like holding a pen has become more difficult. And these seemingly small changes can actually be very important. And finally, look at your everyday activities. If walking, climbing the stairs, bending down

5:07to do the dishes of getting up from a children, other things that you normally do with ease, suddenly become more difficult. That's usually your body's way of telling you that something may need attention. So don't wait for until your body is actually shouting at you, listen to those little warning signs early. And I think a lot of times what happens is, we tend to say, we start into a pain, stiffness, or weakness, and we just accept that it's because I'm getting older or I've been setting too much. But sometimes they actually signs that your body just needs a little bit more movement strengthening or even a professional assessment. So can regular exercise make up for setting for most of the day, or do we need to focus on moving more throughout the day? Okay, so, if I said we're going to have one big meal versus having maybe five smaller, more regular meals, well, one big meal maybe fulfilling and satisfying,

6:09it's not necessarily going to sustain you for the entire day. Because after a few hours, you're going to feel hungry again. And movement is very similar. Exercise and movement are both important, but they aren't exactly the same thing. Because regular exercise is extremely beneficial for our strength, cardiovascular health, mobility, and overall wellness. However, we shouldn't build our one hour workout in the day as a complete solution to setting for many uninterrupted hours. So let me give you an example. Someone who might be setting for, who might exercise for 30 minutes to an hour at the gym in the morning, but then sets for at the desk or in the car for eight or nine hours with very little movement, still is leading a very sedentary lifestyle. So although they've exercised, the body still has spent most of the day being sedentary. And I think the best approach is really to combine structural exercise with regular movement throughout the day. And this doesn't necessarily mean doing another workout

7:11every hour. It's simple things like standing while you're on a phone pole, walking during your lunch break, taking the stairs. I like to pull these, these are like movement snacks. So even though you're having your one big meal, you're still having a few snacks during the day. I think the goal also isn't just to exercise more and to compensate for setting all day. The goal is to exercise regularly and break up long periods of setting with movement. Because ultimately, what is don't just need exercise, they do need movement throughout the day. You know, we're talking about a sedentary lifestyle more from a corporate perspective and a job perspective. But if you look at it from the time we were young, going to school, spending eight hours at school, and then another additional two hours at Madrasa, we did so much of setting that we don't realize how much of setting that we do. And then going in pursuing higher education and qualifying

8:12and all of that, then when you get to the corporate world, you've already got about 10 years of experience of setting for so long hours, that you don't realize how bad the habit is. I know the same thing. I think we become Olympic setting champions. Yeah, so how do you address it with the schools? You know, with the schools, Mlana, I also tell learners, and it's actually interesting because we're getting learners as young as eight, nine years, all started with back pains, neck pains, next toughness. Things we haven't really been seen before. And I think it's also to do with because of devices. Learners are being on devices more often. Kids are not playing outside as much as they used to. But from that perspective, especially I think in all the grades, most of the learners do have periods. So one class is usually 4.30 to 45 minutes. And then in that duration, either the learners have to change class

9:14or the teachers are changing a class. And during that three to five minute interval, it's important for teachers and educators also to allow learners to let them stand up, let them stretch because as much as we get tired, I think they also do get tired. The concentration spans also get a little bit less. And that little bit of movement and activity may even help the concentration levels. Yeah. So what simple movements or habits can people incorporate into their work day to reduce the efforts of prolonged sitting? So Mlana, I think listeners can start small and realistic changes. You don't have to completely change your work day or spend hours exercising, as I mentioned before. It's the little things that get up. I think the most important one is to stand up and move every 30 to 16 minutes. And most of us do have a smart device nowadays whether it's a smart watch or smartphone or laptop or in many of them have a bolt-in reminder or timers.

10:16So set that reminder to get up, move around, stretch a bit. Another simple habit is to walk while you're on the phone. So put in your earphones and if the call allows, walk around while you're chatting. Use the stairs, we're possible. Instead of elevators or escalators, take short walking or stretching breaks or simply get up to go fetch a glass of water, go to the printer, walk over to speak your poly and to speak to one of your polys instead of saving them a message about, maybe something that's important or necessary. And if you're asked that in a meeting, like generally it cannot get up. There are still things you can do while seated. You can do some gentle shoulder rolls, move your neck gently from side to side or do some simple ankle and leg movements. Because ideas for a voice thing completely still for hours at a time. We also shouldn't forget about ergonomics. So making sure you have desk, kitchen computer adjusted appropriately for use and there can make a big difference to your comfort and watch show while you are working.

