Guangboticao or morning exercises are a childhood memory for many Chinese born in the 1980s. When it was recently reported that the music, which accompanied these schoolyard exercises, would be broadcast over local radio stations, some white-collar workers were intrigued but wondered whether they would have the time to exercise.
"I leave for business trips frequently and my working hours are not fixed. And I really don't believe that my employer would arrange the time for us to exercise," Lu Yaoyao, 31, said. Working for a multinational auditing firm, Lu suffers from cervical spondylosis, which she described as the most common ailment among her colleagues. Visiting her TCM therapist twice a month for a massage is the only way she can soothe her body and alleviate her aches.
According to a nationwide survey of 3 million white-collar workers in more than 10 major cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, up to 76 percent of them suffer from health problems. Nearly 60 percent were found to be in an overstrained condition while less than 3 percent have a perfect bill of health.
Given the facts, the Shanghai Sports Bureau announced earlier this week that the most recent version of guangboticao would debut on local radio stations including AM 990 and FM 93.4 from the beginning of next year.
While the information might have been news to most people, it is not the first time that a similar initiative has been launched. In fact, the eighth version of guangboticao has been broadcast via radio for more than nine months.
"We've been encouraging each other to do exercises every day at 10:00 am following the music on the radio. Several colleagues in my department have some back problems because they sit at their desk for prolonged periods of time," said 38-year-old Shen, who works in administration at a State-owned enterprise.
The latest version of guangboticao is designed to improve the health conditions of white-collar workers so some adjustments have been made to cater to their needs. "We've noticed that more people, especially white-collar workers, suffer from neck and shoulder problems these days as a result of spending long hours in front of the computer. The new stretches aim to help reduce tension in these areas. Besides, more upbeat music has been introduced in a bid to encourage younger participants," Zhang Meimei, spokesperson for the Shanghai Sports Bureau, told the Global Times.
However a few minutes of daily exercise seems to be far from enough in curing the complicated physical problems that white-collar workers are faced with today. The Global Times has listed several typical white-collar ailments along with some possible solutions.
1-Cervical spondylosis & lumbar vertebra disease
For office workers, cervical spondylosis and lumbar vertebra disease are two conditions that they complain about frequently. People who constantly hunch over their desks or sit still in front of a computer for long periods of time are at risk of developing these problems. Staying in one position for a long time can easily cause your muscles to become bound and exhausted and then result in pain in the cervical vertebra.
The condition can cause nausea and headaches and cause one to feel a sensation of pins and needles in their scalp, arms and hands or aches in their shoulders. In the worst-case scenarios people can develop paralysis.
Solution: Active movements can definitely help. After sitting for around one hour, one needs to stand up and do some exercises. The suitable small movements in a small office include extension of the neck, rotating one's head and slowly turning the head 180 degrees. It also helps if one takes up sports, including swimming, basketball and jogging, to strengthen the muscles around the neck and waist.
