Live Well for Longer

Chartered Physiotherapist and Biomechanics Coach Martin Haines explores how we need to adapt to thrive in a modern world.

The human body is a complex system capable of extraordinary things. But sedentary lifestyles and activities involving repetitive movements are putting serious strain on both our bodies and the NHS.

Each year 20% of England's population consult their GP about a musculoskeletal condition, and 19% of people report having a long-term musculoskeletal condition.

In a bid to reduce the drain on health‐system resources, in 2019 the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Public Health and NHS England committed to a 5-year plan which seeks to promote musculoskeletal health and to prevent musculoskeletal conditions.¹ The HSE emphasise that employers have an important role to play in helping employees to understand the benefits of good musculoskeletal health and reduce the risk of worklessness due to MSDs.

Read more about the wider financial impacts of MSDs here and what your business can do to tackle the problem

To understand why there's a problem, let’s start with the basics of body movement. Biomechanics explains why and how our bodies move the way they do.

This is split into two components: extrinsic biomechanics is how we move; how we stand, sit, walk, run, and do daily tasks, and intrinsic biomechanics explains why we move in the way we do. This includes the makeup of muscles, joints and nerves, how they work together and genetic differences.

While biomechanics of the human body has remained largely unchanged since the hunter-gatherer days, our environment and stresses on our bodies have drastically changed.

The human body is designed to move, using plenty of strength and endurance, but our lifestyles have become far more sedentary over time. Not only do we spend more time sitting or being static, but the tasks that we ask our bodies to perform frequently have also changed.

In the modern world, our working and social environments often demand us to move in ways our bodies can't cope with such as typing on a computer, production-line work, using tools or driving.

Even healthy leisure activities, like cycling, running and golf, encourage repetitive movement. Through repetitive use, our joints, tendons and nerves can become painfully overloaded. When this happens, surrounding muscles tighten to protect the vulnerable structures and can go into spasm, causing additional pain.

The adage 'use it or lose it' rings true: as a whole, humans are weaker and less fit than we used to be. With our natural physical movements compromised, is it any wonder we suffer from physical and psychological stress?

The problem is our bodies have not yet adapted to this new modern environment; the relatively small amount of time in which these significant environmental changes have taken place hasn’t allowed for our bodies to catch up and evolve. Put simply; the technological revolution has outpaced human evolution.

We can learn to better protect our physical health. Regular exercise is key to maintaining good musculoskeletal health and a range of strengthening and stretching exercises can help retain strong bones, muscles and tissues.

If pain or injury does occur, addressing this as soon as possible can prevent further damage or long-term problems.

Traditionally, in physiotherapy treatment, individual pain points were often assumed to be the source of the problem, but in the last ten years or so, there's been a shift to a more holistic approach that considers the structure of the body as an integrated system. For example, knee pain isn't necessarily caused by a damaged knee; it could be a mechanical problem with the foot or hip. Through assessing and managing the real source of the problem the pain is treated effectively.

There's no doubt the human body has an incredible ability to adapt. And it may be that in generations to come, our bodies will be better suited to a modern technological environment. But for now, focussing on tackling problems quickly and conditioning the body to prevent further problems is key to enjoying a long life of happy and healthy movement.