We all know that physical exercise is really important. And it is especially important for people with sedentary jobs.

We all know this and still many if not most of the people I know and work with don’t exercise at all.

Lack of exercise can definitively affect the way you look, but I’m not talking about aesthetics here. What’s even more important is that neglecting your physical wellbeing can actually lead to multiple health problems.

Sitting for eight or more hours a day causes an imbalance in the strength and flexibility of your muscles. Your back muscles become overstretched and your hamstrings shorten. Muscle imbalances lead to injuries. If you injure the disks in your spine, the pressure on the nerve will cause pain and can make your legs feel numb.

Many people in technology are young and they don’t appreciate and understand the importance of being and staying pain-free.

So what can you do?

To prevent or correct the imbalance, first and foremost, you need to create a habit of stretching and strengthening your core and leg muscles regularly.

Your workouts don’t need to be intense, but they do need to be regular.

Educate yourself on the anatomy of the human body. One of the apps I highly recommend is iMuscle. iMuscle allows you to view and select a muscle on a skeleton and see what exercises you can do to target that muscle.

Also, don’t go overboard with weights. Start with light weights that you are comfortable with, and slowly increase the weights over time. If you push yourself too hard, you can get injured while exercising, which would be against the point. Patience pays off.