Delhi, August 21st, 2022: One of the most skilled surgeons in the country Dr. Shumayou Dutta heads the Neck and Spine clinic as a consultant spine surgeon at Medical Super Speciality Hospital in Kolkata.
The recipient of several highly acclaimed international awards in spine surgery, Dr. Dutta was the one to bring ‘microscopic’ spine surgery to Kolkata.
During a TEDxChowringhee talk given by him on August 19th 2022, Dr. Dutta mentions the importance of the ‘Hierarchy of Physical Fitness’.
He dwells on the widely-believed misconception that fitness is black or white.
“People believe that you are either sick and if you are not sick, that means you are fit. Nothing could be further from the truth”, he said.
He suggests that fitness should be considered as a spectrum wherein the extreme left red side is the danger or poor health zone and the extreme right purple side is the excellent health zone.
“Our goal should be to stay out of the red zone and one thing which contributes to being in the danger zone is physical inactivity”, Dr. Dutta remarked.
Speaking about physical inactivity, he says that a vast number of ‘lifestyle diseases’ like hypertension, hyperthyroidism, diabetes, obesity, and joint pains are caused by physical inactivity.
“A 2012 study in Lancet found that 10% of fatal heart attacks in the younger age group are caused due to physical inactivity”, he said.
Referring to the normalization of sitting during the pandemic, Dr. Dutta notes that the people who sit for more than nine hours a day are physically inactive and in the red zone. They could be sitting for work, studying, etc due to which it severely affects your health and spine. “Sitting is the new smoking”, he phrases.
Introducing his five-level hierarchy of physical fitness, Dr. Dutta says that the first level is about making small changes in your lifestyle like sitting less or sitting with a good posture.
The second level is the activity of movement wherein you focus on walking more and track your movements like using a smartwatch to note your count of steps.
The third level is yoga during which you develop your muscles and joints and feel relaxed at the same time.
The fourth level is cardiovascular exercise to maintain your heart rate through activities like swimming, zumba, skipping, etc.
The fifth and final level is the strengthening of muscles to improve the quality of life.
He further adds that many people are unable to keep up with this fitness schedule because of the lack of time but sometimes it is not the lack of time, but the lack of desire.
“Motivation is key to overcome this lack of desire. Motivation that comes from your heart and that keeps you going”, he said.
Lastly, Dr. Dutta concludes that once you motivate yourself to exercise and do it daily, it becomes a habit in your life and soon it becomes a part of your daily activities. “If you have the desire, you will be able to take out the time”, he said.
Dr. Dutta inspires us all to begin our physical fitness journey with an open and confident mind.
