Скачать или смотреть How Does Lockdown Affect your Physiology? - How Your Body Works

Dr Zoe Saynor (University of Portsmouth, UK) explains how a dramatic drop in activity levels affects your physiology, and what we can do to stay active.

Transcript:

During lockdown many of us have seen our physical activity levels drop dramatically.

I’m going to explain how this affects your physiology.

Our bodies are just not designed to sit around all the time,

but lots of us are currently taking as little as 1-2,000 steps per day,

and this inactivity has significant effects on many aspects of our physiology.

After as little as 2 weeks of lockdown your maximal oxygen uptake starts to decline.

That’s how much oxygen someone can use during exercise.

It's not only a key measure of aerobic fitness but also really important for health.

A lack of movement also limits your muscles’ ability to build proteins,

which give them the strength they need to keep you active and healthy.

This is especially problematic for people who have a lower muscle mass to begin with,

such as older adults.

Muscle stimulation also drives other physiological processes

like glucose metabolism, which helps stave off conditions like diabetes.

And, all this inactivity can also reduce your bone strength.

If your calorie intake exceeds what you burn off, then body fat can increase,

and that's not just the fat we can see.

Visceral fat can accumulate around organs inside the body,

as well as fatty deposits on the inside of your blood vessels.

This can cause conditions like diabetes and heart disease,

and they can happen much faster than you may think.

You may also have noticed your sleep patterns have been skewed

by both the shift in physical activity patterns and how much natural light you get.

That alone can have a huge knock-on effect on your physical and mental health.

So what can you do to keep healthy?

Above all else, be active, however you can.

Regular walks make a big difference, especially out in the daylight.

Check out these links for ideas,

but remember, something is always better than nothing!

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