Office workers often experience unpleasantness such as stiffness in their neck and shoulders and muscle pain, but most people do not know that these ailments are caused by lack of exercise and the body being depleted of oxygen. Over an extended period of time lack of exercise can cause muscles to lose flexibility and become as hard as stone.
Many office workers make excuses for not exercising, such as not having enough time, being too tired after working, or simply being too lazy. Not having someone to exercise with makes it even easier to slack off. Chen Yi-chin, a doctor who runs a private practice for rehabilitative medicine, says that using music as an exercise partner makes it easier to regulate the intensity of one’s exercise and helps build stamina.
Chen says that a lifestyle consisting of sitting for long periods and not getting enough exercise can deplete the body of oxygen, subsequently causing lactic acidosis, a condition known in the medical field as “oxygen debt.” Oxygen debt acquired during the daytime can only slowly be repaid at night while sleeping, but if too much debt is amassed over a long period of time one will experience rigid neck and shoulders, sore muscles, lower back pain and sore joints. If you can spend some time exercising and increase the body’s metabolism of lactic acid, it will help alleviate work fatigue.
Studies have shown that music can actually improve physical coordination, increase the unloading of oxygen in muscles, and relatively faster music can increase your endurance during exercise. If you arrange the music you listen to while exercising from slow to fast, you will be able to exercise longer. Regardless of the tempo of the music, it can help you pay attention while exercising and increase stamina, Chen says.
Chen suggests listening to music at around 120 beats per minute (bpm) while stretching and doing warm-up exercises, adding that young people can switch to music at 140bpm or even 160bpm when they actually start exercising. Seniors, however, should only use music at around 120bpm for the entire duration of their exercise, he says.
(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)
上班族常有肩頸僵硬、肌肉痠痛等不舒服的感覺，但很少人知道這是因為缺乏運動，身體欠了「氧債」，久了肌肉甚至會失去彈性，僵硬如石。
很多上班族常搬出「沒有時間」、「工作太累」、「懶得運動」等不運動的理由，若找不到人結伴運動，更容易懈怠。開業復健科醫師陳易進建議，不妨以音樂相伴，因為音樂能輔助調控運動強度，還能幫助人堅持下去。
陳易進醫師表示，久坐、缺乏運動的生活型態會使體內缺氧，細胞無氧呼吸的結果是乳酸堆積，醫學上稱為「氧債」。白天的氧債只能晚上睡覺時慢慢還，但是如果堆積太多還不完的氧債，長期下來，就會產生肩頸僵硬、肌肉痠痛、下背痛、筋膜痛等不適，若能花點時間運動、加速乳酸代謝，反而可以消除工作疲勞。
陳易進醫師指出，研究證實，音樂節奏可增加肢體協調度，提升肌肉對氧的利用率，而且快節奏音樂能讓運動持續更久，如果安排音樂由慢到快，還能持續更久，而且不論音樂節奏快慢，對於運動專注力和運動耐力都有加分作用。
他建議暖身與緩和運動時，可以聆聽每分鐘一百二十拍的音樂。如果是年輕人，進入運動期可換到一百四十拍；或是更快的一百六十拍；如果是年紀較長，全程以一百二十拍的音樂為主即可。
(自由時報記者邱宜君）
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