11:18And I think especially in corporate, we aren't seeing more companies incorporating standing discs and walking pairs, which can be particularly useful for people who work from home or have a hybrid works it up. Because this does allow you to change position and incorporate more movement while getting your work done. So I wouldn't get a catchlessness to think, how can I add more movement into the things that I'm not really doing? You know, not taking another hour out of a really busy day to do something. So, but a stretch of the same example you gave put your earphones on and rather talk and walk. If your partner is talking, can you walk and talk? Cheers. If the wife is talking, if the wife is talking, can asthma use this as an excuse to say, we shouldn't be sitting for long periods. I have to walk when you are talking. I think you can say, come join me and we walk together and talk together. Interesting indeed. So moving on Zainab, what about people who already experience pain

12:21from sitting for long periods or even they already suffering a poor posture? When should they consider seeing a physiotherapist? So, Lana, I think a person can consider seeing a physiotherapist when the pain is persistent. It keeps returning, it's getting worse. Well, very importantly, when it starts interfering with your everyday life. So whether it's your sleep, your work, you can't exercise as you normally would or even normal activities such as cooking, doing your housework or even driving. So if you are experiencing any significant weakness, numbness, tingling, loss of balance, pain that travels down your arms and legs, it is important to seek professional health. And then there are certain red flags that I think patients should look out for and these require urgent medical assistance and these usually include sudden or severe weakness. So for example, if you are unable to wake up from the bed, or feeling that your legs are suddenly giving away,

13:22loss of blood or bowel control, numbness around the groin area, chest pain or difficulty breathing. So very, very important to seek urgent medical attention if you do experience any of these symptoms. So when you do see a physiotherapist, well, I don't know if you've been to a physiotherapist yet. Not, not as yet. Not yet. Okay, so we do see a physiotherapist. We don't just look at where the pain is. We try to look at you holistically. So we assess the individual. We identify the possible contributing factors to your symptoms. And then we develop an appropriate treatment and exercise program that's just for you. And we can also then advise you on your posture, your movement patterns, your ergonomics and your workplace setup. I think, Mulana, it's important that you don't have to necessarily wait to have until you end pain to see a physiotherapist. So just like we take our cars for service before they break down,

14:25we can also be proactive about looking after our bodies. So if you do notice changes in your movement, strength, flexibility or posture, getting advice early can help prevent a small problem from becoming a much bigger problem. And I think the sorry, after just a closing line there, I think the important thing is to listen to your body and seek professional advice when something just doesn't feel right. I'll pick up on one of the points that you mentioned earlier on you spoke about standing in desks that have become quite popular in common now. Are they generally beneficial or can stand in for long periods also create a similar problem? So again, Mulana, what we're trying to focus on is the change in actual positions and not being in one position whether it's setting or standing for continuous amounts of time. So obviously standing also for increased amounts of time are also not beneficial. So when you do it, use a standing desk. It's usually a rotation between the two.

15:26So you'll say half an hour, you're setting desk, half an hour understanding desk, half an hour setting, half an hour standing. And that's how you rotate. I've even heard of people setting on a bicycle, you know, the static bicycles. So while you're in a meeting cycling away and nobody is even aware of that. Yeah. And we're still getting in a little bit of circulation, a bit of movement. So it's also about finding what works for you. You know what your your your spaces like, what your desk setup is like, what your area is like, how many people are working around you? All those factors also be comfortable. So you said early on that, you know, you're going for an assessment and you do a holistic approach to the whole thing, but just broadly speaking, what is the perfect posture that we should be aiming for here? Well, you know, two individuals are not felt the same. You know, some of us are told, some of us are short, some of us are wider, some of us are but smaller.

16:27Yeah. So I think it's, when we are say, a patient we see what muscles are weak, what muscles are tight and then we focus on that. So when I say, when we say perfect posture, it means a position where you are not experiencing pain, what is comforting. So a lot of us say set upright, chest out, tighten your tummy muscles. And it's very easy to tell somebody that. And I think a lot of times we tell the kids there why you're leaning forward, set properly, but we cannot set properly if we do not have the muscle strength to set properly. And, you know, if we are in pain, it's going to make it very difficult to actually set correctly of how is expected of us. So, you know, it's further individual, further body, both, you know, and all of those factors do contribute. Some people who would recommend maybe getting a pillow

17:28to put behind the back for additional support, whereas with other individuals, if you put that pillow there, they actually experience a great amount of discomfort. So it's about what works for individual. Yeah, so, you know, we at the radio, like we said for long periods, like sometimes if I'm doing a long program, long program in our context would be anywhere between two to three hours one shot. And I know you have to sit in a certain way, but then you tend to slouch as you are speaking because you get tired. Now, what advice do you have for people who do long programs like it? Well, I also, in that case, again, I would say you're still having your outbreaks that come on frequency, you know, to maybe five spots between there, but the reason why your body does want to tend to go into that slouch position is obviously, when we go back to when we just started the interview, and I gave you the example of holding the bottle in your head, you know, so think about that example. Your muscles are now having to maintain that position

18:30for such a long time. Now, if I gave that bottle to somebody who worked the arm strength out, compared to somebody who wasn't, who would be able to hold that bottle for a longer duration? Interesting indeed, yes. Very good. So if you, if you do, falls on your core muscles and your back muscles, chances are you'd probably be able to maintain your posture for longer periods of time. However, you still would need those frequent movements between. And then help us understand we find that a lot of told people they have back problems. What's the reason for that? Told people to tend to have to maybe slouch, so think about if you have to do the dishes for a told person compared to an average fault individual. Told people to tend to have to maybe slouch or bend over a little bit more. With females also, I do know it sometimes a bit of a surface team issue

19:33with females tend to want to close themselves inwards, just to create a bit of a smaller bulb, a smaller height. And those things work in contributing and obviously the muscle tightness and things like that as well. So it's basically plays on the biomechanics of the individual. Yeah, so I noticed some people, they do stretches in the morning or they crack their back just to get them self-coing. Is that a good approach? There's no, I always tell patients, if you feel better after doing something specific, do what works for you. So by doing the cracking movements, there's lots of myths around that. However, cracking is usually, it's air being released from the joint. And so not necessarily harmful. However, there are instances where it can be harmful and sometimes what happens is the joint becomes locked if you crack it into a certain position and then it does become a bit stuck afterwards.

