Klang Valley’s worsening traffic congestion and what it does to our bodies – here’s what to do to tackle it

A hot topic these days is how bad the traffic has been for the past month or so. There are so many reasons why this is happening – reopening the economy more with no negative listings and restrictions in allowed businesses, Raya open houses, reopening. Completely schools and many businesses terminate their jobs from home policy.

Recently, I spent a total of 6 hours on the road, traveling through the Klang Valley from Shah Alam to Subang to Cheras and back to various appointments. The next day, my knees started to feel a little funny going down the stairs and I felt my calf muscles get stiff.

You see, the human body isn’t really made to stay in a sitting position for long periods of time. This is why it’s always advised to get up, stretch, and walk every half hour if you’re doing a desk job.

But driving a car can be a lot worse than a desk job. You are also limited to a certain position because of the position of the steering wheel and pedals. And you certainly can’t get up to walk if you’re stuck in traffic for 1-2 hours, right?

Staying in a sitting position for a long time will squeeze the hamstrings (back of the thighs) and glutes (buttocks) under the full weight of the body. Your hip flexor (the muscle that pulls your leg up at the hip joint) is also tense because it’s been in a spastic position for a long time.

There’s something called “dead butt syndrome” or “buttock amnesia,” where your glutes weaken because you’re always sitting down. Your body basically forgets what they are for and how to use them.

Your glutes are supposed to be big and strong to help support your posture and when they’re out of competition you lose an important pillar of support and you can experience aches and pains as a result. here and there – in your knees, and in your lower back.

We all know how many Malaysians have knee and back problems right? This is because we sit down to the office in a traffic jam, and then we continue to sit at our desk and get stuck in traffic back home.

If you spend hours in traffic every day like I do, it would be a good idea to do some daily exercise to counteract the effects of sitting in the position for long periods of time. You will really benefit if you do them even if you are not a fan of the gym so as not to suffer from “dead butt syndrome”.

You can do either of these exercises in the videos I’ve embedded. They will help strengthen your weakened glutes and isolate them to do some work reminding your body that they exist.

Choose whichever job you are more comfortable with. I prefer the single leg hip push because I prefer lying flat on the floor. I use the couch at my office as a mid-back anchor. Just do 3 sets, up to 10 reps on each side. It’s okay if you can’t do 10 at the start, just keep going.

This is a good simple way to start if you don’t have much time in the day, as there are only 3 sets of an exercise and shouldn’t take too long. If you want to progress further, then you can start looking for a personal trainer to get professional advice.