LACK OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
COVID-19 and the Onset of a Sedentary Lifestyle
Although state mandated lockdowns and social gathering limits have been lifted. There is still a lingering barrier that has, and will continue to negatively impact those that were well along their journey in fitness / health or those that are brand new and are planning on starting their own journey. In addition to that, there have been links towards a worsening of mental health in regards to a lack of Physical Activity, with signs pointing towards COVID-19 affecting populations at a disproportionately rate (Coughenour et al., 2020). With the onset of vaccinations and the continued push to return things to some form of normalcy, the best path would be the path of acquiring more knowledge on all the benefits of Physical Activity as there is a plentiful amount of it.
Sedentary Lifestyle
It's not a real shocker that the general population can ease into a sedentary lifestyle. Especially with all schoolwork / classes being moved to online and jobs that are stationed at home. Additionally, the consumption of less healthy foods + a sedentary lifestyle (28.6% due to pandemic) has increased some forms of anxiety and depression symptoms amongst 18 - 34 year olds (Romero-Blanco et al., 2021).
Staying Active
With the increased values of a sedentary lifestyle alongside the consumption of less healthy foods. There is no better time to change it up and lean towards a healthier lifestyle that consists of healthy foods as well as proper physical activity (Burtscher et al., 2021).
Knowledge is Key
As per resources, I have linked below a YouTube channel by Jeff Nippard who provides informational videos with a focus on physical activity in forms of exercise and benefits of a healthy diet.
As presented in the video above, Jeff Nippard is a credible bodybuilder and internationally qualified powerlifter with a Bachelor's in Biochemistry. His videos highlights the means to pursue a healthy lifestyle with a combination of both physical activity as well as a healthy diet. In addition to that, it's important to now further educate the general population with the instance of health being such a major topic due to the onset of the pandemic (Burtscher et al., 2020).