20:36So I also tell patients going to, for example, the hairdressers, barbers and stuff, be wary of being overstretched, be wary of certain movements and cracking, especially if you do have a pre-existing condition, be wary of some of those circumstances. What about people who spend long hours on the road driving, whether it's truck drivers or other people who spend a considerable amount of time on the road because of their profession and the kind of work that they are in? Because I don't think you can stop every one or two hours just to take a stretch break, but what is the golden advice in this regard? Well, I usually, two hours is your recommended period for when you suppose to. I think most of the more modern cars will come with actually a warning sign now to say you've been driving for a certain amount of minutes or hours. So usually, two hour intervals are recommended

21:37of when you need to maybe stop and stretch a little bit. In any case, you're probably going to grab yourself with me or something within that period. However, I know, like you say, it's not always possible. Why you can do then in those circumstances, I tell patients, if you get to a road, what more place where you are going, still do some gentle, neck side to side movements, roll your shoulders backwards and forwards, move your hips in and outwards. So just moving the pelvis a little bit to get a bit of rotation in the hips as well. Just a little bit in your up. Move your ankles as well, maybe not. You're obviously going to be a bit more push as well, you're driving with that, but when we do come, maybe to a stop street or a robot, just do some of those more movements for a moment. And then the other problem that we're facing is that we're spending a lot of time also increasing amounts of time looking down at our phones and our devices. What effect is that having on the neck specifically

22:38and also the upper back? We spoke about lower back. What about the neck and the upper back, particularly among younger people? And definitely, like I said, I think in the last two or three years, we've been seeing an increasing amount of young patients coming in. I had a patient as all these five years all come in with neck pain, which usually would have been because, if you see pain in a child, it's usually because they, they jumped off the couch or they fell or something, but in this case, it was because of the child being on a device for prolonged periods of time. So I think also screen time and number of screen time is so important, especially in us adults as well. You know, set the time of 15 to 20 minutes. If you are a parent, monitor your child's screen time and screen usage. And you know, do a little bit of those neck movements as well, move the neck up and down. Once you can also feel usually what screen time

23:40will even feel headache start settling in, which also is another indication that you might be having too much of screen time. And yeah, just, it's important to look up from those screens every now and then get screen holders as well, but I think more than even just setting up, it's more just taking a break from the screen every half an hour. So finally, Zainab, if you could give one simple rule to follow every day, you know, to protect our bodies from the effects of prolonged setting, what would it be? Well, I think the important thing is to start small and beat consistent, you know, only don't need to wait for the perfect exercise program or until we have an hour free to go to the jump, because that's not always possible. And I think it also helps to connect movements to a habit that you already have. So for example, like I said earlier, you know, stand while you're on a phone, pull, take a short walk after your meals,

24:40two or five squats between the things, or perhaps do some gentle neck and backstitches after every salar as well. Every opportunity we have to stand up, walk, stretch, or take the stairs is an opportunity to reduce the amount of time we spend being sedentary. And I think there's also an important Islamic perspective because at the end of the day, our bodies are in a manner. It is a trust that's been given to us by Allah. And it's so important that we look after this manner as well. Even our acts of worship involve movements. I mean, salar, for example, involves standing, bowing, sojourd, and we perform these movements repeatedly throughout our lives. Now, I think that's actually good reminder that movement is actually a natural part of the human experience. And even if we look after life of our Prophet, the Lord of the Universe, and the generations that came before us, their lifestyles were so much more natural and more active than ours today. They were, they traveled on foot.

25:42They worked with their hands and were generally much more physically active as part of their daily lives. So of course, we are loving and completely different around now. We do have cars, we have innovators, we have computers, we have technology, that does make much more convenient. But perhaps we can take a lesson from the lifestyle and of the people before us and intentionally bring more movement back into our daily routine. So I think it was one thing I would like to listen to today. It's the set that you mind on your phone when it goes off, get up, take a few steps, stretch, move your body. It sounds very simple, but remember, small changes, but I'm consistently can make a big difference. And ultimately, we just not exercising for today. We're looking after the body that our life has interested to us, and that's the end goal. True. Zainab Jizakul Akhir, and for your time, much appreciated this morning on Radio Islam International. Just after I'm done, I'm here having us.

26:44And I hope it was useful to the lesson as a new lesson after the world. Yes indeed, it has been very educational and insightful indeed. We don't realize how long we do it, without even paying any thought to it. But I think the remind is always beneficial. And this remind is indeed one that we require at this particular stage. JazakAllah.